About 90 minutes before tipoff, the NBA was broadsided by the news that a helicopter ferrying Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter crashed outside of Los Angeles, killing all nine people aboard. DeMar DeRozan, the one-time Raptor now toiling in San Antonio, was as close as any present-day player still in the game to Bryant. Growing up in Compton, he idolized Bryant and took to the game because of Bryant. Down the hallway in a subdued Raptors locker room, Norm Powell slowly collected his thoughts and held back the tears long enough to tell the media how much Bryant meant to him. After the game, Gasol, a man who has seen more than most in his 11 years in the league put the day into its proper perspective.

Source: National Post January 27, 2020 01:41 UTC