Ohio State's Duane Washington Jr. remembers 'Uncle Kobe' on anniversary of Kobe Bryant's passing

Ohio State shooting guard Duane Washington Jr. comes from a basketball family. His father, Duane Washington Sr., was a second-round pick in the 1987 NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets, but it's his uncle, Derek Fisher, that's the most famous in the family.

Fisher played 18 seasons in the NBA, winning five titles in two stints with the Los Angeles Lakers. Fisher's teammate and close friend during his time with the Lakers was Kobe Bryant. While the rest of the basketball world started to call Bryant but just his first name as he climbed to the top of the sport, Washington Jr. knew him as "Uncle Kobe."

Bryant, along with his daughter, Gigi, tragically passed away in a helicopter accident on Jan. 26, 2020. For the one-year anniversary of his death, Washington Jr. spoke with the Big Ten Network, giving his memories of Kobe, not the basketball player, but the uncle he knew growing up.

"It was after the Indiana Pacers game. I was young. I was either six, seven or eight, I remember, and I had a white t-shirt on with red lettering with a black coat. And yeah, had his arm around me and he just told me how big I got and I was like, 'Yeah, I know. I'm getting bigger, haha.' And I remember we walked away and he didn't say goodbye and then I looked at him and I seen him pointing at me. And he was pointing at me and his finger was like, it was his pointer finger, and it was all the way sideways. And I was like, 'Uncle Kobe, your finger messed up.' And then he was like, 'Yeah, I know.'

I didn't have too much time with him but the time that I was with him was not even about basketball. It was family time. It was playing Sorry or The Game of Life at my uncle's house, just hanging out with the family, or going to a game and going to get something to eat after the game. I never got to talk basketball with him. One day, we're going to be able to but our time here together we weren't able to and I think that just shows that he was more than just a basketball player and he had such an impact on a lot of different people in this world."

Washington Jr. was a three-star prospect, per the 247Sports Composite, and the country's 17th ranked combo guard in the 2018 recruiting class out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He transferred to Sierra Canyon High School in California for his senior year. A year ago, on the day Bryant passed, Washington Jr. wrote "R.I.P. Uncle Kobe" on his sneakers for a 71-59 win at Northwestern.

A year later, Washington Jr. remembers the good memories he had with Bryant and looks forward to the day they can meet again.