Memories, emotions and tears. Before, during and after the game against Portland, the Lakers paid homage to Kobe Bryant and the other victims of the disaster of last January 26 in the Staples Center, in Los Angeles : innumerable tributes of the yellow-violet club up to the moving and touching words of LeBron James. "The first thing I think is the sense of family; looking around I see everyone in mourning, we are suffering, we have heart in pieces: the only thing to do is to rely on the family - his words -. Who is here is part of a family and I know that Kobe, Gianna, Vanessa, the whole Bryant family, thank you from the bottom of their hearts. We celebrate a boy who has reached the age of 18 and remained up to 38, who has become the best father. With his companions we want to continue his legacy You will never be forgotten and you will live forever, brother ".
The speaker called the players by the name of Kobe, followed by 24 "2 of silence. It was the first NBA game played by the Lakers after the tragedy and it turned into the evening of remembrance. The club prepared a shirt for each of the over 20.000 spectators with the word Bryant written, half of the arena was filled with the jersey No. 8, the other with the 24. The two chairs on which Kobe and Gianna sat last on 29 December 2019 were free: two shirts to remember father and daughter and a bouquet of roses. Carmelo Anthony did not participate in the game because of the excessive emotion. "You told me that we would meet at the Staples for Lakers-Portland," he wrote on social media.