Nets honor the life of Kobe Bryant and daughter Gigi with Purple and Gold bouquet of flowers on courtside seats they sat at just a month ago

Brooklyn paid a touching tribute to the basketball legend and his daughter.

It's been only three days since the passing of NBA icon Kobe Bryant, daughter Gigi and seven others in a horrific helicopter crash in the mountains near Malibu. 

The Nets did a fantastic job of showing their appreciation and honoring Bryant with a bouque of Purple and Yellow flowers on the very same courtside seats that he sat on with his daughter in late-December.

It was a touching, yet eerie scene at Barclays Center as a teary-eyed Kyrie Irving tried to hold it together during the National Anthem. 

 Emotions were running high as Irving and company pulled off a double-digit win over the Pistons to create more separation at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. 

Irving reflected on Kobe's role as a mentor to him over the years and how the former Laker Great helped him reach his max potential.

Everyone, including Irving, is trying to come to grips with this unthinkable tragedy, but remembering the victims and keeping their families in our prayers is all that we can do. 

Kyrie Irving says Kobe Bryant gave him direction in his life when he needed it most:

"He had peers looking up to him, that's not common" pic.twitter.com/rfMhgPTAAT

— SNY (@SNYtv) January 30, 2020

Irving's closeness to Bryant and his family is apparent. The mercurial point guard hasn't often shared his emotions and feelings in front of the media, but the visibly choked up New Jersey native let his feelings known in front of the media scrum in Brooklyn. 

As the NBA still mourns the loss of an All-time great, his beloved daughter and seven others in the ill-fated helicopter from Sunday, it's important to remember that in moments of tragedy sports can be a powerfully uniting force for everyone.