Sharing ‘Mamba moments’
All-Star MVP award gets renamed in Kobe’s honor
CHICAGO — From the tributes all around the city at venues NBA-related and otherwise, to the purple and gold wave of clothing that has adorned those on this chilly weekend, Kobe Bryant is very much a presence here.
The league on Saturday formally announced what had been anticipated soon after the Jan. 26 helicopter crash that killed the 41year-old Laker legend, his daughter Gigi and seven others — that the All-Star game MVP award will henceforth be named for Bryant. But there are other remembrances, both NBA-generated (e.g. patches on the All-Star jerseys) and more personal (messages on players’ sneakers).
And while there was still a great deal of straight hoop talk about matchups and dunks and how things will go the rest of this season, one was never more than a moment away from Kobe entering the conversation.
“Of course,” said Celtic Jayson Tatum of the Bryant “presence.” “It’s still very fresh in people’s minds and people’s hearts. So he’s definitely a big presence. There’s so many Kobe jerseys here and tributes, as there should be.”
His Celtic teammate here is also affected by the situation.
“Very emotional, of course. With the tragic death of Kobe and Gigi and the rest of the families on the plane, David Stern, it’s definitely a very emotional weekend,” said Kemba Walker, adding the former commissioner, who died on Jan. 1 after suffering a brain hemorrhage some three weeks prior. “And we have to celebrate those guys and everyone else as best as we can. They meant so much to our game. They grew the game so much, and we all just have a lot of respect for them.”
“We know that he’s watching over us,” said LeBron James of Bryant, addressing the throng at the media session. “It’s our responsibility to just represent the purple and gold not only for him but for all the greats, everybody that’s ever come through the Lake Show. I really don’t want to sit up here and talk about it too much. It’s a very, very sensitive subject, but he’s with us every day.
“For us to be able to honor Kobe Bryant and his legacy, it’s a beautiful time. Even in loss, it’s a beautiful time. So just happy to be a part of this weekend.”
Tatum spent part of the summer before last working out with Bryant and developing a relationship, something that no doubt factored into the Celtic making the All-Star game in just his third season.
“It’s tough,” Tatum said, “because I know I would have talked to him about it. It’s just … it’s tough.”
What’s amazing is how so many of these guys feel mentored by him and how all seem to have a personal Mamba moment.
Kemba Walker talked of speaking with Kobe at the captain’s center court meeting before a Hornets-Lakers
game and how Bryant “told me keep going. I thought that was pretty special, pretty special for me.”
Asked the nature of his relationship with Kobe, Giannis Antetokounmpo said, “A guy that mentored me in the last few years of my career, a guy that was always there for me. In the regular season, the playoffs, a guy that told me that whenever I need something, I could just reach out to him, and he was really always there. If I needed something, he would text me back, call me.
“Growing up, he was my idol. Not just my idol, probably the whole generation, a lot of people my age. For us, he was the Michael Jordan of our generation. He was one of those guys that gave back to the game so much, gave back to the players. A lot of people when they’re so great, they don’t do that.
“There was a quote that said that talent is worthless if you’re not willing to share it, right? And he was one of those guys that was sharing his talent with us, and he’s going to be definitely missed.”
Anthony Davis paused to consider his favorite Bryant All-Star memory.
“I have so many,” he said. “I think the last one. I think the last one we shared was great. It was at Toronto. It was actually knowing that that was his final All-Star. We kind of shared that moment.
“And then I think in (2014), when I was a first-time All-Star. I think he got injured and I was his replacement. He told me to go out there and make him look good because I was replacing him. He was by me the whole time. I was in New Orleans, and he was just telling me like, ‘You’ll be fine.’ I was nervous, obviously, and he was right there just kind of holding my hand through it.”
Tatum took some big lessons away from his Kobe interactions.
“The first thing that comes to mind is, you know, how much does it mean to you to be great?” he said. “How hard are you willing to work? How much are you willing to sacrifice to be as great as you can?”
Walker found the same message. “One of the things he always preached about was just hard work,” Kemba said. “That’s one thing that always stood out to me about Kobe, his Mamba Mentality obviously. That was pretty special. … He was a very, very, very hard worker, and you could tell. Fourth quarter came, I feel like everybody else is always tired and Kobe wasn’t, you feel me? So, yeah, he was a special guy.”
Walker spoke more about Bryant’s hard work mantra and added, “I think that helped me as a kid. I just wanted to try my best to work as hard as him, and it definitely paid off.”
Much of this NBA All-Star Weekend is about paying back.