Scott Boras, a powerful baseball agent, will help honor one of Kobe Bryant’s final requests by offering an internship to Alexis Altobelli. The young woman’s parents and sister died in the fateful helicopter crash , and Bryant had been texting about her only minutes before the accident.
On Monday, Rob Pelinka, the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, took the stage during the Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant . Pelinka, a former agent and close friend of Bryant, spoke about one of the basketball legend’s final acts before his death. He had been texting the GM in hopes of securing an internship for the daughter of another friend.
That other friend was John Altobelli, the Orange Coast College baseball coach who died along with his wife Keri Altobelli and their daughter Alyssa Altobelli in the tragic accident. On the day of the crash, the 41-year-old asked Pelinka to use his connections within the player-agent circles and get an internship for Alexis with Boras.
According to The Los Angeles Times , Pelinka has been in contact with Boras and was able to secure the position for Altobelli’s daughter. The agent is regarded as the best agent in baseball who not only represents some top-tier talent in the game but is involved in labor relations between the MLB and the players’ union.
Per The Los Angeles Times , Boras has been in contact with J.J. Altobelli, who is the older brother of Alexis, and had him and his sister visit the Boras Corp. facilities in Southern California. During the meeting, they discussed how Alexis could best benefit by working for his company.
The publication reports that the agent created a position specifically for the Altobelli woman.
“Boras has been in contact with [the Altobellis] and will create a position for Alexis, who will be able to rotate through the company’s various departments, including marketing, baseball operations, sports science and office administration,” a source told the outlet.
Besides having a relationship with Pelinka, Boras was familiar with Bryant because their families attended the same church in Newport Beach, California. The Lakers GM said he was in church when news broke about the death of Bryant, his daughter Gianna, the three Altobellis, and the four others on board the helicopter.
During his speech at Monday’s memorial, Pelinka detailed his final text messages with Bryant asking to help the young Altobelli daughter. The five-time NBA champion said he “vouched for the girl’s character, intellect and work ethic.”
The crash happened only minutes after he texted with Pelinka.
