Getty Dwight Howard with Kobe Bryant.
Few players embody their team as much as Kobe Bryant embodied the Los Angeles Lakers. His death leaves a massive hole within Laker nation and there’s nothing that could possibly fill it. Kobe was very involved with the current purple and gold squad so his death affected the players greatly.
Dwight Howard had his ups and downs with Kobe when they briefly played together, but he dedicated the current Lakers season to him.
Howard was trying to enlist Kobe into helping him with this year’s dunk contest. Unfortunately, the world will never see that idea come to fruition. It’s no secret that the two men didn’t always see eye to eye when they played on the same team, but it’s good they were able to bury the hatchet long before Kobe met his end.
Danny Green never played with Kobe, but he played against quite a bit throughout his career. Now that he’s playing in Los Angeles, he was able to interact with the legend more. He also dedicated the season to Kobe and the others who lost their lives in the crash.
Lakers Providing Grievance Counselors for Staff
Kobe’s impact transcended the basketball court. While he was idolized by hundreds of people who ended up playing basketball, he also inspired many who weren’t athletically inclined. Kobe was a huge figure within the Lakers organization. He had two different jersey numbers retired and definitely has a statue being built very soon. Thanks to his consistent involvement with the franchise, he made many personal relationships with people all over the staff. The Lakers decided it would be good to bring in grief counselors, according to Dave McMenamin.
Kobe Bryant wasn’t just a Lakers player, he was a 20-year Laker employee that had many relationships with other Laker employees. As such, the team has brought in grief counselors to the office today to provide comfort and guidance in both group and 1-on-1 sessions, per a source
It’s hard to put into words exactly how much Kobe meant to the team. No amount of grief counseling is going to fill that void. However, his death doesn’t take away the millions of lives he affected. His impact will continue long after his tragic death.
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Lakers Were on Plane When They Found out the News
There’s no right time to find out your hero has died. For the Lakers team, they were on their way back from Philadelphia, Kobe’s hometown, when Frank Vogel delivered the news, per Ohm Youngmisuk.
Some of the Lakers staff got word about Kobe Bryant on the team flight back to Philadelphia. Frank Vogel then talked to the players and let them know. Monday practice obviously has been canceled as the organization mourns.
There’s no doubt that it was a somber flight home and it came just hours after LeBron James passed Kobe on the all-time NBA scoring list. It’s true that Kobe will never be replaced and they’ll never be anybody like him. All the Lakers can do is make sure to honor him the way he would’ve wanted. That would require winning another title.
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