Jay Z has revealed Kobe Bryant heaped praise on his daughter Gianna in their last conversation weeks before his death.

The rapper was friends with the LA Lakers legend, who died last month in a helicopter crash alongside Gianna, 13, and seven others.

And Jay, 50, shared his final conversation with Bryant while speaking at Colombia University this week. Kobe spent New Year’s Eve with the Carters, and Jay said the 41-year-old ‘was just in the greatest space that I’ve seen him in’.

He said: ‘One of the last things he said to me was, you’ve gotta see Gianna play basketball. And that was one of the most hurtful things, because he was so proud.

‘And the look on his face was like… I looked at him and said, “Oh, she’s going to be the best female basketball player in the world”.

‘He was just so proud. That’s really a tough one.’ The father-of-three added: ‘My wife and I took [their deaths] … really tough. That’s all I’ll say on that. ‘Just a great human being and was in a great space in his life.’