Kanye West was a friend and admirer of Kobe Bryant. After the basketball legend's untimely passing last Sunday, the iconic Nike commercial that starred Kanye and Kobe circulated online. Kanye hosted a special Sunday Service tribute to Kobe at midnight last week, where he rapped: “I was driving home / They was leaving your jersey on the freeway/And I just broke down, broke down, broke down.”
This week, Ye brought Sunday Service to Miami's Bayfront Park in honour of the Superbowl and he took a moment again to talk about his departed friend. Before Kanye and choir started performing a gospelized rendition of his 2015 song, "All Day", he recalled Kobe's reaction upon hearing it for the first time. A video recorded by a Sunday Service attendee shows Ye telling the crowd: "And I asked him what he thought of the song and his only response was 'THEME MUSIC.'" He smiles after recounting this memory and nods along to the Christian-friendly version of "All Day".
Kanye's wife, Kim Kardashian, mourned the passing of Kobe with an Instagram post that read: "My heart is so heavy. No one should ever experience what the families involved are going through. This has affected us all so much but I cannot begin to imagine what Vanessa is feeling losing her husband and her baby girl. I cry just thinking about it. I am praying for the Bryant family, the Altobelli family and the families of all who perished in this unthinkable tragedy. Rest In Peace Legend."