REMEMBERING KOBE
For this generation of NBA players, Kobe was their Jordan
Dennis Schroder's s hoes glinted as he dribbled out the shot clock.
They were metallic. Golden, to be specific. Kobe EXT basketball shoes.
Schroder held the ball as the final seconds ticked off the clock. Twenty-four seconds in all. The horn sounded.
The Thunder and Mavericks followed the precedent set in Sunday' s games—played hours after Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash — and took an eight-second and a 24-second violation to honor Bryant at the beginning of the game. Eight and 24 were the two numbers he wore in his 20- season career with the Lakers.
“I'll take that turnover, for sure, anytime,” Schroder said after the Thunder's 107- 97 loss to the Mavericks on Monday. “It's just to honor him for what he did for the game for basketball, for the NBA.”
Bryant' s 13- year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other people, also died in the crash.
The Thunder missed its chance to move up in the Western Conference standings. But Sunday's tragedy put the game's outcome into focus.
The Thunder missed i ts chance to move up in the Western Conference standings. But Sunday's tragedy put the game's outcome into focus.
Basketball was Bryant's passion, but when he retired, he embraced other passions: fatherhood, story telling, advocacy.
There were tributes to Bryant throughout the night, from a moment of silence before the game, to the shoes players wore, to the Bryant jersey Shai Gilgeous-Alexander arrived at Chesapeake Energy Arena wearing.
Veteran point guard Chris Paul missed Monday's game for personal reasons. It was just a game. So, Schroder started in his place for the first time this season.
The German inter national honored Bryant with a 24-second violation, a pair of gold Kobe sneakers and his play. Schroder finished the night with a team-leading 21 points. He also added seven rebounds and six assists.
The beginning of Schroder's NBA career overlapped with Bryant' s last three seasons. But Bryant also had a global reach, even beyond his stardom.
“I have my basketball camp every summer for the past 10 years in Italy,” Danilo Gallinari said. “There's some kids with my jersey, but there's even more kids with his.”
Bryant spoke multiple languages, including Italian, fluently and was known to use phrases in his opponents' native languages toge tin their heads.
Even in retirement, Bryant surprised Mavericks star Luka Doncic by speaking in Slovenian from his courtside seats during a game he attended with Gianna earlier this season.
On Monday, Doncic l ed his team to victory with 29 points and 11 rebounds. And Schroder willed his into comeback spurts that f ell short in the end.
The third quarter provided a perfect example.
Sc hr oder assisted a Gilgeous-Alexander 3-pointer, scored on a backdoor cut, and drained a 3 of his own during an 11-0 run. OKC cut Dallas' lead to five points. Then, three and a half minutes later, Schroder was tasked with guarding Doncic as he drove to the rim. Schroder contested the shot under the basket, grabbed there bound and made a transition 3-pointer on the other end.
Despite several such pushed, the Mavericks held onto their lead through the final three quarters.