Three hundred and sixty-three days after Kobe Bryant’s death and 104 days after winning an NBA championship in his honor, Los Angeles Lakers co-captains LeBron James and Anthony Davis reflected on the time that has passed since the world lost Bryant.
“Man, it’s a saying that time heals everything,” James said after a victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday at the United Center, where Bryant’s idol, Michael Jordan, played. And as devastating and tragic as it was and is for all of us involved, only time. And it takes time. Everyone has their own grieving process. ‘
Many among the Lakers and in Bryant’s family and close circle of friends are still in mourning, almost a year after a helicopter crash killed 41-year-old Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
“As we approach his one-year anniversary, it’s really saddening our hearts to realize he’s gone,” Davis said. “I know I still struggle with it, you just can’t believe it.”
With emotions still raw, the Lakers organization has no plans to make this Tuesday, Jan. 26, more difficult than it already will be by putting even more emphasis on the anniversary, sources told ESPN. No Black Mamba uniforms will be worn on Mondays in Cleveland, the day before the anniversary, or Wednesday in Philadelphia, the day after. There will be no formal tribute that could possibly draw more attention to the poignant details of the accident and cause more trauma than cure.
The Lakers team will continue to pay tribute to Bryant in the subtle ways many of his players have been doing since last season: wearing a pair of Bryant’s signature sneakers on their feet, with a No. 24 thimble on James’ hand, with Bryant’s nickname unifying the group in each group.
“To this day it is ‘Mamba in three!’ every time we bring it in because we still want to recognize that he’s part of our organization, ”said Davis. “And since the tragedy happened, we’ve thought this is bigger than, you know, ourselves.”
James was asked about Bryant at several post-game news conferences this week and invited a talk about the Lakers luminary’s life, but he was hesitant to dwell on the circumstances surrounding Bryant’s death.
“I’m not trying to put myself back in that free space because it’s just too dark,” said James, “not just for myself, but for our organization and everyone involved.”
Lakers center Marc Gasol, whose older brother Pau won two championships along with Bryant, was also not ready to share his thoughts publicly.
“I don’t like talking about it,” said Gasol. ‘Sorry. I’ve never really talked about it to this day. ‘
But shows how Bryant’s play reflected Jordan’s? That was something James got into easily, if only for the sake of Bryant’s basketball legacy.
“I just looked at Kobe for him,” James said. “And you clearly saw a lot of similarities between him and Mike, but I appreciated Kobe’s play for Kobe’s game. The way he played the game, the finesse with which he played, the ball handling capabilities, the shooting, everything he possessed on the floor – I respected him for who he was as a player and what he could bring to the floor.
“ The fact that he was able to take some things from MJ and look at some of MJ’s DNA and actually do it – a lot of people try to do that, a lot of people wish they could take things from some of the greats, implement them in their game and then be successful, but they just can’t. They don’t have the ability to do it. They don’t have the drive to do it, the mindset to do it. But actually it did and did it for a long, long, long time at a high level. And you can respect that. “
And Davis marveled at the magnitude of Bryant’s lasting impact, an influence so ubiquitous that the Lakers’ great man never fully understood it when Bryant was alive.
“I didn’t know, and I know he was very, very famous and popular, but I didn’t know he affected so many people’s lives outside of basketball,” Davis said. “From soccer to soccer, to players abroad, to people who don’t even play sports, they always talk about the ‘Mamba Mentality’. I didn’t know how impactful he was worldwide … I just didn’t realize how many people he worldwide outside the basketball community. “
This season’s Lakers team is looking for a repeat title to pair with the title dedicated to Bryant’s memory.
“When the tragedy happened, it was more like, you know, ‘let’s do it for him,’” Davis said. “And that’s what we all did last year. … We know we fought to the end with a goal, and it wasn’t just for ourselves. It was for the Bryant family. And we made it happen. . “
While Bryant remains in the minds and hearts of the Lakers, James said Bryant will be remembered for being carried not only by his former franchise, but by the people all over the planet in which he once thrived.
“There are many things that die in this world, but legends never die, and that’s exactly what he is,” James said. “So the point is to represent that.”