I first want to acknowledge that we lost a great man, and a great athlete on Sunday. Way too soon. For me, and many others, it came as a shock.
Kobe Bryant was an inspiration to countless kids across the world, encouraging them to pick up a basketball, just like how Johnny Unitas inspired many young quarterbacks in the 1960’s or Babe Ruth inspired a generation of home run hitters.
He was a legend, respected by many, young and old. Even to non-Lakers fans he was a hero. For sports fans, he was the face of the NBA for 20 seasons.
A normal Sunday morning, with all on board the helicopter preparing for an afternoon of basketball, turned dark very quick.
In addition to Bryant, his daughter Gianna, 13, Orange Coast College Baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife, Kerri, their daughter Alyssa, coach Christina Mauser, mother Sarah Chester, her daughter Payton, and the pilot, Ara Zobayan, all perished in the tragic crash. All the passengers were heading to a youth basketball game and played on the same team, of which Bryant was the head coach.
Numerous basketball greats, including Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal took to social media to express their sadness as well as the great moments they had playing and getting to know Kobe.
“There are no words to express the pain I'm going through now with this tragic and sad moment of losing my niece Gigi & my friend, my brother, my partner in winning championships,” said Johnson. “My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board.”
Jordan: "I am in shock over the tragic news of Kobe's and Gianna's passing," Jordan said in a statement. "Words can't describe the pain I'm feeling. I loved Kobe -- he was like a little brother to me. We used to talk often, and I will miss those conversations very much. He was a fierce competitor, one [of] the greats of the game and a creative force. Kobe was also an amazing dad who loved his family deeply”.
Numerous teams throughout the NBA and college levels paid tribute to both Bryant and Gianna in their games on Sunday and Monday.
Following the tip-off of the Hawks-Wizards game Sunday afternoon, the Hawks took an eight second violation, and then the Wizards took a 24 second shot clock violation, honoring the two numbers Kobe wore during his time as a Laker.
Honoring Gianna, the UConn Women’s basketball team put a No. 2 jersey on the bench along with flowers for their game against Team USA on Monday night. She was a strong supporter of the team, and dreamed of one day playing in the WNBA.
The Dallas Mavericks retired the No. 24 jersey, as owner Mark Cuban announced it’ll never be worn again.
Throughout the streets of Los Angeles, especially right across the street from the Lakers’ arena, thousands of fans have gathered to show their support for the player who brought five NBA titles to their city. For many of them, Kobe was the best basketball player of all time. Best there ever will be. Perhaps Magic Johnson best described how these fans and all the others across the world were feeling when they got the news that Sunday afternoon: “Heartbroken”.
Kobe Bryant was much more than just a basketball player. He was an inspiration, leader, and trusted friend to many, whose character went far beyond the court.
Performance of the week: Kentucky Wildcats
Anytime a team who has been up and down for the past several games can go into a hostile environment and defeat the defending national runners up, they deserve some acknowledgement. That’s exactly what the Kentucky Wildcats did on Saturday afternoon, when they traveled to Lubbock and defeated the No. 18 Texas Tech Red Raiders, 76-74, in overtime. Already projected to be a top 25 showdown, this game drew fans from across the country watching it live on ESPN onto the edge of their seats as every shot, rebound or steal in the final moments could change the outcome of the game, as the score seesawed back and forth. After Kentucky’s Nick Richards calmly sank two huge free throws to break the 64-64 tie with 10 seconds left, Tech had one last opportunity to get down the floor and score. However, the Wildcats put up perhaps their best defensive stand of the ballgame, forcing Red Raiders point guard Davide Moretti to lose his dribble and lose the ball out of bounds, clinching the “W” for the Wildcats, their third straight win. The victory moved them from No. 15 to No. 13 in the nation, as they get another tough Saturday road game this week when they play Auburn at 5pm on ESPN.
Big 12/SEC Challenge produces great games
The annual Big 12/SEC challenges features 10 games and pits teams from the Big 12 against teams from the SEC. The victor of each game wins a point for their conference, and whichever conference has the most points at the end of the day wins the “challenge”. It’s really an exciting day of college basketball, and this year, featured six ranked teams. The winner? Well, there wasn’t necessarily one. Such is the potential problem with having an even number of games! It ended in a tie, with the Big 12 winning five and SEC also winning five. Throughout the seven years of this event, there have been two ties, one SEC win, and four Big 12 wins. Here’s one sentence about the top 5 games (excluding Kentucky-Tech), ranked in order from least exciting, to most exciting.
5. LSU over Texas, 69-67- Similar to how the LSU football team came to Austin back in September, and played just well enough to earn a win, their basketball team came, and despite 20 points from Andrew Jones, the Longhorns couldn’t finish the game on a high note and lost by two.
4. No. 16 Auburn over Iowa State, 80-76- It looked as if an upset might be brewing, as the underrated Cyclones from Iowa State roared back after halftime to outscore Auburn 45-38 in the second half, especially when they knocked down a three to cut it to four in the final seconds, but there simply wasn’t enough time to complete the comeback.
3. Alabama over Kansas State-Fresh off that nasty fight after the game against Kansas, the Wildcats came in with a surge of energy in what appeared to be a close matchup from the onset. With the score sawing back and forth, the teams hit a combined six straight shots with just over two minutes to play, and allowed the Crimson Tide to get out to a narrow lead that was just to hold onto the win.
2. Baylor over Florida, 72-61-It might seem odd that No. 2 on this list would be a wider scoring margin, but this was truly one of those that was closer than the score on the scoreboard, as both teams shot over 43% from the field. In the end, Baylor’s rebounding proved to be the difference as they outrebounded the Gators, 37-26.
1. Oklahoma over Mississippi State, 63-62- In a thrilling showdown that was decided in the final seconds, the Bulldogs had an open shot with five seconds left, but the ball bounced off the back of the rim, and left Mississippi State scrambling for the rebound, which in turn, ran out the final seconds and gave the Sooners a huge, but close, win.
Top 4
If the season ended today and determined the final four, here’s the four team’s I’d select.
1. Baylor
2. Kansas
3. Gonzaga
4. Louisville
The decision at No. 4 for me came down to San Diego State and Louisville. Despite both teams playing great, Louisville has beaten challenging ACC opponents, which the Aztecs haven’t done, so I went with the Cardinals.
Have a great week!
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