A night to remember
Pregame tribute to Kobe Bryant Friday left basketball world in tears.
LOS ANGELES — The lights dimmed. The chants rang out. Ko-be! Ko-be! Then, M-V-P! M-V-P! For the 19,000plus who packed Staples Center on a somber Friday night, those things were probably expected.
The heartfelt moments that followed came in waves, inducing unpredictable emotions in the building and all over Southern California.
Usher stood in the spotlight at center court, singing “Amazing Grace” with his eyes closed. Los Angeles philharmonic cellist Ben Hong set the background music during a stirring video tribute. Boyz II Men wore gold No. 8 jerseys and sang the national anthem. A fan yelled “Jesus loves you, Kobe!” before the crowd broke into chants of “Gi-Gi! Gi-Gi!” to honor Kobe Bryant’s 13-yearold daughter, Gianna, one of the eight who died alongside the Lakers legend in a helicopter crash Sunday morning.
After all of that, the Lakers, a franchise forced to grieve the star shooting guard who helped to add five NBA championship banners to the rafters above, had one more surprise in store.
LeBron James stepped to center court. It was he who read the names of the nine who departed tragically in Calabasas.
James, who is in his second season with the Lakers and passed Bryant to take third place on the NBA’s alltime scoring list Saturday night, held a small piece of white paper but quickly tossed it aside.
“I got something written down. They asked me to stay on course, but Laker Nation, I would be selling y’all short if I read off this ... so I’m going to go straight from the heart,” he said.
“The first thing that comes to mind, as I look around this arena, we’re all grieving, we’re all hurt, we’re all heartbroken, but when we’re going through things like this, the best thing you can do is lean on the shoulders of your family.
And from Sunday morning until this point, I’ve heard about Laker Nation and how much of a family it is, and that is absolutely what I’ve seen this whole week. This is really, truly a family.
“Now, I know at some point we will have a memorial for Kobe, but I’m looking at this as a celebration tonight. This is a celebration of the 20 years, of the blood, the sweat, the tears, the brokendown body, the getting up, the sitting down, the countless hours, the determination to be as great as he could be. Tonight we celebrate the kid that came here at 18 years of age, retired at 38 and became probably the best dad that we’ve seen over the last three years, man.”
“In the words of Kobe Bryant, Mamba out,” he told the fans, “But in the words of us, not forgotten. Live on, brother.”
Lawrence Tanter, the Lakers’ longtime public-address announcer, soon used the same introduction for all five of the team’s starters, repeating it for each player: “No. 24, 6-6, 20th season from Lower Merion High School, Kobe Bryant.”
The Lakers began the game with a 24-second shot clock violation, and the Portland Trail Blazers followed with an eight-second backcourt violation.
Then, somehow, the Lakers and Blazers played a game of basketball. Portland won 127-199, led by an inspired Damian Lillard who had 48 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds. James had 22 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds.
As his post-game news conference closed, James recalled a recent conversation with his wife, Savannah, about Bryant’s relationship with his wife, Vanessa, and four daughters, including Gianna.
“Seeing Kobe playing the game of basketball for 20 years,” James recounted, “you know what’s crazy? Out of all the success he had ... I felt like the last three years were the happiest I’ve ever seen him. Being able to be with his daughters and his family.”