Touching Mike Breen-Kobe Bryant Story From Beijing In 2008 Resurfaces At Start Of Olympics

Shandel Richardson | Jul 27, 2024

Nov 5, 2008; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) during game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center. The Lakers defeated the Clippers 106-88. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Olympics always conjure memories from the past.

With the men's basketball competition beginning Saturday, it was the perfect time for an old story to resurface about NBA great Kobe Bryant and ESPN's Mike Breen. Four years ago, Breen shared it while broadcasting the New York Knicks against the Brooklyn Nets.

It was the same year Bryant was tragically killed in a helicopter crash. Breen said the touching moment happened while he was in a cab in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics.

"One of my remembrances was in 2008, when I was doing the Olympics," Breen starter. "This was in Beijing. I had to take a taxi, we were set to go and talk to some of the team USA players, and I had an NBA, I think it was a pullover on. And the taxi driver, who didn't speak very good English, turned to me and he started pointing, 'NBA, NBA,' he kept saying. And I said,'Yes, NBA.' He said, 'Kobe Bryant?' And I said, 'Yep, Kobe Bryant. He's playing for USA.' And he asked me, and again broken English, 'You know Kobe Bryant?' And when I told him that yes, I knew Kobe Bryant, he pulled the cab over and started sobbing. He was so taken and emotional, not that he met Kobe Bryant, that he met someone who knew Kobe Bryant. I've never experienced that. It was such a big moment in his life that he met somebody who knew Kobe Bryant."

It was just another example of Bryant having a global impact.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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