Following Kobe Bryant’s terrible death in a helicopter accident on Sunday, Lakers superfan Jack Nicholson paid homage to the basketball legend in a rare and emotional interview.

Nicholson, a long-time fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, talked to CBS Los Angeles about Bryant’s unfortunate accident.

“My reaction is the same as almost all of L.A.,” Nicholson told CBS2’s Jim Hill. “You just suddenly … where we think everything’s solid, there’s a big hole in the wall, you know? I was so used to seeing and talking to Kobe that … it kills you. It’s just a terrible event.”

“I remember him in totality as just how great a player he was,” Nicholson reminisced with Hill about the first time he met a young Bryant: “But you know I teased him the first time we met. It was in the (Madison Square) Garden in New York and I offered him a basketball and asked him if he wanted me to autograph it for him.”

“He looked at me like I was crazy.” Nicholson, a die-hard Lakers fan, was frequently seen cheering for Bryant from his courtside seats at the Staples Center. He noted, “I sat right behind his jump shot on the left hand side. I can see him going up and I can tell the first instant if it’s going in… We’ll think of him all the time and we’ll miss him.”

Bryant’s “sensitivity” was also recognized by the actor when the pro athlete invited him to participate in a documentary, despite the fact that Nicholson was rarely seen in public.

“He called me on the phone and said, ‘Jack, I know you’re not going to want to do this but they made me ask you,’ and he was doing a documentary or something, and that just speaks to Kobe’s sensitivity,” he explained. “Just in general, I don’t do television interviews.”

According to TMZ, the NBA great, 41, was apparently riding in his own chopper when it went down. Bryant’s representative also confirmed to TMZ that his 13-year-old daughter Gianna was killed in the tragedy, which also claimed the lives of seven other individuals.

Bryant won five NBA titles with the Lakers during the course of his 20-year career. He and animator Glen Keane earned an Oscar for the animated short “Dear Basketball” two years ago.