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Elle Duncun touching tribute to Kobe Bryant.

January 29, 2020

Lauren “Elle” Duncan is a sports anchor for ESPN. Elle went viral after her touching trulibute to the late Kobe Bryant.

On Monday night’s episode of ESPN’s SportsCenter, anchor Elle Duncun tearfully shared a story from the time she met Kobe backstage at an ESPN event in 2018, when she was eight months pregnant with her daughter.

Elle broke down when she recalled how Kobe praised his daughter’s athletic abilities, mainly how Gianna was “a monster, a beast, she’s better than I was at her age” on the basketball court. With tears in her eyes, Elle continued. “When I reflect on the tragedy and the half-an-hour I spent with Kobe Bryant two years ago, I suppose the only small source of comfort for me is knowing he died doing what he loved the most. Being a dad. Being a girl dad,” she shared.

She also took to her instagram and wrote;

“I met Kobe Bryant one time.. we were doing ESPN upfronts together in NYC. He came over and started talking to me about my impending baby (as you can see I was 13 months pregnant). I asked if he had advice on raising girls— he said “Just be grateful you’ve been given that gift, girls are amazing.” He bragged for a few minutes about what his 3 daughters were doing and how tough they were. He commented his wife Vanessa wanted to try for a boy but was jokingly concerned it would be another girl.. I said “How would you feel about that?” WITHOUT hesitation he said “I WOULD HAVE 5 MORE GIRLS IF I COULD.. I’m a girl dad I love the challenge of raising women.” Little did I know he would have that 4th girl. Or that I would sit backstage for half an hour chatting up the GOAT about his new retired life and what was ahead. I left so impressed with his ability to exist normally in a space where he was being fawned and followed. How he took time for this Real pregnant women he didn’t know to have a real convo with a line of people waiting for a moment just to reassure her. I’m glad to have had that brief time with him. I’m so sorry that 4th girl won’t know her dad, she wrote.