There were several victims in Kobe Bryant’s tragic helicopter crash, but Rick Fox was not one of them.
The former NBA star broke his silence on the rumors he was one of those who perished in Sunday’s horrifying accident, noting that, while he very much alive and well, the 50-year-old was in shambles after the news broke.
The former Boston Celtics and LA Lakers player joined Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Derek Fisher, and Kenny Smith for a special segment during Tuesday night’s episode of Inside The NBA on TNT, where he explained how the false reports affected his family.
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Noting that it’s one of his daughter’s “greatest fears” to find out through social media that one of her parents died, he told the panel:
“My family went through, in the midst of all this, something that I couldn’t imagine them experiencing… [My daughter], fortunately, called me and we were just talking and crying about the news of Kobe.”
While he was on the phone with her, however, Fox said he started receiving dozens more phone calls that he ignored because he “[wanted] to be with [his] kids and my family” after hearing the awful news.
Apparently, someone had told the ex-athlete’s best friend, King Rice, that he may have been a passenger on Kobe’s chopper during the ill-fated flight from Orange County, California. After seeing that King was repeatedly blowing up his phone, Fox decided to pick up and talk to his friend — only to be met with overwhelming emotion.
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He shared:
“I’m seeing King’s number repeatedly going and going and going, and I think he’s worried about me, so I said, ‘I’m gonna talk to my best friend,’ so I answered and said, ‘Hey man, this is crazy about Kobe,’ and he just was bawling.”
The former basketball player continued:
“And I started crying. And he was like, ‘You’re alive!’ And I was like, ‘Well, yeah. Like what do you mean?’ And it was in that moment that my phone just started going, and my mom and my sister and my brother… This has been a lot to process for all of us.”
We could only imagine.
Fox added that he’s “glad” the record has since been set straight, as the rumors were “was hard to deal with because it shook a lot of people in [his] life.”
.@RickFox discusses how Sunday’s inaccurate reports affected his family. pic.twitter.com/tynwNicB01
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 29, 2020
His step-daughter Jillian Hervey took to Twitter on Sunday to confirm to fans that her famous step-father had not been aboard the aircraft with Kobe, writing:
“To confirm my stepdad Rick Fox is ALIVE and safe! I just got off the phone with my sister. We are all in shock and deeply saddened but please don’t spread false news. #ripkobe ”
As we reported, eight people did die along with Kobe in the crash, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna; pilot Ara Zobayan; assistant girls basketball coach Christina Mauser; John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli; and Sarah and Payton Chester.
[Image via FayesVision/WENN]
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