When the news broke of Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash on early Sunday afternoon, the basketball world was ablaze with messages of disbelief, sorrow and tribute to the former NBA superstar.
At Bradley, the news started to trickle out as the women’s basketball team was about set to take on Drake at Renaissance Coliseum. The men’s team, in attendance to watch, posted their reactions on social media.
“The reason I played basketball,” said Terry Nolan, a redshirt-junior guard, on Twitter. “Who I aspired to be like. Why I have the mentality I have. Thank you for everything … Rest in peace to my G.O.A.T.”
Redshirt-junior guard Danya Kingsby simply posted “Man wow” with a broken heart emoji.
Men’s head coach Brian Wardle posted a link to Bryant’s article “8teen” from The Players Tribune and later posted a picture of a quote from Kobe on his jersey retirement night with the caption “Enjoy the JOURNEY!”
Two of Wardle’s players reflected after Monday’s practice, and said Bryant was a motivating figure and an inspiration.
“Just seeing his work ethic and his competitive nature out there on the court, that’s something you try to translate to your game,” senior guard Darrell Brown said. “Being a basketball player, you want to leave your legacy however you can, and I think that’s something he did.”
“His approach and mentality to every game, wanting to be great, wanting to defeat everybody, not taking no prisoners, just his mentality has inspired me to come in here and every game, have no friends and compete at a high level,” junior forward Elijah Childs said.
The women’s team didn’t find out about the news until after they had beaten the Bulldogs 77-76 to stay undefeated in conference play.
“He’s always been an idol for me and one of my favorite players, so that’s devastating,” said sophomore guard Tatum Koenig. “I don’t have words for that. That’s really sad.”
“I always watched him and tried to imitate him growing up, so it’s a really big loss,” junior forward Emily Marsh said.
Despite his passing, Bryant’s legacy of the “Mamba Mentality” will continue to inspire Bradley basketball players.
“Even though he passed away, I still look up to him, still try to have his mentality, still try to have his work ethic,” Childs said.
