PLAYERS ARE UNITED IN GRIEF
BRYANT’S IMPACT EXTENDED BEYOND NBA TO WNBA, A LEAGUE HE CHAMPIONED
Sky center Astou Ndour couldn’t believe the news. She didn’t want to. It kept her up until 3 a.m. because she couldn’t stop thinking and crying about it. “I was in a different state,” she said. The last week has been difficult for the basketball world as it mourns the loss of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and the seven other victims of a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
Ndour, who is Spanish-Senegalese, grew up admiring Bryant from afar. And though she didn’t personally know him or his daughter, she felt as if she lost a close relative or friend.
“I felt like he was a part of my family because of the way I love him, the way he was trying to do the best thing at the right moment, practicing, teaching people, inspiring people how to play basketball, on the court and off the court,” Ndour said. “So last Sunday was so, so hard for me.”
People around the world have paid tribute to Bryant in special ways.
In Chicago, fans left jerseys and candles and drew chalk art outside the United Center. The skyline also was lit up in purple and gold. In the Philippines, artists joined together and painted a mural of Bryant and Gianna, known as Gigi, on a basketball court.
Teams have held a moment of silence before every NBA and EuroLeague game around the world. Fans have donned No. 24 and No. 8 Lakers jerseys.
At the Montpellier-Nantes game in France, Sky forward Gabby Williams, who developed a close relationship with the Bryants over the years, broke down during a tribute, dropping to her knees with her hands over the face.
Williams declined to speak to the SunTimes as she continues to process her loss.
“All around the world, they know who he is,” Ndour said.
“When you talk about the basketball community, it’s global, so everybody was touched by it,” Sky general manager and coach James Wade said. “The people here, basketball fans, when they see Americans, they want to talk about it, and they apologize to you because they know how big he was as a global icon but also to Americans in general . . . . They know for Americans it was like losing a family member.
“Everybody understood that, everybody is sensitive to this moment in time. You can see the effects here, and you can’t go anywhere on social media, whether it’s Russian athletes’ social media, French athletes’ social media, you’ll see them honoring him.”
After Bryant took a brief hiatus from basketball after his 2016 retirement, Gigi brought him back to the game. She loved playing basketball and enjoyed the grind of training.
Bryant recognized that and started doing what he could to pave a better future for Gigi by becoming a WNBA advocate.
“He meant a lot [to the WNBA], especially the last few years,” Wade said. “With his daughter, they were very much in the spotlight as far as being at games and being at college games. He was very much in the women’s basketball [scene], how he coached his daughter, them being a tag team on what they wanted and how they were going to achieve it . . . . He had a big impact on how he tried to put the league out there and how important it was to basketball.”
Bryant raised the WNBA’s profile over the last year by simply attending games and events and wearing his bright-orange WNBA sweatshirt.
There are also many stories of how Bryant worked with WNBA players such as Katie Lou Samuelson, Sue Bird, Williams and many more.
Williams called Bryant “one of the most genuine people on the planet” in a thank-you note she penned on Instagram:
“Thank you for what you’ve done for this game we love. For your kindness, humility and words,” Williams wrote. “I wish I could tell you how much every conversation meant to me because you have no idea how much it did for my belief.
“And Gigi ... god, my heart is broken. My memories of you will always be of your smile and how genuinely you loved to be a student of this game. You never expected any handouts and were ready to fight for everything you wanted.”
Before her return to the court, Williams honored Gigi on Twitter.
“Every game for the rest of my career know that you are in my heart every step of the way,” Williams wrote. “The ENTIRE world loves you, baby girl.” ✶
“I felt like he was a part of my family because of the way I love him, the way he was trying to do the best thing at the right moment, practicing, teaching people, inspiring people how to play basketball, on the court and off the court. So last Sunday was so, so hard for me.”
SKY CENTER Astou NdOUR, on the DEATH of Kobe Bryant