VIDEO: Dave Chappelle Remembering Kobe Bryant Will Bring Tears to Your Eyes
By Michael Luciano
Legendary comedian Dave Chappelle dropped a 30-minute Netflix special entitled "8:46," a reference to the amount of time Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was kneeling on George Floyd's neck, in the wee hours of the night on Thursday. One of the topics Chappelle touched on was the death of Kobe Bryant. Chappelle considered himself an admirer, fan and friend of the Lakers legend. He claimed the reason he didn't go to the Grammys in Los Angeles to accept his award was because he was so overcome with emotion after Bryant's death just days prior that he couldn't stomach going to the building Bryant called home for his entire NBA career.
In the context of his special, Chappelle claimed that the only reason the country did not descend into mass riots after several police officers were murdered in Dallas was the fact so many people were tuning in to Kobe's final game, in which he famously dropped 60 points on the Utah Jazz.
He also touched on Laura Ingraham telling LeBron James to "shut up and dribble." After calling Ingraham a word that's too vulgar to write out, he defended James as a "friend" and "good family man."
Even five months after the fact, Bryant's death is still tough to swallow, as evidenced by Chappelle's feelings.