Erik Spoelstra on Kobe Bryant: ‘This has been a horrible 24 hours.’
The two teams are on opposite sides of the country and separated by conference lines.
But the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers share plenty of connections. Heat president and former Lakers coach Pat Riley is at the center of a lot of them, but so is Lakers great Kobe Bryant.
A rivalry between Shaquille O’Neal and Bryant that began when the Lakers traded O’Neal to the Heat. Bryant’s memorable battles against Heat legend Dwyane Wade. And even Bryant’s famous late-night shooting session on the AmericanAirlines Arena court following a loss to the Heat in March 2011.
All of those memories and shared experiences had current and former Heat players, coaches and executives reflecting on Bryant’s life after he was killed Sunday along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
Just minutes before Monday’s game between the Heat and Magic at AmericanAirlines Arena, the Heat honored Bryant and Gianna with a tribute video that included various highlights from Bryant’s playing career and ended with a photo of Bryant and Gianna. Then there were 24 seconds of silence in the arena, honoring the No. 24 jersey Bryant wore for the second part of his career. The crowd capped the pregame tribute off with chants of “Kobe!”
The Bryant tribute continued at the start of the game, when the Heat took a 24-second violation on the first possession and the Magic followed by taking an eight-second violation on the next possession in honor of the two jersey numbers Bryant wore during his NBA career.
Even the AmericanAirlines Arena marquee was used to pay tribute, as it displayed a rotating series of photos of Bryant and Gianna throughout the day Monday.
“This has been a horrible 24 hours,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said in advance of Monday’s game. “As a parent, it absolutely crushes your heart to think about this. When something like this happens, it can be so wrong and so arbitrary. We found out about it literally as we were leaving the building yesterday after practice and I immediately went home and spent time with my family and we just immersed ourselves in watching for about three hours. It just got worse and worse.
“It’s just tragic and our hearts go out to all the families. I think we can all relate to that as parents. That’s just absolutely tragic and heartbreaking.”
For Heat guard Dion Waiters, the past 24 hours have been full of tears. Waiters, who has gone by the nickname Kobe Wade in the past, looked up to Bryant as a fellow Philadelphia native.
“He meant everything, just what he embodied, his leadership, the mentality,” Waiters said. “He just set the tone for a lot of guys coming up. That’s by far probably the hardest part for me. I don’t think I’ve cried that much in a long time, since my little brother passed.
“’It’s just sad, man, being a father. I have two daughters. And that love was unconditional. She was always on his hip. She wanted to be just like him. That’s what hits me. It kept hitting me last night. I had to get out of the house. I was just crying non-stop. It just hit me different.”
Waiters remembers texting Bryant when he first entered the NBA. And to Waiters’ surprise, he received a text right back.
“He texted right back,” Waiters said. “He told me the little things, what to expect and what to do and try to maintain. He didn’t have to do that. As soon as I texted him, he texted me right back.”
The Heat played Monday’s home game against the Magic as scheduled, but the NBA announced that Tuesday’s game between the Lakers and Clippers at Staples Center is postponed. The Heat’s game against the Celtics on Tuesday was moved from 7:30 p.m. to an 8 p.m. start.
“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.
In a three-minute video posted to Instagram hours after Bryant’s passing, a clearly emotional Wade spoke about what Bryant meant to him and his family.
“Today is one of the saddest days in my lifetime,” said Wade, who is considered one of the league’s top shooting guards along with Bryant. “It’s a nightmare. I know we all feel the same way about such a great leader, a great champion, a great person. If you got a chance to really know Kobe, ain’t nobody better, man. Emotions are all over the place. These are the moments when you ask why. My heart, thoughts go out to Kobe’s family, his daughter Gigi. This is a sad day. There’s no way around it.
“My family and I have been sharing Kobe stories. We have so many moments that he has given us and we’re so thankful for those moments. I’m thankful for those moments, man. He’s one of my favorite players, and I got a chance to have a relationship, a friendship. I’m going to miss that friendship. I’ve said it many times, when Kobe retired from the game of basketball, he left a hole in the game of basketball. He left a hole in my wanting to play. Because when I came into the league, I chased him. That’s who I chased. I wanted to be respected by him. Once I reached that level, I knew I did something. Kobe, thank you, man.”
Wade, who retired at the end of last season, developed a close friendship with Bryant during his NBA career. The two were teammates on the USA Basketball team that won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and they also faced off in 20 games during their legendary NBA careers.
Wade won 11 of his 20 head-to-head matchups against Bryant, earning Bryant’s respect along the way. The two were even involved in some physical play in the 2012 All-Star Game that ended with Wade unintentionally breaking Bryant’s nose.
For Wade, those moments he shared with Bryant will live forever.
“Thank you for all the memories. We got a lot of good ones,” Wade said. “These tears that we’re crying, we’re going to miss you. It’s not leaving today, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now. We’ll forever miss you, man. You are our legend, you are our icon, you’re a father, you’re a husband, you’re a son, you’re a brother, you’re a friend. Thank you for being my friend. I love you, brother.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 11:14 AM.
