Cashmere mourning Kobe Bryant’s death after recent visit

CASHMERE, Wash. — Kobe Bryant’s death hit a small North Central Washington community particularly hard.

Bryant was in Cashmere just two weeks ago, with his daughter, making good on a promise to catch a high school girls basketball game featuring one of the nation's top college recruits.

She plays for Cashmere High School. That’s between Leavenworth and Wenatchee in Chelan County.

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Hailey Van Lith spent last summer at Kobe Bryant's training camp, practicing her basketball moves. She also spent time at his home.

The man who helped plan Bryant's visit was in the Puget Sound region today.

It is still almost impossible for Jeff Carlson to believe.

"Yeah, unreal just the chain of events and what occurred," marveled Carlson. "And how, Cashmere, a small community in North Central Washington, is connected to this huge national story."

Carlson, Cashmere Schools' athletic director, was at the Renton Pavilion for the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association's winter meeting.

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He and Kobe Bryant's assistant worked for a week planning the legendary player's visit. The big day came two Saturdays ago.

"He walked around the car and acted like he knew me," Carlson said. "And he said, 'how you doing, Jeff?' and it was pretty special. Got to shake his hand."

Video shows that Bryant had brought along his personal bodyguard and his 13-year-old daughter, GiGi, a standout basketball player in her own right.

They sat beside the parents of Hailey Van Lith, the Cashmere superstar they had come to see.

"What was really special is after the game, as soon as the buzzer went off, we were able to get Kobe and GiGi and Junior into the locker room to spend time with our team," said Carlson. "And man, Kobe signed autographs. He took pictures individually with each of the girls.

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"It was a really special time. And it just made the news that we got yesterday, just that much more heartbreaking."

That's especially true with the deaths of both Bryant and his young daughter.

"To feel connected in some way with him," Carlson said, "It was a hard pill to swallow."

He says they are planning to honor Kobe Bryant in some way at the girls basketball game Tuesday night in Cashmere.

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