BEVERLY HILLS, January 26, (THEWILL) – To commemorate the one year anniversary of the saddening loss of National Basketball Association (NBA) legend Kobe Bryant, one of his closest basketball friends, Brooklyn Nets’ Point guard, Kyrie Irving made a significant fashion statement with the specific purpose of drawing attention.
The basketball world was rocked when, on Jan. 26, 2020, a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, claimed the lives of the former Los Angeles Lakers’ Shooting guard Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.
The 28-year-old Irving, who modelled his playing style after Bryant’s, never hid his fondness for the older player. The closeness between both players was manifest when Irving immediately facetimed Bryant straight from the locker room after his Cleveland Cavaliers won the Championship in 2016.
That closeness grew tighter by the year until Bryant died in January last year. Such was the devastation Irving felt by the news that he sat out of Brooklyn’s scheduled game the night of the accident. With Brooklyn not billed to play on the actual day of the anniversary, Irving unveiled his tribute on Monday.
He came in for the day’s game between the Nets and the Miami Heat at the Barclays center decked in Bryant’s No. 8 Lakers jersey as his own way of remembering and cherishing the memory of a dear friend and close companion. His was the first significant tribute for Bryant and it was fitting that it came from Irving.
Assuredly, there were a number of other gestures to honour the passing of one of the best to play the game, with the NBA All-Star Game MVP Trophy notably being renamed in his honor.
ALSO READ: Kobe Bryant’s Widow Sues Helicopter Firm Over Deaths
In the immediate aftermath of the crash, a couple of teams intentionally took eight- and 24-second violations to open games, to honour the two uniform numbers of Bryant’s Lakers career and the Lakers players wore the “Black Mamba” uniforms that he helped design throughout their championship run.
Bryant remains a revered figure among the players that played with him and those that followed him into the NBA. The gestures that will be made to commemorate his life and to honour his memory will be as long and they will be heartfelt. He touched many lives with the opportunity he had and that will be remembered for a long time to come.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
