Kawhi Leonard confirms he used same pilot and helicopter as Kobe Bryant

Clippers star discussed how to cut down on his commute with Bryant, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Kawhi Leonard confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that he used the same helicopter and pilot as the one that Kobe Bryant was on when he crashed on Sunday. “Great guy, super nice,” Leonard said Wednesday of Ara Zobayan. “He was one of the best pilots. That is a guy who you ask for to fly you from city to city. It’s just surreal still.”

Leonard purchased a house in Rancho Santa Fe last year and discussed how to cut down on his commute with Bryant. “I talked to him about it before our transition to playing in L.A, just seeing how he got back and forth from Newport and he said he was doing it for about 17 years or so,” Leonard said. “Yeah, same pilot, everything, the whole situation, this whole program, the setup, how he was traveling back and forth was the same way I was getting here from San Diego.”

Leonard said he’s unsure if he will reduce the amount of time he spends in helicopters: “The things that you hear, you don’t know what’s real yet,” he said. “I can’t really speak on it. I don’t know. I don’t know yet. It’s a lot of thoughts in my head.”