Paris Saint-Germain forward, Neymar scored twice against Lille as his team registered a 2-0 win in Ligue 1, but what grabbed everybody’s attention on the night was the fact that he dedicated his strikes to the NBA legend, Kobe Bryant, who sadly passed away in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning.

Bryant, a former LA Lakers star, was travelling with his daughter to basketball practice at his Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks, and the helicopter, crashed outside the city of Calabasas, which is situated to the west of Los Angeles at around 10 am on Sunday.

The basketball legend’s sudden passing has understandably sent the world in shock, and Neymar was one amongst the millions. The Brazilian scored a penalty in the 52nd minute to double his side’s lead and in tribute, he held ‘24’ with his figures, which was Bryant’s jersey number for the LA Lakers.

“I looked at the messages at half-time. This is a time of immense sadness for the world of sport. Not just basketball fans,” Neymar told Canal Plus after the match.

“I knew him. This celebration was for him. I hope he rests in peace.”

Neymar had met Bryant back in 2017 during a practice session.

Apart from Neymar, the rest of the footballing community came together to pay their wishes for greatest basketball player of all time.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Denis Charlet

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