Mamba Mentality
Brown, 76ers draw strength from memories of Kobe Bryant
CAMDEN, N.J. >> His 76ers fighting off injuries, his championship dreams still lagging in Eastern Conference standings traffic, the Golden State Warriors ready for a Tuesday night visit, Brett Brown naturally would prepare a lengthy, detailed agenda for a Monday morning practice.
At the top of that list, there would be one item.
He would listen.
A day earlier, Kobe Bryant, the NBA icon, the son of a former Sixer, a friend to so many of Brown’s players, had died in a California helicopter crash. So that topic would come first, in a quiet area of the Sixers’ practice center, long before the basketballs would resume bouncing. Memories?
Anybody?
“In our room, you span generations,” Brown was saying. “And you span the globe. You have ‘Brazil’ talk. You have ‘Turkey’ talk. You have ‘Australia’ talk. You have a 19-year-old talk. You have a 36-year-old-talk. And so, you really hit different perspectives.”
Brown was shaken Monday, so stunned that he was reluctant to engage in much basketball talk beyond the death of Bryant. His own son, Sam Brown, plays in the Kobe Bryant Gym for Lower Merion High, and his players, almost to a man, had something personal to contribute.
Tobias Harris would talk a little about last summer, when he was working on his game at Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in California, and listening to Kobe, and realizing how much he cared about Philadelphia and the Sixers.
Brown would share memories about game-planning for Bryant and the Lakers through his many years as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs, and about how so often no defense would be sufficient.
As for Al Horford, he would mention the terror. It was always there.
“It was that fear that he used to put it in his opponents’ eyes,” Horford said. “And the only way you would get to know that is if you got to play and go against him. Very few players have that. He had it. And the only way you would know that is you got to play against him. I don’t want to make this about anything but him. So some other time I will share memories about me and him. For now, I just want to honor his greatness.”
Bryant’s impact on basketball was world-wide, so the Sixers were hardly alone in their mood Monday. Yet he was raised in the Philadelphia area, remained a devoted Eagles fan, remained loyal to Lower Merion High and was the son of Joe Bryant, who once helped the Sixers reach the NBA Finals. Elton Brand, who spent many years confronting Bryant on NBA courts, recognized that deep Philly connection and said the Sixers would do something to “commemorate” Bryant Tuesday.
It is almost certain that both the Sixers and Warriors will take either a 24-second violation or an 8-second backcourt penalty on their first possessions, in tribute to Bryant, who wore both numbers during his career. But as for Monday at the practice center, there was an emotional tug. The players were saddened by the loss of a player that some grew up watching and others grew old trying to stop. For that, according to Brown, the organization would provide any measure of necessary therapy. Yet the Sixers also had a game to prepare for, and a playoff race to resume, and a championship to be won the way Kobe Bryant always wanted championships to be won.
“It was very quiet, and very, very sad here,” said Horford, after the closed practice. “But we all got a chance to reflect on him and his life. Coach Brown put a lot of things in perspective for us. I was happy just to get together with the guys in one room. The NBA family extends, not only to the players and the coaches, but everybody who covers this every day. We feel it. It’s a real thing. And I was just glad to have support, just being with the guys. That helped me feel better.”
Soon, the gym would be buzzing with basketball noises, balls bouncing, horns blaring, sneakers squeaking, whistles sounding.
Eventually, the players began to realize, the game-goes-on spirit provided its own therapy.
“A lot of the emotions overweigh a lot of things,” Harris said. “But basketball has always been a peaceful place for me. Even getting out there today and practicing, it was just relaxing for me to get out there and compete.
“I believe it was the exact same thing for Kobe when he played, to just get out there with his teammates and to use that competitive fire with whatever else was going on. So we’ll get out and play. But at the same time, off the court, it is still a little surreal.”
It’s a feeling that could linger. But the Sixers know that the great ones have the ability to block out everything else and, on game nights, compete.
“Kobe is one of those icons I always looked up to,” Horford said. “And I always had a lot of respect for him from afar. I give a lot of credit to those teams that went out and played a game (Sunday). You’ve got to move on and honor him, and that’s something not easy to do.”
There will be moments of silence, appropriate and meaningful. There will be sadness. There will be grief. But ultimately, there will be basketball for the Sixers. It it’s intense, if it’s competitive, if it’s precise and effective, it will be the best tribute to a player who never played it any other way.