By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Sunday was a tough day all around the NBA. The coming days will be equally challenging for everybody involved with the league including the head coaches. Kobe Bryant dying in a helicopter crash has shocked the entire basketball world.
“All of us know what a great player he was, but he went beyond great playing,” said San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, “He was a competitor that goes unmatched, and that’s what made him as a player so attractive to everybody; that focus, that competitiveness, that will to win.”
“We all feel a deep sense of loss for what he meant to all of us in so many ways, and so many millions of people loved him for so many different reasons,” he added, “It’s just a tragic thing. There are no words that can describe how everybody feels.”
“We’re all Lakers today” mentioned Los Angeles Clippers boss Doc Rivers struggling to hold his tears.
“I’m just going to make a brief statement on behalf of the Nets organization. We’d like to express our sincerest condolences to the Bryant family and everybody affected by the tragedy,” voiced Brooklyn Nets head coach, Kenny Atkinson, “As an organization, we’re devastated. Our players are devastated.”
“He was a difference-maker for so many in the NBA world and the basketball world,” summed up Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins, “The legacy he leaves is well beyond the basketball floor and the court. It is what he did globally to impact and spark a new generation to fall in love with the game of basketball and falling in love with competition itself.”
Heavy memories
Lloyd Pierce got emotional when revealing that his cousin died in a helicopter crash in 1998 and that his widow attends the Atlanta Hawks games. “It’s hard,” confessed the head coach of the Hawks, “Our locker room’s shaken, the NBA’s shaken, the community is shaken, everyone is. Because at the end of the day, you respect what he’s been able to accomplish for so many years, in so many different ways.”
Phil Jackson: “He went beyond the veil”
Kobe’s former head coach with the Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson, released a statement: “The crash was a tragedy for multiple families. My heart goes out to Vanessa and the families that lost loved ones, Kobe was a chosen one, special in many ways to many people. Our relationship as coach/player transcended the norm. He went beyond the veil.”