Drake pauses concert to honor Kobe Bryant after fan throws jersey on stage

Drake paused a sell-out concert to show some love to the late Kobe Bryant.

The rapper was at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles this week as part of his 'It's All a Blur' tour and took time out to honor the late LA Lakers player. Check it out:

During a gap in between songs, someone threw one of Mamba's jerseys onto the stage.

After spotting it, Drake picked it up and used the moment to pay his respects to Kobe, who would have been 45 yesterday (23 August).

In a clip that's been shared on social media by @AaronLarsuel, the Canadian can be seen holding up the iconic jersey.

"I'm gonna hold this up, 'cause we gotta show love to Kobe one time," he tells the crowd before being met with a huge cheer.

Twitter/@AaronLarsuel

Kobe sadly died in a helicopter crash in January 2020, along with his daughter Gianna and seven other passengers.

On 26 January 2022, to mark the 2nd anniversary of the incident, a statue of the pair was placed at the crash site.

During his two day stop in the City of Angels, Drake also shared a special memory with his fans of the first time he met the NBA legend.

Recalling the surreal moment, the 36-year-old said he was just starting to make a name for himself and had just arrived in LA at the time.

He said: "When I was first coming up, I'm from a place called Toronto, Canada, by the way, and the first place I moved in my life, and I had to move away from home, move away from my mother, move away from my friends, the first place to ever take me in was Los Angeles, California.

"I've lived here for a long time. And I'll never forget in my life the day I got flown out to get signed, right.

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

"I was on Lil Wayne's tour bus, I'll never forget it. And he told me, he said, 'I've got an album coming out, it's called 'The Carter III', I wanna play it for you, but we gotta wait for somebody to get her first'.

"So I waited on the bus, I'm waiting on the bus, you know, half an hour, hour, hour and a half, finally, this tall figure walks on the bus, right through the doorway of the bus, and it's Kobe Bryant.

"That day, I got to sit there and I got to listen to 'Tha Carter III with Kobe and Lil Wayne.

"So I want to let you know, Los Angeles, you've been through a lot of things, and tonight, I want to pay all my respects and all my love to you the right way."