The Ringer NBA Show - Grappling With the Death of Kobe Bryant | The Mismatch

Episode Date: January 28, 2020

We try to come to terms with the life and death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant after a tragic helicopter crash killed him, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people in Calabasas, California, on Sunday. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Varney and joining me as he does every Tuesday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor. Kevin, today is one of those days that I think like many shows have said, you never expect that you are going to be talking about the subject that you are talking about. It has been a few days since the passing of Kobe Bryant. And no matter what you are doing, whether you are watching any kind of a screen, whether it is your phone or whether it is your television. or whatever it may be, the tributes have continued and the celebration of his life has continued and yet the grief has clearly still continued throughout the entire NBA community. If you can, let's start with, where were you on Sunday? Because I think it's one of those things, you know, people have these moments in their life where they will never forget where they were. Where were you? I was just home.

taking care of my parents just helping out here and saw the TMZ report out there. And I'm like, there's, there's no way this is real. There's no way. Not Kobe. There's just how young he is right now. You know, he's only 41 years old. There's just no chance it's real. And the more news that came out, the more and more real it felt and the more and more heartbreaking it felt.

And I've never, I've never personally felt this affected by. any celebrity death or death of an athlete. And, you know, part of that's because of who Kobe was. He just always felt invincible. He was always somebody who kept coming on the court. He's somebody who put his all into pursuing his dreams as a player and mastering his craft and after a player with what he did with the documentary that won the, with the short film that won the Oscar, with his media company and with the,

the detail he had on ESPN with everything that he was doing with his foundation off the court. He was somebody that always went in full pursuit of his dreams. It just seemed like not Kobe. But then when you hear about the fact that he was with his daughter, Gianna, and the fact that her teammates and other families were on their plane, just trying to take their kids to do something that they love to do, a group of nine people just trying to go take kids to do something that they love. That's something that really affected me because.

like I'm not a parent, but I'm a son of two amazing loving parents and you as well as our son and a father. Like we're fortunate to have families that over the years we've gone on those trips to games or events or just to go meet with our friends when we're kids and you you never imagine it's not even a fear because it's buried so deep that something that should just be a good day, just a normal good day, can. end just so tragically. And to see that happen to the Bryant's and to see the other families that were affected on that day, it's, it just, it brings a fear to life that is something that

you don't even really think about. And I've woken up each of the past today is on Monday and this morning on Tuesday. First thing I was thinking about is Kobe and Gianna and the families that were affected. It's just, it brings to life a fear that should be unimaginable. This is something that should not happen and yet here here we are yeah you know i it's crazy because you talk about i i have a son and i have a daughter and i was actually because we've been having these blood wars in two k between each other i was i was playing with him because he had beat me the last time prior to then i was going to have to go and shower and get ready because i was going to be part of the Grizzly Suns broadcast on Sunday. And I typically have my phone on a portable

charger if I'm even walking away. You know, I'll have it. I'll have it with me in case anything happens. And for whatever reason on Sunday, I just left it downstairs. And I was like, I'll get it whenever I've got to get ready because I was going to go play against him. And we played these games. And I went downstairs and I had over 40 missed text messages in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. I mean, like, something happened, right? And immediately when I opened it up, I start scrolling through and I just dropped my phone. I could not, I couldn't fathom it.

And then obviously afterwards, you hear the story about his daughter, which that, it just killed me. I mean, it's still, every time I think about it, it kills me. My daughter played her first game on the first game that I could go to. She had played prior, but I had a game that night, so I wasn't able to go. And so her first game was on Friday night, and she's six years old. And I told her, I grabbed her before the game. And I said, I'll give you five bucks for every point you score. And she made a jumper in the game.

And I mean, you would have thought they won the title, right? I mean, she was, she was going absolutely crazy. And then for the last, you know, two days, she's been saying, where's my 10 bucks? You owe me 10 bucks? I keep telling her, I don't have any cash, you know? And I just, like, it just drives me crazy to think about, you know, that and you see that relationship that he had with his daughter. And so it just hit me like a ton of bricks. So I go to the game and nobody knows what to do with a broadcast.

Our producers constantly in communication with us. Fox is in communication with us. We end up doing, we're doing a pregame show for a game that nobody wants to be there. And they end up, we end up doing our entire first segment and the majority of our pregame show on Kobe. So now I'm thrown into this position where it's kind of like nobody's really processed this yet. and yet you're there talking about it and I will never as long as I live forget this visual.

I am walking up. So I've got to walk out to do the pregame show or walk up to, our pregame show is in the lobby of the FedEx Forum. And I'm walking up and I walk out and I see Devin Booker and this is going to be burned in my mind forever. Kevin, he is bawling while he is warming up.

He's warm. I mean, I'm getting chills thinking about it. I mean, there's tears running down his face as he is shooting. And he's got a pair of Kobe's on it that he has written be legendary across, which is what Kobe's message to him had been. And I mean, I don't think as long as I ever live, I'll probably see something like that. And it will stick with me for the rest of my life, you know, just being in that moment and thinking, how is anybody going to play in this game? I mean, you see all the players on the bench, their heads are in their hands.

nobody you just didn't have any time to process it and you know being the true professionals are there was still a basketball game that was played on Sunday and then you get to the post game and you talk about the game obviously but the game is you know I mean like we had Kyle Anderson on Kyle Anderson is a kid from Jersey like Kobe and Kyle Anderson spent you know his college years at UCLA um and then played against him you know with the spurs and it's like nobody's thinking about what just happened in that game. They had to go play that game. And then you've seen the outpouring over the course of the last 48 hours from the NBA. And I think that it's not just you, it's not just me. It's frankly, everybody in this country and especially the basketball world,

we're kind of all going through this for the first time, you know? It's remarkable how many players he touched, either directly or indirectly. Because with the, the, spirit he played with and the heart he put into mastering what he could become as a player. Because Kobe, of course, is naturally gifted, right, with his height and his athleticism. But he was a master of work. He is somebody who mastered his craft. He was so fluid on the court. He could create and get to his spots better than any player, really in this generation,

in his generation of players. And that was a model for so many other players to follow. but ultimately the best lesson he seemed to pass down to a lot of these players is just the mindset that he operated with. And of course, a lot of players are fortunate to get to connect with him that are currently in the NBA, that are in college or high school right now and have aspirations of someday becoming an NBA player. But it's like you said, it's more than just the players. It's more than just the game itself. It's the amount of people that were just affected by him as a person with the way he lived and followed and pursued his craft.

I saw a video posted on Twitter the other day of a Lakers fan just talking about how Kobe's mindset really tried to teach him. He spoke of him as like a father figure as somebody who could, he followed his example in his own life with trying to work hard to try to provide for his family. family. And that's something that a lot of Lakers fans and Kobe fans around the world, not just here in the United States, not just in Los Angeles, but around the world, we're able to try to adapt. And it shows the power of just, even if you don't know a person, if you've never met them, they don't know who you are, you can still make a difference for people. And that's something Kobe was able to do for so many people around the world, without even knowing them. And that's what makes these couple days so powerful for so many people around the world. And it just shows the importance of setting that example. I also think that there are, and I believe it was when Chris Ryan and Bill Simmons were talking about this right after it happened. There was something that was said. And it was something to the effect of, and I'm paraphrasing, they're talking about conjuring up emotions. And, you know, I've thought about that a lot and about

how he was different than almost any other athlete because no matter who it was you were talking to, there was some, there was some opinion about him and he made you feel something. He might have made you feel love. He might have made you feel hate, resentment, jealousy, admiration, whatever it was. Sometimes all at once too. Yeah, right. Like whatever it was. Oh, look, and I posted about this after it happened after I could collect my thoughts. I mean, I rooted so hard against him. I rooted so hard against him. Not the, not the Kobe Shack Lakers, but especially once, you know,

Paugasol went to the Lakers. I didn't want him to get to go win. You know what I mean? I didn't want him to get to go win. And Kobe Bryant, I had watched him rip out the hearts over and over again until a year ago. And it wasn't just, you know, you get to thinking, and I was like, I wonder if this was like this in every market, because obviously I saw him play dozens of times. And I went and looked up, and like his lowest scoring average versus any team was like, I think it was 22. And, you know,

it went all the way up from there. And so he was one of those guys that like when you went out of your way and people did go out of their way to buy tickets to go see him in person, you almost always saw him perform until a year ago. He held the three highest scoring games ever against the Grizzlies. And I was at him. One of them, you know, Shane Badiere is this great young defender out of Duke, right? And he's going to be the kind of guy that you can throw in and you can match up with Kobe Bryant. And this is early in his career, early 2000s, first or second year. Kobe came in and dropped 56 points on him in three quarters and sat down. And it was one of the most unbelievable things.

I mean, I was like, okay, well, I guess Badi is not the guy that's going to slow him down for us. And then I saw, I mean, he had 60 one night when I was in the arena. And like, it was more often than not when you went to go watch him play, he was worth the price of admission. and whether you were rooting against him or rooting for him, you knew that you were watching something spectacular. And I never had anything, but just immense admiration for him because I knew he was, and the other thing that was odd about him that we don't see often, everybody now wants to be liked.

And he loved being the villain. He loved it. There are these clips that I was watching yesterday of him saying, you know, he was, he was fueled by the booze. You know, I'm an out, you know, I'm already an outsider coming in there. And people don't understand. That just makes me even more comfortable when you're booing me. And, and he was ready to try to rip your heart out.

You know, you, you paid money to go to that game to watch your team win, and he was, he was going to ruin that for you, right? You know what I mean? And he, and he didn't care. He couldn't care less that you, right? Like, you just got your heart ripped out. In fact, he reveled in it. And just a special athlete, not to mention, Kev, easily, I mean, I was talking about this yesterday, maybe one of the top 10 most famous people in the world.

Sure. I mean, there's my six-year-old daughter, if you asked her who Kobe is, she would tell you he's a basketball player. And my 71-year-old mother would do the same. And everyone in between. You know, my sister reached out to me when he died, you know? My sister didn't grow up being a sports fan. And it was, it's like everybody has some kind of opinion, some kind of feeling that they felt about this guy. And I think that more than anything is why it's unlike really anything we've been through as a country almost.

Outside of, you know, national tragedy that took place, which is like, you know, you feel like in times like this, it brings people together. It makes people realize the fragility of life, whatever it may be. But it's been a while. You know, and you're speaking about the game. I've been thinking a lot this week about the first time I saw Kobe live. And it was this week 13 years ago, January 31st, 2007. And that was the game where Kobe went to Boston and he scored 43 points. And at the end of the game, there was MVP chance in the garden for Kobe Bryant.

And I was, I remember taking the train in with my dad and just seeing all these purple and gold jerseys and games we had been through before were never like that. There were, I never seen so many fans of an away team in the garden. But that night, like there was a whole row of Lakers fans in front of us. They got sprayed with silly string by Lucky Lepricon, the mascot for being Lakers fans. And they had said to us at one point, like they traveled, I forget from where this was so long ago from Florida or something like that. just to see Celtics Lakers and Kobe Bryant in person. And this is like one of the lowest lows of the Celtics at the time. This was their 13th of 19 losses in a row.

And Kobe Bryant comes in this building as has just ridiculous game. 43 points, like I said, on 25 shots hit 7 3-pointers, which was a lot at the time, at 8 assists 2. And it was one of the most magnificent performances I had seen at the time ever. You know, I've only 16 years old. and a year later, Celtics become this great team and they win the finals, but of course facing Celtics Lakers in the finals in 08, winning that and the tears of joy,

my dad and I shared after winning the finals in 2010 with Kobe and the Lakers getting revenge with your guy, Paul Gasol. It's one of the reasons why I've grown to be such a fan of the game of basketball is because of Kobe Bryant, because of the respect you had for him as a player, but also the fear you had in watching a guy like him go against your team, knowing what he was capable of. And knowing anything was possible because of his brilliance.

And your experience will be different than mine because Boston, but I mean, I was thinking about one of the reasons I had such, you know, visceral reactions and fear to him coming in were because at the very beginning, you know, in a small market, you're talking like those early 2000 Laker teams, they come in. you're talking 70% of the crowd is Laker fame. It's a home game. You know what I mean?

And you see all these people in Shaq jerseys and Kobe jerseys and it's like, get the hell out of here. Like what? You know what I mean? Like, and it was like that his whole career, you're, I mean,

you would just have seas of purple and gold in, in your home arena. And people, and everything he did, people going absolutely crazy and cheering. And I thought to myself, I'm like, you know, was this like this

everywhere else? I went and looked it up. Just for a coincidence thing, I went and looked up. The most points anybody ever scored versus the Memphis Grizzlies, it's Kobe Bryant, and it's over 200 points more than everybody

else, including the next four are, I mean, it's a who's who. It's Dirk, Duncan, Durant, and Garnett. And, you know, Dirk, Duncan, and Duran they played in, you know, playoff series,

long playoff series versus a couple different times. And if you add in all of their playoff points, you don't get to Kobe's number. Somebody that they never faced in the playoffs. Like so, you know, when I was trying to think back, like,

why did I always, you know what I mean? There was always a million Kobe fans. And it felt like he was always just destroying everyone. It's because he was. He was. did it over and over again. And I'm sure that's not just a story of me in a small market. That is the story of NBA fans that have gone to games for the last 20 years, right?

That you, you have a memory of it, Kev. I have a memory of it. And virtually, you know, everybody that regularly goes to NBA games, you've got some kind of, you've got some kind of memory of that taking place. And I, and I was thinking about, this too. You know, one of the saddest portions of all of this is, I believe it was Solomon Hill, one of the veterans on the team was talking after the game. And he's really smart, well-thought-out guy. And he said, you know, he made me think about something that I had.

And he said, you know, we watch these guys grow old. You know, we go home and we turn on T&T and we see Charles Barkley and we see Shaquillo or we see Jerry West talking about things or we'll see Bill Russell at a game, uh, you know, here and there. Or we turn on the jump and it's Scotty Pippin and it's Tracy McGrady and like we watch people age. We watch them talk about the game when it was them. Like they don't get taken from us. And I was and and I had not thought about it from that angle, but he's so right. Like I honestly, I can't remember somebody that we didn't get to grow old with, you know?

That, like, you know, they were tired. And then there are players that have suffered tragedy, you know, obviously there's Roy Halliday and baseball before we were born Roberto Clemente. But it's different now where it's like their whole life has played out in front of us for 20 years. And then we just expect that we're just going to watch them get old like we do, you know? Well, and that's a part of it. that affects everybody so much here. Bill Simmons alluded to this on his podcast with Chris Ryan,

but seeing him from the start coming into the league at 17 years old, we've seen him grow up. And so many celebrities and so many athletes are portrayed as this artificial perfection that we should strive to be. And there were aspects of Kobe Bryant as a person that people could idolize and try to adapt in their own lives. but there are also aspects of him that were complex and difficult and sometimes to some people very ugly. And that's what made him so complicated and so human in a world in which so many, like I said,

so many celebrities are made up to be something that they're not to be. It's very phony in a way. But Kobe was anything but that. And for someone who had the stage that he had, the platform that he had and was the star that he was, for him to to die at 41 and the way that he did in the tragic way that he did it for every single person it puts into perspective just how no person is exempt from anything not you not me nobody not Kobe nobody is and and that that to me seeing a human a person with great characteristics a human who is flawed just a a human

pass away like that just really puts into perspective the fragility of life and how much we need to cherish our time on this earth and to live with the amount of love that we possibly can and to tell the people that we love, you got to tell your loved ones that you love them. And that's one thing that I've tried to do so much this past year with the stuff in my personal life with my family, with my friends, and to see the outpouring, you know, of support for Kobe and his family. And, you know, Kendrick Perkins saying he wants to bury the beef with KD and so many other people saying, like, we just got to try to love others. That if there's anything good that can come

from this, I hope it's that is that just people are going to try to make the most of their time on this earth because it's not promised to anybody. If it's not promised to Kobe, it's not promised to anybody else. That's just something that's been on my mind. Yeah. Well, I mean, I saw Mark Cuban allude to this the other day, and I hope that we can remember the way it brought so many people together. You know what I mean? Sometimes it is grieving that ends up bringing people together. And, you know, you think about post-9-11 and you remember what that was like. And this is obviously different.

But it is like in these times of tragedy, people then you start to remember how, insignificant the things that sometimes we argue or think, you know, we, we can't stand each other, whether it's like, you feel this way about politics and I feel this way about politics. And so I hate you and you're, you know, right? And like this and so many of the things that in the end, it's like, did it really matter? You know what I mean? Was it worth the amount of energy that I spent caring about something, you know, or being upset about something because I think that I, I, I'll tell you, man, I really, I got very, very emotional. Shaquille O'Neal does a podcast and they put one up and I listened to it on my way to work today.

And it was, it was absolutely heart-wrenching, Kevin. You know, he's talking about how he wished they would have communicated more. He talked about how Kobe talked to his son an hour before was checking in on his son. And he was talking about how he has not slept at all. He has not slept. He hasn't eaten. He's just not doing well at all. And it feels like a brother has been taken from him.

And, you know, there was that moment where he talks about regret, you know, should I have done anything? And he said, and I'm a beef guy, you know, I'm a, you know, a jokester. and then I'll, right, I'll get into it with anybody. And he's like, I'm done with all that. I'm done. I'm done with all that. You know? And that's just not, that's not going to be me anymore.

And it was, you know, when he talked about how they had, you know, obviously they had their relationship that they had and they kept up with each other's kids and whatever. And he said, but I wish we would have communicated more, you know? And it's like the, you're listening to this guy with these moments of regret. You know, and obviously a guy that is just doing so incredibly poorly dealing with this. And you know, he is the most fun-loving guy ever. You know, my first instance, and it made me think about this, my first instance of my life coming in contact with them, Kobe and check, was, I was very young in radio. And the Lakers were coming to town and the NBA was new to Memphis. I did this radio bit and I said, I'm going to buy a fur jacket and I'm going to buy a pair of

sunglasses and if they want to bring Hollywood here, I'll bring Hollywood to them, right? And so my media seat was in the end zone. So like you could see it on television, right? So the whole idea was I'm going to go on. I'm going to go on there. I'm probably 22 years old. And I go to Goodwill and I buy this big fur jacket and I buy these sunglasses and I sit there in the end zone, right?

And before the game, they have media availability. and I walk in and Shaquille O'Neal's like, oh my God, that jacket, that jacket, that is the best. And he grabs it off of me. And he starts doing the Chris Farley,

fat guy and little coat, whatever, right? And now this Laker locker room, everybody's laughing or whatever, and there's one guy who don't want any part of it. And that's Kobe.

And he's like, he's like, get that shit off. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, and this is like, and I'm like,

I'm living this, right? Like here's the guy who all he wants to do is goof off and he's fun loving and everybody's, you know, laughing and having a good time. And Kobe's like, you know, we have an effing game. Will you please get focused? Right? And I see that. And then I actually found it.

My mom had an old VHS tape of a TV station. I posted on Instagram like a year ago of this moment where I met him in the locker room. But that was the night. And now I think about that. I think about listening to Shaq this morning, and it sounded like the most crustfallen, depressed, I have not slept,

I have not eaten in days guy, and it's just the most heartbreaking thing. It really is. It's just, I don't think anybody is even close to being able to process it fully, you know? Especially with the timing of it. Just sometimes the universe has a way of,

sometimes doing great things and horrible things. And this weekend, there's just more of an eerie thing with LeBron, of course, passing Kobe Bryant and career points on Saturday night in Philadelphia. The way he spoke about Kobe after the game, the respect he had for him, the awe he had in him when he was a teenager himself, as a competitor against him. And then to be able to have his name next to Kobe and Jordan and all these other great players, special and the following morning just I mean that that Saturday I was just thinking about how cool

it was just to see LeBron moving up the all-time list and to see Kobe say what he said about LeBron it was just it was awesome it was great it was what you touched on earlier about seeing these guys grow older and about not taking that for granted and how much I was enjoying that and then to wake up that news on Sunday morning it just didn't feel real especially after Saturday night just it just doesn't feel it still doesn't feel real now it's doesn't feel real and yet we are inundated with the tributes and people giving their stories and testimonials about, you know, talking about him as we are today. And I was thinking about this too the other day. His whole life played out in front of us, as we said. His whole life also

played out in front of a camera. So there is no shortage of it's not just on the court, right? there are millions of hours of clips of him and interviews of him all the way up until last week you know interviews with him and so those those remain forever right and it that's not true of everybody that you know was famous in another era right there are these clips here and there that we'll find and and every once in a while you'll get interested you'll go try to find like, hey, I wonder if there was ever a, I don't know, I can't remember who the last one I did was, like, you know, like a Marilyn Monroe or somebody like that, right? Like, what were old interviews with her like? And you'll go and try to find like these old clips on

YouTube about these incredibly famous people. And yet there is, you're constantly seeing all kinds of things that, I mean, God, Kev, there's so many things that I've seen in tributes over the last 48 hours that I never saw that I never saw you know what I mean like because there's millions of hours of footage of him both both on and off the court you know there just this morning I was watching his message in 2016 to special olympics athletes he and he told the story about he had a guidance counselor many years ago who told him don't waste your time playing basketball it's never going to amount to anything and he shared that that story via video to athletes in the Special Olympics,

people who are going through something, who are told you can't do something, who society often says you just can't do something. And he's offering this inspiring message that you can indeed chase your dreams. And that's something that can, that's, it's,

it's cliche to say follow or pursue your dreams, but to hear it from Kobe Bryant. It's an unbelievable athlete who did indeed practice what he preached to the full extreme. I can't imagine how, powerful that would be for those kids at that time. But that is a message that lives on. Anybody can search that on YouTube anytime they need to a little pick me up. And we're fortunate in a way that there is so much footage and video and audio of Kobe Bryant out there because even

though he is not here anymore on this earth, the impact he made in his 41 years will forever be. And as always something people can turn to. And for that, I'm grateful. And you felt like just so much of what he accomplished. accomplished and even what he was going to accomplish post career was just sheer force of will. I was listening to, I think it was Brian Winhorse and Jay Adande were talking about, and Dave McMinneman, they were talking about, you know, covering him back in those years. And they brought up something that I thought that was so interesting. You know, so many times you hear people say like, you know, it's just, it's so crazy that

I'm even in this position, you know, coming from. where I came from or doing what I did or whatever. You know, it's wild to think, you know, I'm so blessed and all of this, you know, that I'm experiencing now, whatever. And like, you never heard him say that because it was, this is what I'm going to do. And of course I'm here. That's what I've dedicated my entire life to doing. You know what I'm saying?

Like my life, this is what I am going to do. I'm going to be an all-star. I'm going to win championships. I'm going to be, I'm going to go down as one of the greatest players to ever walk the, I mean, and I'll be up at five in the morning to make sure that happens. And so this is not going to be luck. And this is not going to be, this is going to be, I am going to work for what I want and achieve it. And that's what he's going to be remembered for most for me. 100%.

It's just the ESPN tweeted out of an interview. before where he was asked, what do you want to be remembered for as a player? And it's exactly what you're touching on, that he's a player who was gifted, a player who had natural athleticism, but he never took any of that skill for granted. He worked on a skill and mastered what he could become as a player. And that is something no matter what you do, whether you're an athlete or whether you're a podcaster, whether you're big street signs or you're a hairstylist, whatever it is that you do, you can get as good as you can at that.

You can get as good as you can at being a father as a friend. Whatever it is in your life, that is a mentality that you can adapt. And that's something I'm always going to remember him for when I think of Kobe Bryant. Well, and I think it was a Slam Magazine interview. My buddy Lang Whitaker, I saw him post where it was, and he said it in a different way, more succinct. And he said, I want to be remembered as a talented overachiever. Yeah, that sums it up. That sums it up.

That sums it up. And so now it's going to be interesting to see where this all goes. I've seen, you know, people have gotten so emotional about this. I've seen where they've got over a million, over a million signatures on the change the logo petition, right, that has taken place, which is so fascinating, given that the logo is Jerry West, who is the, you know, He's the one that saw him in the gym. And I heard him telling that story yesterday. He said they brought him in for a workout. And he said, and it was, there were three or four guys that went in the first round.

And he said, it was ridiculous how much better he was and in the energy that he had. And he said, and then he brought him in for a second time. And we asked Michael Cooper, who was a year or two removed from playing in the NBA and one of the best defenders. We brought him in. And he said, frankly, it was embarrassing. You know, like, and it was 10 minutes and they just called the, and they stopped the workout. And then they had to find a way to be able to get him some way, somehow,

which they did on draft night in the trade for Vladi Divac. And so that has taken place over the course of the last 24 hours. And then we find out yesterday that, I mean, just by chance, of course, it was going to be a Lakers Clippers game, right, going on tonight. which has rightfully been canceled. They said that the players were with grief counselors yesterday and that they just thought this is not now. And I,

you know, LeBron didn't make any public statements until last evening. And so thinking about them trying to play that game tonight would be rather unbelievable. I'm glad they did postpone this game. It's the feelings right now. for Kobe played for the Lakers, but he was he was a co-worker of so many people in that building, whether security guards, people who are in the back room, people on planes, whoever it might be,

he had relationships with those people, and they're mourning. And those feelings are raw. And to ask them to go for a ceremony and then play what is effectively a meaningless game, doesn't feel right. And postponing the game, that game can be played at any time. Lakers and Clippers could play that game sometime in April if they need to. And I hope maybe at that point, maybe it can feel like more of a celebration of life, the game itself, between the Lakers and the Clippers. But now it's time for fans. It's time for friends of Kobe. It's time for family.

It's time for his coworkers. It's time to grieve right now. So it's the right decision for the NBA to do that. And in terms of honoring him, you know, is making him a logo as a lot of fans would like to see happen. and I'm in favor for that. And Jerry Westons did himself a couple of years ago did say he wishes they would change the logo too. He doesn't feel comfortable drawing attention to himself. He said he doesn't want to be the logo.

So if the NBA were to make that change, it's something that I would support. There is so many. And look, it's all still so fresh right now and also insanely sad. But I think what we are going to find is over the course of the next several months, there will be the honoring of him. And this is the year he's going into the Hall of Fame for going to sakes, you know, with one of the greatest classes ever with Duncan and Garnett and that whole group.

And he'll be honored at the Hall of Fame. And so it's going to be, I don't think anybody's ever going to get over it and just move on, right? Like, I mean, that's not the way this works. Because, honestly, we've never been through this, you know. and I don't think that anybody can it's almost impossible to put into words his level of impact

you know last night I told you as a father this has just been you just think about everything with your children and it's one thing to think about like Kobe Bryant had he had 41 years and he had an

unbelievable career and just an unbelievable life and was this doting father and, you know, her life is just beginning his daughter. And it just tortures me to think about that. And there I am last night. And, geez, I'm going to get upset thing about it. But like, I went in and I play basketball, my son in his room at night before I tuck him in.

He's got one of those hoops on the door, right? And so I'll get up there and guard him, whatever. And he started doing that lean back shit. you know what I mean like the like on me because he had been watching clips since he got home from school and he had been watching these videos on YouTube since he got home from school because it's what's going on he flipped on 2K and they've got a tribute to Kobe on there I mean he's 10 Kevin he's 10 and there he is he's doing these Kobe moves I mean I know when I left the room I got emotional just like over the whole thing you know what I mean but I mean like for everybody from the last

You know, geez, man, he was born in 2010. And he's 10 years old. And he said, that's all the kids are talking about at school. It's all the kids were talking, him and his little buddies. They're talking about it at school. And we can say, hey, it's just sports. But, I mean, like, these personalities, they have an impact on. And this guy has had an impact on everybody for 30 years to the point where a 10-year-old is watching the YouTube clips and trying to mimic his moves.

which I always yelled about him stealing from Jordan. You know what I mean? It's the craziest thing. And it just all makes you, it makes you so overwhelmed. And I think every time we see a new video or hear somebody else talking that was so close to him, you just get overwhelmed all over again, you know?

And that's the type of thing like these are the moments you can never take for granted in your life. And, you know, I think about this for me personally. It's like my dad's gotten way worse the past month. month. Like he, it feels like, it feels like right now he's not my dad. Just the, the lack of responsiveness, like this declining mental state that he's in. It's just like, like, this isn't my dad anymore. Like, I've had, I've had dreams that I've had two dreams the past week or so where like he walks into the room and he's a normal self with like a plump phase, a brisk walk

and, and I like, I call his name and the dream and he doesn't respond. And, like I've woken up with that dream a couple of times and it's like I've thought to myself, is this what it's like? Is this what it's like when you lose someone? You just, you, you, you, you, you, you have a dream and you, they don't respond to you in it. Like, is, is this what it's like where you just wake up each day? And I just feel for Vanessa Bryant, his wife and what those kids are going through, Natalia, 17 years old in high school to have this happened. Bianca, only three years old, that she's only going to have really hazy memories of her father and her sister.

And then Capri, who's just seven months years old, she's just going to have photos and videos and stories. That breaks my heart, really. That breaks my heart that those girls and his wife go through that as well as the other family is affected. It just like that, that really hurts, man. Like for me and for you and for anybody else who has their loved ones, you got to like just enjoy every single moment you have.

You just have to enjoy every single moment and I'll take those for granted because, again, you have to. Yeah, because we all try to plan life and you can't. You can't. You can't. You can't. You just can't. It's one of those reminders that in the end you don't know. and it's so hard to get through,

and I'm not going to say people's minds, my own mind. It's so hard to think like, you never think this could be your last day. You never think that. Nobody thinks that unless there's some reason to think that it could be your last day, you know? But it's proof positive. It could be. You never know.

And so it does put, I think you said it well earlier. It puts everything into perspective, you know? You know, this past year, I've, this past year, like, I've never, my whole life, I've never been sure if I wanted to have a family or have kids or anything like that. But, like, when things have been really bad this past year is when I've realized most just the power and love of family and how great that love can be, like, what you, what you describe with your kids, like that, like, that really hits me hard because, like, there's no great.

greater love than that to share that with a child. And that's something that I hope that I'm able to have in my life. And like when you, when you, when you decide to have children, you just have kids, um, do you sign up for some hard times? But, you know, this past year, I've really realized like those hard times are worth it to have those experiences and those memories and that type of love. That is for certain. Very well said. It's been a very difficult day. for and a very difficult 48 hours for everybody that is an NBA fan. There are games

that are continuing to go on, but they all feel secondary, certainly at the moment. I will just ask one thing. Please tell me, of all the games that have gone, please tell me that you saw the Deeran Fox intentional mystery.

That was, just on one light note, that was, it will get lost. It was the greatest missed free throw in NBA history. It has taken place at a time where, I mean, I'm watching the last Kobe game like everybody else. You know what I mean? Last night, they were airing that. I didn't care about the games that were going on. But I saw that clip. And I was like, oh my God, that is the greatest miss free throw of all the time. I would encourage anybody

go check it out if you get a chance because it did happen. It did happen at this very strange time in NBA history. Thank you for saying. I'm like all tearing up over here. I need it. I needed a laugh. I know. The stat for that game is since 1996, 97, the first year of play-by-play data, teams were 0 in 8,378 when trailing by 17 or more points in the final three minutes of the fourth and overtime. That's the first win. Impossible. And I'll be fascinated to see, look, Look, Grizzlies are playing the Nuggets tonight, and there's other games going on.

I know they've canceled the L.A. game, but there's other games going on. And you are seeing a whole league that is still not even close to coming to terms with what has taken place, which is easily the saddest day that any of us can remember. And the games do go on, and that is something Kobe would want. And I don't know when it's going to shift. I don't know when it's going to feel right to talk about what's happening on the court. But I look forward to that happening because it's going to show that we collectively are able to focus and are able to move on, and are able to grow and develop our new normal as basketball fans and as people.

One last thing. I read like the whole world did. LeBron, who you know has been to hell and back over this since Saturday. I read his thing last night. I would not bet against the Lakers this year. I'll tell you that. I'll tell you that. There's something so powerful about him saying,

I will, I'm going to make you proud, you know, and I'm going to put this thing on my back, and I got this. And I'm like, oh, boy, you better just watch out,

because if it weren't destiny before, and it will be the one year that everybody will not resent. you know what I mean it's something people could rally around that's right i mean it doesn't always work out like that you know when tragedies happen either to individuals or to cities but um i don't i don't know the right way to say it but it's for a lakers fan or a kobe fan i don't i don't feel like we can understand right now in this moment what it's like to have a player of lebron's magnitude on that team right now.

I just, the relationship that could develop between the Lakers fan and LeBron now, it just feels like something that can be very powerful this year. And something that, and something that we would have never expected because it was still that it's Kobe's town and they're Kobe fans and it's like, all right, he, you know,

he's here now and I'll root for him because I root for the Lakers. But there was the Kobe fans and the LeBron. fans for so many years, right? And now, and now, you know, you see that, I mean, God, for all things, a torch passed on Saturday night, you know, it felt like.

It's crazy. I was his last tweet. You know, the game's in good hands. It's just, it gives you a chill down your spine over the whole thing. Kevin, I know this has not been a easy podcast for either of us. But I think in times like this, you know, everybody needs to talk through it, you know, whatever level of grief that they are going through.

And so thank you to everybody for listening to another episode of The Mismatch. Thank you to Bobby Wagner for producing it. And we will talk again on Friday.