Atlanta Hawks Beat Wizards and No One Cares

The Atlanta Hawks beat the Washington Wizards 152-133 and no one cared on a night that was bigger than basketball. The sports world lost Kobe Bryant in a tragic accident, one that sent waves throughout not only the sports world.

The Atlanta Hawks win last night started with an emotional tribute to Kobe Bryant.  The Hawks and Wizards took 8-second and 24 second violations to honor Kobe’s numbers. Point guard Trae Young donned Kobe’s number 8 for the start of the game as he took the back court violation.

Young had a career night scoring 45-points on 24-shots a fact that cannot be an accident. It was a somber night that was bigger than simply winning or losing a basketball game.

It was a night where sports went from distracting us from our mortality to making us face it.  Kobe’s death hit differently for each of us.

It was Kobe and Shaq that made me fall in love with basketball much like my colleague who shared Kobe’s impact on him as well. Kobe’s killer mentality, his bigger than life presence, and above all else his ability to will his team to win. It is this attitude that made Kobe one of the most loved players of all time.

Kobe’s death hits differently then many of the sports icons we have lost. He was only 41-years old and was at the start of what had been an incredible career after basketball. He was a leader who taught positivity and led by example.

He was a sports hero, heroes aren’t supposed to die, they are bigger than life. In many ways losing Kobe hits us hard not only because of the incredible loss we feel but because it makes us face our mortality as well.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Kobe’s family and the families who lost loved ones in Sunday’s tragic accident.