Like many in Hollywood, Derek Fisher is thinking of the late Kobe Bryant this Oscars Sunday.
”It’s been special,” Fisher told Variety of the tributes to Bryant — at the Oscars and elsewhere — at Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios Oscar Gala at the Beverly Wilshire. “When you grow up with your brother, you may not always see the way other people see him cause that’s your brother.”
Fisher and Bryant were teammates from 1996-2004, 2007-2012 and won all five of their NBA championships together.
“And it’s been really moving to see the way other people view impact that he was having on the world. It’s given me an even greater appreciation – and I already had it for what he represented, but it’s been unbelievably touching.”
Fisher stepped out for the Oscar viewing and after party, benefiting Children’s Hospital Los Angeles with fiancée Gloria Govan. Pieces of art memorializing the late basketball legend are up for auction during the event.
“And my hope is that Vanessa and the girls can also feel that love and that we can all be there for them and continue to hold them up and prayers that keep them strong,” he continued.
“Well, the last couple of weeks have been impactful in terms of changing the way, you know, our perspective on life and that you don’t always get next year to go to the event,” he explained. “You know, you don’t always get next time to go and show your support. So the work that Byron has done with the Children’s Hospital, we just felt like it was important to come out right now and support it.”
On the awards front, Fisher is pulling for “Little Women.”
“I mean it’s still tied to Kobe in terms of his daughters,” Fisher admitted. ”We [with fiancée Gloria Govan] have two daughters. And we all should be striving for a world that’s better for girls and women. And I think what’s so moving about the project is they weren’t necessarily waiting for people to give them permission to be great, you know, to look out for each other, to hold each other down during very difficult situations. And so it was just very, very moving from that perspective for me, coaching women and having young girls at home.”
