Kobe Bryant had more mileage on his body than almost any other player in NBA history when he played in New Orleans for the final time. The Lakers legend was sixth all-time in minutes on April 8, 2016 — his last game at Smoothie King Center.

If Bryant felt weary from two decades of the NBA grind, he didn’t show it. After the game, he stayed in the locker room and signed every jersey, picture and basketball passed his way.

“The last game he played here, he stood in that locker room and signed every piece of memorabilia and anything that everybody wanted,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “He never left until he signed for every person that wanted it. That’s the side of him people didn’t see. This was going to be the last game in this building. From the ushers, to the coaches to everybody. I took a picture with him because I really wanted to have that. That’s the respect that I had for him.”

It was Bryant’s fourth-to-last NBA game. Less than a week later, Bryant memorably scored 60 points on 50 shots in his final game.

Before tipoff at the Smoothie King Center the Pelicans held a 24-second moment of silence to honor the late Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, and both teams took 24-second shot clock violations to begin the game as an additional tribute.

On Sunday, Bryant, 41, died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Five people were confirmed deceased, including Gianna, the retired NBA star’s 13-year-old daughter.

Across 20 seasons, Bryant won five championships, was twice named Finals MVP, won one regular-season MVP and made the All-Star Game 18 times. He scored 48,643 points, fourth-most all-time.

Gentry followed Bryant’s brilliant career closely. The two even had their shares of battles. Gentry was the head coach of the 2009-10 Suns team that won 54 games and advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they fell to the Bryant’s Lakers in six games.

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“He was all about winning championships,” Gentry said. “The individual accolades and the numbers didn’t mean anything for him. He was all about winning championships. That’s just the competitiveness he had. That’s what I’ll always remember. He competed at such a high, high level every time he was out there. He’s just going to be missed.”

Bryant had four daughters with his wife, Vanessa. He was reportedly flying to Gianna’s basketball game when the accident occurred.

“He was turning his daughters into the same competitors and basketball players he was,” Gentry said. “It was just good to see. I think he was in a great place in his life in retirement and everything. Doing a lot of things that helped him complete his life away from basketball.”

Email Christian Clark at cclark@theadvocate.com.