Joel Embiid Honors Kobe, Gianna Bryant With Special Sneakers For Sixers-Lakers

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Sixers big man Joel Embiid is paying tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant during tonight's Sixers-Lakers game with special shoes. It comes just after the one-year anniversary of the devastating helicopter crash which claimed the lives of the Lakers, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Embiid fell in love with basketball as a kid in Cameroon while watching Bryant's Lakers career.

Current Sixers head coach Doc Rivers took some time to share memories of the legend.

"I had a competitive relationship with him, I had a personal relationship with him. That was a difficult day for everybody, it's still difficult when you think about it," Rivers said.

Bryant, a Lower Merion High School grad, was remembered by his alma mater with a 33-second moment of silence Tuesday.

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