The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star and professional basketball player Lamar Odom paid tribute to his longtime friend Kobe Bryant, who passed away this Sunday in a helicopter accident. During an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Odom told hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid: "It seems rather surreal. It feels like a long-lasting nightmare. I’m gonna miss him dearly. His tutelage. His strong will."
RELATED: Celebrities react to Kobe Bryant's death
Lamar Odom feels blessed he was able to share time with Kobe Bryant
Lamar Odom, who was joined by her fiancée Sabrina Parr, added that he feels blessed he "was able to rub shoulders with that man, and have a little bit of that magical dust sprinkled off on me." Then host Susanna Reid mentioned that listening to Lamar's words felt as if a part of him had been ripped away. "I can just imagine how his children and wife and his mother and father feel right now," added the 40-year-old NBA star.
RELATED: These celebrities have passed away in 2020
Lamar Odom says this is the first time he feels such pain since his son passed away
Lamar Odom, who won NBA championships in 2009 and 2010, compared his longtime friend's death with his son's death, "I haven’t really felt a pain or a shock like this since my son passed away in 2006," he said.
Kobe Bryant died at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, along with his daughter Gianna, 13, and seven other passengers. Kobe and Gianna are survived by the NBA star's wife Vanessa, and their daughters Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.