The NBA fought through its grief Sunday, playing games in the wake of Lakers great Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash. The Lakers themselves will get more time to deal with the loss of one of the franchise’s legendary players before returning to the court.
The Lakers and Clippers game scheduled for Tuesday at Staples Center was postponed, the NBA announced Monday.
“The decision was made out of respect for the Lakers organization, which is deeply grieving the tragic loss of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people in a helicopter crash on Sunday,” the NBA said in a statement.
Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter were among nine killed Sunday in a Southern California helicopter crash. Bryant attended a handful of Lakers games with Gianna in recent years.
The makeup date for the game against the Clippers has not been announced. The Lakers’ next game is scheduled for Friday at home against Carmelo Anthony and the Trail Blazers.
Lakers star LeBron James and his teammates were very emotional upon landing in Los Angles and hearing the news of Bryant’s death Sunday after flying home from an East Coast road trip that included games against the Knicks and Nets.
Dwight Howard is the only current Laker to play with Bryant in LA, but many of the players knew the legend in some way. James and Anthony Davis were both members of U.S. Olympic teams with Bryant. Lakers owner Jeanie Buss was close with Bryant and team general manager Rob Pelinka was his agent during his time in the NBA.
“The Los Angeles Lakers would like to thank all of you for the tremendous outpouring of support and condolences,” the team said in a statement on Monday. “This is a very difficult time for all of us. We continue to support the Bryant family and will share more information as it is available.”
The Lakers have made grief counselors available to employees after the death of Bryant, who played 20 seasons with the franchise and won five NBA championships while reaching eight Finals.
The last time the NBA postponed a game was April 15, 2013, when the Celtics were scheduled to host the Pacers the night after the Boston Marathon bombing.
Bryant was an 18-time All-Star and 15-time All-NBA selection. James moved passed Bryant into the third place on the league’s all-time scoring list the night before the fatal crash.
