Kobe Bryant never did as much acting as the NBA legend he was most frequently compared to, Michael Jordan. But the Los Angeles Lakers great did appear in episodes of Moesha (he famously went to prom with the show’s star, Brandy), Sister, Sister, and All That. Bryant was also supposed to appear on Peacock’s surprisingly good Saved by the Bell reboot, but two days before he was scheduled to film his cameo, he was killed in a helicopter crash, along with his teenage daughter and seven others.
“A wild tidbit that I don’t think a lot of people know, or, it’s not important at all because obviously, we are the least of importance when it comes to this legend and his daughter’s passing, but we were actually supposed to film with Kobe two days after he died,” Saved By the Bell actress Josie Totah said on the Dare We Say podcast.
Co-star Alycia Pascual-Peña continued, “I remember learning that he had passed through one of our best friend Anjelika Washington. She called me specifically because she knew that I’d been talking about it for a month with her — that I was so excited to meet Kobe on set and I can’t believe that he was a fan of the first Saved by the Bell and that he was excited to be on the show.”
You can listen to the podcast below.