Kanye West Calls Kobe Bryant 'the basketball version of me'

West opened up about his relationship with Bryant in an interview with GQ.

Kanye West said he's inspired to be the best version of himself whenever he drives in Calabasas near the area where Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people. 

“There’s one street [Las Virgenes] that I drive to go from either my office or my home to the property where the domes were built," West told GQ, referencing a series of structures he had built on his Calabasas estate. "So now there’s no way for me to not be as determined as Kobe every time I drive down that street. It’s game time. 

“This is a game-changer for me. He was the basketball version of me, and I was the rap version of him, and that’s facts!...No one else can say this. We came up at the same time together. And now it’s like, yeah, I might have had a reputation for screaming about things, but I’m not taking any mess for an answer now. We’re about to build a paradigm shift for humanity. We ain’t playing with ‘em. We bringing home the trophies.” 

West, a rapper, record producer and fashion designer, discussed his friendship with Bryant, the five-time NBA champion with the Lakers, in the May issue of GQ. 

“Kobe was one of my best friends,” West told the magazine.

Presenting GQ’s May cover star: @Kanyewest.
Read the story by @WillWelch and see all the photos by @Tyler_Mitchell_ here: https://t.co/gCzJzWIwuQ pic.twitter.com/Q90UXhzx08

— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) April 15, 2020

West did his first of several interviews for the magazine three days after Bryant’s death, according to a press release. 

The issue is on stands now.