When Tiger Woods earned Amanda Balionis' respect for his interview after Kobe Bryant's death

For a long time, Kobe Bryant shared a close friendship with Tiger Woods. The NBA legend lost his life in a helicopter accident in January 2020, and minutes after finding out about it, Woods was asked to react to it. His response received praise from golf reporter Amanda Balionis.

Woods was competing at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, and he was told of Bryant's death by his caddy Joe LaCava after he completed his round. The news left Woods heartbroken and shocked, and a few minutes later, he was asked to share his thoughts on the same in an interview with Balionis.

While interviewing Woods, the CBS reporter asked what the golfer would remember about Bryant as a father and as an athlete.

Tiger Woods responded by saying:

"The fire. He burned so competitively hot — and the desire to win. He brought it each and every night, on both ends of the floor. Not too many guys can say that throughout the NBA history."

Balionis was full of praise of Woods' response, and she spoke about the same on the Fairway Rollin' podcast (via Golf.com) in February 2020.

“What he said was wonderful... he only had a few minutes to process before he came and talked which is so incredibly hard to do and honestly, I respected him so much for doing that. If you’re Tiger you probably don’t want to talk about the loss of a friend, right?"

Balionis praised Tiger Woods for answering her questions while grieving.

"Everyone handles grief differently. But I think he honestly did it for the people at home that were already grieving, and he could offer up some type of insight into the person that everybody was still trying to comprehend the loss of."

In the interview, Tiger Woods also shared that he didn't understand why fans were screaming "Do it for Mamba" during his round.

Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant? shared a close friendship

Woods and Kobe Bryant clicked together / IG: @leaguefits

Tiger Woods grew up supporting the Los Angeles Lakers. From 1996, the careers of Woods and Kobe Bryant grew more or less in parallel as the latter entered the NBA while the former was turning pro from Stanford.

The two established themselves as superstars in their respective sports, and had a close friendship that was built on their mentality to be the best, as well as their respect for each other.

The two also used to work out together, and would reach out to each other occasionally, even if their busy schedules prevented them from seeing each other very often.