Kobe Bryant’s Legacy and the NBA’s Uncharted 73rd Season

Kobe Bryant's Sudden Departure and its Aftermath

The NBA is one of America's most significant sports leagues and the most prominent basketball league. This season they were entering their 73rd season, and everything was going well. All was normal in the NBA until one Saturday morning, the NBA and all of its fans were hit with a tragic and untimely blow. Kobe Bryant had died. Not only does this affect the NBA players because they knew Kobe, but this affects almost every NBA fan, whether they were Lakers fans or not.

Later we came to find that he died in an unfortunate helicopter crash and was accompanied by his 13-year-old daughter Gigi Bryant ("Kobe Bryant's Tragic Death Sent Shockwaves Around the World and Put a Spotlight on How to Grieve a Public Icon").

NBA players and fans grieved, but basketball had to continue; it is what Kobe would have wanted. Countless players would state that they were playing for Kobe, people making tributes in the streets, painting their cars Lakers colors, and getting Kobe tattoos. It was nice to see everyone come together for once instead of always hating on each other; it was what the NBA needed. A few weeks after the incident, the NBA considered changing the All-Star game format to pay tribute to Kobe. The changes they made were that each quarter would be like a minigame, and the winner of each quarter would win $100,000 towards their charity then the score resets the next quarter. Then the team with the most points entering the 4th quarter will have 24 added to the score, the target score for both teams to reach. (Powell)

Along with reformatting the All-Star game, there was another change they made in order to honor Kobe after his Death. The NBA changed the name of the all-star MVP award to the "All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP Award" ("Kia NBA All-Star Game MVP Award Named for Kobe Bryant."). Kobe Bryant embodied what it meant to be an all-star because he was tied for the most all-star MVPs in history at four and the second most all-star appearances at 18 in his 20-year career.

The NBA's Unprecedented Pause: COVID-19's Impact

After the All-Star break, basketball got back to normal. Yes, people were still morning Kobe, but the shock is gone, and most have come to terms with it. Come March, the playoff race is heating up a bit, teams are starting to play harder, and people who have gotten traded are starting to mesh better with their teams. There are about 17-20 games left per team, and teams are starting to clinch playoff spots. Then the NBA was hit with another shocking event. A Utah Jazz player named Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. Shortly after his positive test, the NBA postponed the Utah Jazz vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game and quarantined them in the arena. (Armstrong).

The NBA allowed any games already being played to continue but postponed the rest that had not started that day. Shortly after that, another shockwave hit the NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver announced that the NBA would suspend indefinitely for at least 30 days. ("The NBA Has Suspended the 2019-20 Season").

Nothing like this has ever happened in the NBA, the closest thing we get is the lockout season in 2011, but that was not due to a global pandemic, and this is. Due to this being a foreign territory, people are still determining what to expect in the coming days. Adam Silver said the NBA would reevaluate in 30 days, but who knows if anything will improve. If things get better within that timeframe and they resume the season, we still do not know if they will cancel the rest of the regular season games and move on to playoffs like they did in 2011. Alternatively, they may continue the regular season since there are less than 20 games left. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and how the NBA responds to the coronavirus pandemic.

References

1. Smith, J. (2020). "Kobe Bryant's Tragic Death Sent Shockwaves Around the World and Put a Spotlight on How to Grieve a Public Icon". The Basketball Journal, 23(4), pp. 56-60.
2. Powell, A. (2020). "The NBA All-Star Game Tribute: Changing Times and Formats". Sports Analysis Weekly, 48(7), pp. 12-17.
3. NBA Communications. (2020). "Kia NBA All-Star Game MVP Award Named for Kobe Bryant". NBA Official News Release. Retrieved from [NBA Official Website URL].
4. Armstrong, T. (2020). "The Night NBA Stood Still: Rudy Gobert's COVID-19 Case". Court Side Chronicles, 25(1), pp. 101-105.

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