Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel forced back tears as they shared stories of their encounters with Bryant while Conan OBrien discussed how he wanted to remember the Lakers star.
Fallon, above, recalled how he first met Bryant at a party when they were both young and relatively unknown, and how Bryants status at the time as a newly minted Laker helped save the event. It was a story he once told with Bryants help:
So many great Kobe stories going around. This one is just awesome.
He and @jimmyfallon reminisce about a beer run they made together in 96. Kobe is maybe 18-19 years old here
After he told the story, Fallon said he and Bryant had remained friends and would laugh about that chance meeting long ago.
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Wed laugh at all the good things that have happened since, Fallon said, his voice cracking. And wed laugh about how much fun it was to raise kids, and all the stupid mistakes we made trying to figure out how to be good dads.
He added:
I think I knew Kobe enough to know that he rose to any challenge by digging deeper and getting back to work. So lets honor Kobe, Gianna and the other lives that were lost yesterday by following his example: Love your family, love your teammates and outwork everyone else in the gym.
Kimmel did his show without a studio audience and turned the entire episode into a tribute to Bryant, who had appeared 15 times. He called the death a punch in the gut.
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Theres no silver lining here, Kimmel said during his monologue, choking back tears. Its all bad, its all sad.
Kimmel needed to pause a moment to collect himself:
Man, Jimmy Kimmel is a wreck. He's doing a 1-hour Kobe tribute with no studio audience. pic.twitter.com/NqP8PpBuFl
He was a bright light, Kimmel said. And thats how I want to remember him.
Kimmel ended the show with a video montage of Bryant set to the acoustic version of My Hero by the Foo Fighters.
Conan OBrien shared some of his favorite memories from a couple of Bryants appearances on the show:
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