Director Spike Lee pays tribute to Kobe Bryant at Academy Awards

Bret Gibson
Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 9:18 p.m. | Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 9:18 p.m.

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Spike Lee arrives at the Oscars on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

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Tonya Lewis Lee, left, and Spike Lee arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

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Spike Lee, left, wearing a jacket with the number 24 in honor of the late Kobe Bryant, and Tonya Lewis Lee arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

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Questlove, left, and Spike Lee speak as they arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

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Joaquin Phoenix, left, embraces Spike Lee in the audience before the start of the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Director Spike Lee honored late NBA star Kobe Bryant on Sunday with an outfit at the 92nd Annual Academy Awards.

The Gucci suit, purple with gold trimmings are the colors of the Los Angeles Lakers, the team Bryant played his entire career for. The numeral 24 donned the lapel, Bryant’s former number.

Spike Lee honors Kobe Bryant at the #Oscars pic.twitter.com/us5wYfm9tR

— ESSENCE (@Essence) February 9, 2020

Lee finished off the ensemble with a pair of Nike’s Kobe 9 high-top sneakers.

Spike Lee pays tribute to Kobe Bryant with his #Oscars red carpet look https://t.co/BYOjau0Mir pic.twitter.com/PQ1xxI1kzY

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 9, 2020

Bryant and his daughter Gianna were tragically killed along with 7 other people in a helicopter crash last month. “Tribute. Honor. Homage,” Lee said to describe the message behind the Bryant-inspired look to ABC’s George Pennacchio. “We all miss him.”

"Tribute, honor, homage… we all miss him." – Spike Lee on remembering Kobe Bryant on the #Oscars red carpet. ?? #Oscars2020 #KobeBryant pic.twitter.com/enipBuQKSY

— On The Red Carpet (@OnTheRedCarpet) February 9, 2020

Lee and Bryant developed a relationship with while working on a 2009 documentary Kobe Doin’ Work.