"There, I'm going to have to see another meme of mine crying." Michael Jordan laughed as the tears fell down his face and made the entire Staples Center in Los Angeles laugh. That's why I didn't want to speak at Kobe Bryant's funeral, he said. “This is how Kobe affected me. He knows how to reach you in a way that affects you personally, even when it was a heaviness. He can make the best of you, and that's what he did with me. ”
Jordan recalled yesterday Kobe Bryant, for many the successor of the legend of the Bulls, who died on January 26 at the age of 41 in a helicopter accident with his daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others. He did it at a funeral organized by the NBA at the Staples Center, the same court where Bryant got his success with Los Angeles Lakers. In the ceremony, in addition to Bryant's family, were teammates and basketball legends such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Steve Nash, Bill Russell or Shaquille O'Neil.
In his elegy, one of the seven who spoke at the ceremony, Jordan recalled how from a very early age Kobe asked him obsessively about basketball moves, sometimes at dawn. Kobe "wanted to be the best player possible," Jordan said. "And as I got to know him, I wanted to be the best possible big brother." "To do that, you had to endure the irritation, the calls at night and the silly questions," he said. “He sent me a message a few months ago in which he said, 'I am trying to teach my daughter some movements, what did you think when you were learning?' I say: 'at what age?' He replies, '12 years. ' I continue: 'At 12 I was playing baseball.' And he sends me a message that says: 'I'm breaking my ass.'
Anecdotes of this type served to remind a character obsessed with basketball and victory, as he defined himself. He was also chosen by his partner Shaquille O'Neil, his agent Rob Pelinka, who is the Lakers manager, his friend Geno Auriemma, coach of the women's basketball team at the University of Connecticut, and the players Diana Taurasi and Sabrina Ionesco .
The most emotional moment was the elegy of Vanessa Bryant, with whom Kobe had three other daughters besides the deceased Gianna. The player's widow recalled her daughter's passion for basketball and how they were united in the game. The day they died, they were heading to a Gianna party at the Mamba Sports Academy, a school founded by Bryant in Los Angeles. “God knew that they could not be in this world without each other. I had to take them to heaven together, ”Vanessa Bryant said as her voice broke.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neil played together eight seasons in the Lakers and won three championships in a row between 2000 and 2002. Their personal relationship was always tense. However, they formed a legendary couple in the NBA. Yesterday, O'Neil made an elegy for his former partner. “As many of you know, Kobe and I had a complicated relationship. But it was not very different from that of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who created together some of the best songs of all time. ”
"The day he earned my respect was one in which the boys were complaining that Kobe was not passing the ball," O'Neil said. “I said: 'there is no me in the team ( there's no I in team , in English).' And he replied: 'I know, but there is a me, you bastard ( there's an me in that ). " So he went to the rest of the team and said: “Get the rebound. It won't happen. ” Magic Johnson was laughing in the audience.
The funeral on the Staples parquet served as catharsis to give way to a collective emotion that has been accumulating since the accident, which shocked this city like no other event since the death of Michael Jackson. The NBA and the various institutions and families touched by the tragedy had already made dozens of tributes and partial reminders. Not a single day had stopped going fans to stages like the Staples Center, the Mamba Academy or the nearest street from which you can see the accident site. Los Angeles, the NBA and the whole world of basketball needed to close the duel in some way. He did it by inventing what a state funeral transferred to basketball would be like.
Bryant was a Hollywood character as much as the NBA. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel served as master of ceremonies. It started with Beyoncé. The diva sang Halo accompanied by a choir. “I'm here because I love Kobe. This is one of his favorite songs. ” The day Bryant died, the Grammy awards ceremony was celebrated on this court. The presenter was Alicia Keys, who was forced to remember on stage the tragedy that had just happened in the city of Bryant, and celebrate a party at the same time in the house where she played. At yesterday's funeral, Alicia Keys played Beethoven's piano Claro de luna . The third musical number was by Christina Aguilera, who performed Ave María accompanied by an orchestra. The event ended with the screening of the animated short Dear Basketball , for which Bryant won the Oscar in 2017.
You can follow EL PAÍS Sports on Facebook, Twitter or subscribe here to the Newsletter.
