Kobe Bryant Was Set to Film ‘Saved by the Bell’ Sequel Before His Death

Pascual-Peña –who played Aisha on the show–shared that “the energy on set had shifted greatly” while Saved by the Bell wrapped its pilot days after Kobe’s death.

“I remember learning that he had passed through one of our best friends Anjelika Washington. She called me specifically because she knew that I’d been talking about it for a month with her — that I was so excited to meet Kobe on set and I can’t believe that he was a fan of the first Saved by the Bell and that he was excited to be on the show.”

Alycia Pascual-Peña said it was “insane” to see how Los Angeles and the world mourned Kobe. She expressed,

“Specifically with Kobe it was insane to see L.A. come out the way they came out, and just the whole world. That man was so loved and so respected. You felt it; you felt the energy in the air change.”

As previously reported, on January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant, Gianna Bryant, and seven others boarded a helicopter as they were traveling to a basketball game at Mamba Sports Academy. Almost a half-hour into the helicopter ride, the helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain in Calabasas. All nine passengers were killed on impact.

In August, a jury awarded Kobe’s widow Vanessa Bryant $16 million after she sued L.A. County over the leaked images of the crash victims, including her husband and her daughter. In reaching the verdict after only a few hours of deliberations, jurors made it clear they had been persuaded by attorneys for Bryant and Chris Chester, who argued that illicit photos of the crash victims’ bodies had violated their clients’ right to privacy and inflicted emotional distress. Chester lost his wife, Sarah, and daughter, Payton, in the crash. Vanessa was reportedly awarded $16 million in damages and Chris Chester awarded $15 million.

Kobe Bryant, Vanessa Bryant and three oldest daughters

Vanessa has since said she’ll donate proceeds from her multi-million dollar payout to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, a nonprofit that continues Kobe and Gianna’s legacies by offering opportunities to underprivileged young athletes.