US General Tweets He'd Rather Mourn Young Soldier Killed In Syria Instead Of Kobe Bryant

The world is mourning the loss of basketball superstar Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash on Sunday. But, a US army general ticked off netizens after passing a rather inane comment that seemed to have undermined the shock surrounding Bryant’s death.

“Lots of people mourning a basketball player this morning. I think I'll use my energy to remember SPC Moore and his Family. #RIP,” tweeted Maj. Gen. John Evans, which immediately drew the ire of Twitterati from the world over. More so, because it was evident that drawing comparisons between the deaths of the personalities were irrelevant. Evans currently heads the Cadet Command and leads thousands of Army ROTC cadets based out of Fort Knox, Ky.

“As a lifelong laker fan, #Kobe helped me get through deployments in the early 2000s,” tweeted one person in response to Evan's comment, adding. “Both deaths are tragic, but in different ways. No need to make it a contest.” And, it wasn’t just the civilians who seemed to be rather irked by Evans' comment. Philip Carter, a former army officer also hinted at being appalled by Evans's insensitivity. “This is not a healthy look for civil-military relations,” tweeted Carter.

“The military does not have a monopoly on suffering or death; insisting on the primacy of grief is inconsistent with the Army value of selfless-sacrifice,” he added. Evans however, seemed to have amassed some support within his community. A spokeswoman for Cadet Command elucidated that Evans didn't intend any disrespect in his comment and the sole purpose behind drawing comparisons was to put forth that no life is any more important than another –regardless of the celebrity status.

“As we mourn the losses of a basketball legend and of a soldier who paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving this great nation, we believe everybody's life has value and that all loss of life tragic,” Lt. Col. Nichole Downs said in a statement.

“Since we tend to connect to celebrities more, we have a tendency to forget about others who are just as important. There was no disrespect meant towards the families of the nine that were lost,” downs added.