Sixers

Emotional Marc Jackson Remembers Friend Kobe Bryant – “He’s Touched Many Lives”

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jan 27th, 2020 · 9:54 AM EST

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Philadelphia native and former Sixer Marc Jackson is now part of the basketball broadcast team over at NBC Sports Philly.

In the 90s, before attending VCU and Temple, he trained alongside Kobe Bryant and knew the future Hall of Famer as a Lower Merion High School athlete with immense amounts of potential. Following the news of Bryant’s death, he shared some memories of their time together:

Jackson on Bryant, in part:

He was getting ready to make a decision whether he was going to college or the NBA and we were working out of Temple, and he had this thing called “crown,” where he was trying to dunk on you and he’d say “I’m trying to crown you.” That just started going through my head (after his death). I’m thinking about his wife and his children, I’m thinking about his mother Pam and I’m thinking about (his father) Joe, who was one my first coaches when I started playing the game. I’m just looking at that and thinking about that. 1,100 emails, texts, and phone calls in a matter of hours.

It’s just a shame, not just for his beautiful wife and his children, but his beautiful mom, his dad, his grandmother, who is still at Lower Merion. His sisters and his nephews and nieces. It’s just a bad day. He’s touched many lives.

RIP Kobe.

Sixers media availability is at 1 p.m. today, beginning with GM Elton Brand.