Army general: Instead of mourning some basketball player, I'll remember a fallen soldier

While many are publicly mourning the death of former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, one U.S. Army general appeared to take exception to the level of attention paid to Bryant's death in contrast with a U.S. soldier who was recently killed in Syria, according to Business Insider.

Maj. Gen. John Evans was criticized for a controversial tweet pitting the two tragedies against one another.

"Lots of people mourning a basketball player this morning," Evans wrote Monday. "I think I'll use my energy to remember SPC Moore and his family. #RIP."

Evans shared an article from the Military Times about the death of 22-year-old Army Spc. Antonio Moore, who was killed in a vehicle accident Friday in Syria.

Evans later wrote that those criticizing him for comparing the deaths were supporting his original point, which he said was that no life should be treated as more valuable than another.

"I think my detractors here made my case for me — no life is any more important than another — regardless the celebrity," Evans wrote. "Look forward to them retweeting the story about Spc. Moore to demonstrate their conviction."

Not all military veterans appreciated Evans' way of attempting to elevate the memory of Spc. Moore.

"This is not a healthy look for civil-military relations," former Army officer Phillip Carter replied. "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."

Another veteran pointed out that Bryant's life and career carried significant meaning to him and other vets as they served their country.

"As a life long Laker fan, Kobe helped me get through deployments in the early 2000s," wrote one user in reply to Evans' tweet. "Both deaths are tragic, but in different ways. No need to make it a contest."

Bryant was killed Sunday morning in a helicopter crash in California.