Kobe Bryant’s warm-up jacket from high school was stashed away in a closet ever since the Lakers legend left Lower Merion (Pa.) in 1996.

Gregg Downer, Bryant’s coach at Lower Merion, wore that white, gray and maroon jacket with No. 33 on the left arm Tuesday as he addressed Bryant’s death.

“My heart hurts so bad,” Downer said at Lower Merion in Ardmore. “My insides hurt so bad. I realized I had lost my hero.”

Downer, who maintained a relationship with Bryant during the NBA great’s 20-year Lakers career, recalled hearing a lot of buzz about a 14-year-old in middle school.

“I went to watch one of his games. They had a weird rule with that team; you had to pass the ball X amount of times or you got benched. So that didn’t go too well,” Downer said. “I really wanted to see him play and he kept getting benched.”

So Downer asked Bryant to practice with the varsity team to get a better look at him. Five minutes into his first high school practice, Downer turned to his assistant coaches.

“This kid’s a pro,” Downer told them.

Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine killed in a helicopter crash Sunday in Calabasas, Calif.

“As reality began to set in, I broke down in the middle of my kitchen,” Downer said.