In February, R&B veteran Brian McKnight honored the late NBA great Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna with a tribute song titled "Can't Say Goodbye" -- and it turns out the two had been friends for years.
In fact, Bryant actually rapped a verse on the end of McKnight's 1998 song "Hold Me," the original version of which appears on McKnight's album, "Anytime."
MORE: Vanessa Bryant reveals she found a card Kobe wrote for her before his deathMcKnight told ABC Audio that if it wasn't for the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe might have launched a rap career instead.
"Kobe Bryant was absolutely 100% serious about his rap career," the multiple Grammy nominee said. "The problem was ... that this was before the Lakers were actually in a championship. And I believe that a year later, they were playing for a championship."
McKnight believes that Bryant's "handlers" -- the L.A. Lakers -- "needed him focused on that, more than trying to be a musical star."
"I think he thought 'I can do it all,' but we're talking about a kid who's 19 at that moment," he continued. "Of course he wants to do it all."
MORE: Vanessa Bryant urges Congress to pass helicopter safety law honoring late husband and daughter"It wasn't a throw-away. It wasn't just something to do," McKnight added. "But I think that life and his actual career took precedence over [it] and then once they won three championships in a row, I don't think he was thinking about rap music anymore."
Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people died in a helicopter crash in January. Bryant won five championship rings -- from 2000-2002 and 2009-2010 -- and saw seven NBA finals in his career before his passing.