Lamar Odom Compares Death of Kobe Bryant to His Late Son: 'It's Like a Long-Lasting Nightmare'

Lamar Odom says the pain of losing Kobe Bryant is the worst he's experienced since the death of his infant son in 2006.

While appearing on "Good Morning Britain" Monday morning, Lamar spoke about the tragic death of his Lakers teammate, who, along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and 7 others, were killed in a helicopter crash Sunday morning. Joined by his fiancee, Sabrina Parr, via satellite, Lamar struggled to find the words to describe his grief.

"It seems rather surreal. It feels like a long-lasting nightmare," said Lamar, who played alongside Kobe from 2004 to 2011. "I'm gonna miss him dearly. His tutelage. His strong will."

"I'm just blessed I was able to rub shoulders with that man, and have a little bit of that magical dust sprinkled off on me," he added.

Lamar then sent his condolences to Kobe's wife, Vanessa, and their family. "I know I'm feeling really bad and his fans are, I can just imagine how his children and wife and his mother and father feel right now," he said.

After the British morning show co-host said listening to Lamar speak was "as if a part of [him] was ripped away," the former NBA star solemnly paused and then answered, "I haven't really felt a pain or a shock like this since my son passed away in 2006." Lamar lost his infant son to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Lamar, who nearly died in 2015 after an overdose, also revealed that Kobe was at his side during one of his "darkest moments."

When it comes to honoring Kobe's legacy, Lamar said, "I think for everyone to put their best foot forward. Don't ever stop and go after your dreams because if we combine the two, he's a prime example anything can happen."

On Sunday, just a few hours after the devasting news broke of Kobe and Gianna's death, Lamar shared an emotional tribute to Kobe on Instagram.

Alongside a series of throwback photos of him and Kobe, Lamar began, "These picture are just the tip of the iceberg of our relationship. He taught me so many things in life that were necessary on and off the court. On the court he taught me how to carve out defenses and how to take my time. How to make winning my ultimate goal. Off the court he taught me to sign my own checks lol. Of course anyone who knows my story knows I've suffered a lot of loss but the only loss I can compare this to is when I lost my son."

"Even though our relationship wasn't father/son, it was more like him being a teacher and me being his brother. I'm glad I got to be the ying to your yang as far as the locker room was concerned," he continued. "It was my pleasure. I couldn't even catch my breath today when I heard this news."

"I just knew if he was in a helicopter crash he would have been the one to survive. Somehow he would have jumped out and landed on his feet," Lamar added. "I'm sitting here thinking about when we would be in practice scrimmaging and you would start the jump ball off with elbowing Sasha in the chest. Like dude it's 10:30 in the morning lol. You think watching him play was crazy, you gotta think in practice if you scored like 8-9 buckets throughout the practice you had a great practice. I've seen him knock off 13-14 in a row in practice!!!!"

Lamar went on to say that he was "waiting" for the media to say Kobe's death wasn't true. He also recalled his near-death experience back in 2015, saying that he would have chosen God to take him and "spare" Kobe.

"No way God took my brother this early. I know I been through my own stuff in life with using drugs and not being good to myself," Lamar concluded. "When I went through that Coma situation if God would have came to me and said we would take me and spare Kobe I would have rather that happened. In honor of my brother I'm up at 4am tomorrow to get to the gym!” he said. “Gigi gone give you buckets!!!! I love you brother 💔🙏🏿😥 @kobebryant."