Where were you when you heard of Kobe Bryant’s passing? No hoops fan across the world can forget that moment. The shock. The disbelief. The pain. It was all too real. And for people close to him? The pain was 10x worse. That was the case with a WNBA legend, who also revealed that she was supposed to be on that helicopter with Kobe!

Nancy Lieberman, an icon in Women’s Basketball, recently sat down for an interview on Big 3 with Michael Beasley and reporter Chris B. Haynes. As the discussion moved to Kobe Bryant, Haynes asked Lieberman, “I heard somewhere…. were you supposed to be on the helicopter?” Beasley looked visibly surprised by that question, but Liebermann was happy to narrate that incident. She recalled that two days before the accident, she was in the studio for an OKCTV segment. Matt Bonner and Greg Buckner were discussing Kobe’s recent remarks, in which he had said women could play against men. Having been someone who has competed against men, Lieberman directly texted the Black Mamba to ask his views. Lieberman revealed that the text thread covered almost an hour, and that they made plans to have a 1-on-1 conversation too.

“It’s about midnight. My phone rings. ‘Hey, it’s Kobe. ’ Because, you know, he’s chop chop. He wants to get details handled,” Lieberman recalled. “He says, ‘Okay, Wednesday, you get on, you know, uh, fly to LA, Uber to the house, we grab some food, we, uh, get on the helicopter, we go to the Mamba, you know, academy, and you have, you have as long as you want, and if you want me to help’. And I’m like, ‘Of course, I want you to help.’ And he says, ‘Thursday, you go home. You stay with us and go home’”.

Liebermann further revealed that she told her son, TJ Cline, about her plans to travel to LA and meet Kobe. So, as soon as TJ heard the news of the crash, he phoned his mother, fearing she was in the helicopter as well. But when Liebermann heard news of Kobe’s demise, she just collapsed. “And I just about hit the floor, and I heard a Secret Service guy, somebody said… grabbed me, and they took me in a back room. I didn’t know if I was going to have a heart attack. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe. It was too close. It was too close. And I, I mean, I don’t even know what to say,” the 67-year-old recalled.

Kobe Bryant and Nancy Lieberman first established a bond back in 2008 when the latter, at the age of 50, became the oldest player to ever appear in a WNBA game after signing a seven-day contract with the Detroit Shock. Months after that memorable week, the Lakers star reportedly approached Lieberman and said, “Vanessa, my daughter and I watched you play. I have some questions.”

And that was the start of a beautiful friendship. The duo kept in touch even after Kobe’s retirement in 2016, and constantly exchanged their thoughts and views with each other. Kobe, for that matter, even stood up for Lieberman when she was denied entrance to a locker room once!

Kobe Bryant defended Nancy Lieberman After Her Altercation With A Security Guard

Back in October 2015, Nancy Lieberman was set to appear in her first game as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings. It was a preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers, and it took place in Las Vegas. As she was returning to the locker room, she was stopped by a security guard. He refused to grant her access to the locker room area without an ID, despite being fully dressed in Sacramento Kings gear. Bryant soon arrived at the Thomas & Mack Center while Lieberman and the guard were still arguing. The Lakers star reportedly greeted her with a warm hug and kiss, listened to what happened, and then laid it out to the security guard.

“And he goes, ‘Son, she is a coach in the NBA. And as we are, as black men, we’re going to do things in life that people haven’t seen, but we’, and he’s now mentoring this person,” Lieberman recalled during the same interview. “And I, he lets me go by, and I’m like, ‘Thank you.’ And I came back, and the young man said, ‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I just didn’t know.’ I go, ‘It’s not your fault. ’ We get profiled. You know, that sucks. Uh, but Kobe saved the day”.

Moments like these remind fans what Kobe really brought to the game. He wasn’t just a on-court legend. He was a force. A mindset. And now, as fans debate his legacy more than ever, this story shows what his impact was in the lives of the people close to him!