Three hundred and sixty-three days after the death of Kobe Bryant 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 winning the Chicago Bulls Saturday at the United Center, where Bryant’s idol Michael Jordan used to play. “And as devastating and as tragic as it was and still is for everyone involved, just the time. And it needs time. Everyone has their own mourning process.”
Many of the Lakers, Bryant’s family and the circle of friends that follow are in mourning, almost a year after a helicopter crash that killed Bryant, 41, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven more.
“As we approach his one-year birthday, it saddens our hearts to realize he’s gone,” Davis said. “I know I still have problems, but you still can’t believe it.”
With emotions still raw, the Lakers organization has no plans to make this Tuesday, Jan. 26, any more difficult than it would already be by placing more emphasis on the anniversary, sources told ESPN. There will be no Black Mamba uniforms worn in Cleveland on Monday, the day before the birthday, or in Philadelphia on Wednesday, the next day. There will be no formal tribute that can draw more attention to the heartbreaking details of the accident and cause more trauma than healing.
The Lakers team will continue to pay tribute to Bryant in the subtle way many of his players have had since last season: with pairs of Bryant sneakers on his feet, with a 24th toe sleeve in James’ hand, with the nickname of Bryant the group at each meeting.
“To this day, it’s‘ Mamba on three! “whenever we wear it because we still want to recognize that it’s part of our organization,” Davis said. “And since the tragedy happened, we had the mindset that this was bigger than, you know, ourselves.”
This week, James was asked about Bryant during several post-game press conferences and was invited to talk about the life of the Lakers luminary, but was reluctant to insist on the circumstances of Bryant’s death.
“I try not to put myself back in this head space, because it’s too dark,” James said, “not just for me, but for our organization and everyone involved.”
Lakers center Marc Gasol, whose older brother Pau teamed up with Bryant to win two championships, was also not prepared to publicly share his thoughts.
“I’m not comfortable talking about it,” Gasol said. “I’m sorry. Even today I’ve never really talked about it.”
But, do you explain how Bryant’s game reflected Jordan’s? This was something James weighed easily, even if only for the sake of Bryant’s basketball legacy.
“I just looked at Kobe for him,” James said. “And obviously you’ve seen a lot of similarities between him and Mike, but I appreciated Kobe’s game for Kobe’s. The way he played, the finesse he played with, his ball handling skills, the shooting, all the that he had possessed on the ground: he respected him for who he was as a player and for what he was able to bring to the ground.
“The fact that I was able to take some things from MJ and look at some of MJ’s DNA and in fact be able to do it, a lot of people try to do it, a lot of people wish they could get things out of some the big ones, implement them in their game and then succeed, they just can’t.They don’t have the ability to do it.They don’t have the drive to do it, nor the mindset to do it.But it actually goes and he did it at a high level for a very, very, very long time. And you can respect that. “
And Davis marveled at the magnitude of Bryant’s lasting impact, an influence so ubiquitous that the Lakers’ big star man never fully understood it while Bryant was still alive.
“I didn’t know it and I know it was very, very well known and popular, but I didn’t know it impacted the lives of so many people outside of basketball,” Davis said. From football to football, to players from abroad, to people who don’t even play sports, they always talk about ‘Mamba Mentality.’ I didn’t know the impact it had on everything. the world … I didn’t realize how many people impacted everyone outside of the basketball community. “
The Lakers team this season is looking to repeat the title on par with what it dedicated to Bryant’s memory.
“When the tragedy happened, it was more, you know, ‘Let’s do it for him,'” Davis said. “And that’s what we ended up doing all last year … We know we fought until in the end for a purpose, and not just for us. It was for the Bryant family. And we were able to achieve that. “
While Bryant stays in the minds and hearts of the Lakers, James said Bryant will be remembered because he is not only led by his former franchise, but by people all over the planet who thrived.
“There are a lot of things that die in this world, but legends never die, and that’s exactly it,” James said. “So it’s about representing it.”