The Los Angeles Times caught up with Roman Reigns to get his reaction to the death of Kobe Bryant.
He said he found out while at Minute Maid Park on Sunday before the Royal Rumble pay-per-view when Triple H showed him a text message with the news of Bryant’s death.
Roman said, “I just didn’t believe it, to be honest. I’m a Lakers fan. I watched religiously throughout his career. I’ve always been a huge fan, massive respect.”
Reigns said he didn’t know Bryant but it affected him a lot. “It really just saddened me and it broke my heart obviously to hear the loss of Kobe and his daughter Gigi. My heart goes out to his wife and the three girls left behind and all the families that were involved and the pilot and his family. This is just an abrupt loss. I feel like it shook the world. I did not think it would affect me as much as it did. I legitimately cried.”
Reigns continued, “I got home last night, flew home after the Rumble and first thing I did when I got in my house was I got into my daughter’s room and I hugged her. She was asleep, she had no clue. I hugged her for probably 3, 4 or 5 minutes and was teared up the whole time. You have to really be grateful and thankful and take advantage of every second that we have and make sure that your loved ones know they are loved.”
Reigns closed out with a message for anyone dealing with negativity in their life. He said, “If there is anything that you’re holding within, try to forgive and forget and move on and mend any type of negativity that you have in your life because you never know. Life is short, we just need to take advantage of every second we have. My heart, my condolences go out to all the families. It’s just a very sad time.”
You can hear Roman talk about Kobe’s death in the clip below.
