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The Basketball World Paid Tribute To Kobe Bryant On The One-Year Anniversary Of His Passing

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It seems surreal that Tuesday is the one-year anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s passing. Of course, it still feels surreal that Bryant is gone after a helicopter crash that also took his daughter, Gianna, and seven others, but for many in the basketball world, Tuesday offered up the opportunity to look back on Bryant’s life and tenure in and around the NBA.

A number of individuals, whether they be current and former players and coaches or larger institutions, took to their Twitter accounts to offer up a kind word to Bryant and the rest of those who passed away.

In an interview with TMZ, one of Bryant’s former coaches, Byron Scott, discussed the importance No. 24 had in his life, to the point that he finds himself thinking about who he calls an “unbelievable person” on a daily basis.

“There’s two people that passed away in my life,” Scott said. “My mom, who I think about all the time, and ‘Showboat.’ I think about him every day. It’s something about him that, in my life, every day something brings me back to a memory of KB.”

The Lakers, unsurprisingly, offered up a tribute, too, calling both Kobe and Gianna “family,” a sentiment that the NBA shared.

Honoring both Bryants was also done by another team for which Kobe suited up, USA Basketball, and by another one of the many residents of the Staples Center, the L.A. Sparks.

UConn women’s basketball decided to remember Gianna, a well-documented Huskies fan who had ambitions of suiting up for Geno Auriemma’s program some day.

Even FIBA chimed in, recalling one specific Kobe moment from a game that the United States played against Brazil back in 2007.

It seems certain that Tuesday will feature dozens more tributes to Bryant as the day goes on, both on social media and during the three games that the league has on its schedule this evening. Then again, it’s hard to watch or follow basketball without seeing someone pay tribute to Bryant in some form or fashion.