‘HE WAS SPECIAL’: NBA TRIBUTES CONTINUE FOR KOBE BRYANT
In Philadelphia, Joel Embiid paid tribute to Kobe Bryant by wearing one of his jersey numbers.
Brooklyn’s Spencer Dinwiddie and Orlando’s Terrence Ross are showing their respect by no longer doing so. Boston’s Kemba Walker is considering such a change.
And coaches around the league left their snazzy leather shoes in the office Tuesday night, wearing Bryant’s signature sneakers instead.
The games are going on — except in Los Angeles, for a couple more days anyway. So, too, is the grief after the fiery helicopter crash in Southern California on Sunday that took the life of Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others. And the tributes are continuing as well, such as the separate decisions by Dinwiddie and Ross to no longer wear the No. 8 that Bryant donned at the start of his NBA career.
“We often search for meaning in numbers,” Dinwiddie tweeted.
Dinwiddie will now wear No. 26. Ross is going back to No. 31. The moves, evidently, are simply their way of saying Bryant’s numbers — he wore No. 8 and No. 24 for the Los Angeles Lakers — should be retired. Walker said part of the reason why he isn’t sure if he’ll give up the No. 8 is that the Celtics have a large amount of already-retired numbers and that would limit his options.
Many coaches, including Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Boston’s Brad Stevens and their staffs for the Heat-Celtics game in Miami, wore Bryant’s sneakers.
Jayson Tatum saw all those qualities in Bryant. He considered him a friend, mentor, idol, hero.
“Everybody knows how much he meant to me,” Tatum said, his voice barely rising above a whisper, his eyes looking down nearly the whole time. “From somebody I really looked up to, and really was like my hero — the reason I started playing basketball. To becoming a friend and a mentor, somebody that I could talk to and help me out with a bunch of things on and off the court. It’s been a tough couple of days.”
They will stay that way for a lot of days.
A lot of days.
The new normal — an NBA world where Bryant will never be physically present again — continued the opening rounds of its evolution Wednesday, when the Lakers were scheduled to practice and then speak with reporters for the first time since the tragedy. Basketball returns to Los Angeles today when the Clippers play host to Sacramento. The Lakers play at Staples Center on Friday against Portland, in what will undoubtedly be a gut-wrenching night of emotions.
Tears will be shed that night, just as they were Tuesday when Turner Sports analysts and former NBA players Shaquille O’Neal — who won three titles with the Lakers alongside Bryant in a superstar pairing like few others — and Dwyane Wade seated at midcourt to share their memories and their anguish.