Windsor basketball affiliates react to Kobe Bryant’s death

 

 

Basketball players, coaches and fans in Windsor are mourning the death of retired basketball star Kobe Bryant. 

Bryant’s helicopter crashed on Sunday, killing him, his daughter Gianna and seven other people on board. The helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California after flying in foggy weather conditions with poor visibility. They were on their way to the Mamba Sports Academy, Bryant’s basketball camp, for a game Gianna was set to play in. 

Bryant, 41, was a shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA from 1996 to 2016. Following his death, reactions came from people all over the world, including from basketball teams in Windsor.

 Keith McShan, 31, is head coach of the Windsor Valiants. He said he was not sure if the news was true at first.

“I saw it on TMZ first, so I thought it may have been fake news, ” said McShan. “However, once I looked it up and did some more research and saw that ESPN was reporting it, it was more reputable. It’s just a shock that it happened.”

Matt Sykes, 25, is co-head coach of the St. Clair Saints and said he learned the news a few minutes before the team had a game, and decided to wait until after to tell them.

“They were just utterly shocked,” said Sykes. “A lot of these guys idolized him, five or six guys thought he was the best player of all time, they watched all his documentaries and followed the Lakers just because of him. I mean, they sat there for 10 minutes and didn’t even say anything to each other. As a basketball community as a whole, it took everyone by surprise.”

Sykes also said he heard some conflicting reporting on Kobe’s death, as details were still being revealed.

“They didn’t know if it was four people, they didn’t know if there were five, then they came out and said there were nine,” said Sykes. “And before the game, people were saying it wasn’t Kobe, and his daughter wasn’t in it, they didn’t know.”

Brendon Seguin, 27, is the other co-head coach for the Saints. He said the decision to postpone telling the players was made to keep them focused on the game, as he knew it would be very distressing.

“Extremely sad, kind of overwhelming, shocking. Those kinds of words describe it,” said Seguin. “We were warming up for our game and the athletic director told one of our coaches, who told me. Both teams tried to keep it from their players. Right after the game, we told them, and it was the same reaction. He was the guy everyone looked up to.”

LowendCo is a second-hand consignment store in Windsor that sells a variety of clothing, including sports jerseys and memorabilia. LowendCo previously had Kobe Bryant jerseys listed for sale but after Bryant’s death, Jedd Cruz, a co-owner of the store, posted on the business’s Instagram that they were being taken down and they would not be accepting any new Kobe items.

“Lowend will not be accepting anything Kobe related, from shoes and jerseys, to consign or resell back to the public,” said Cruz on Instagram. “Cherish the memorabilia you have, don’t make a profit. Remember what he did to the game and the world and how he made an impact on all of us.”

A week later, Bryant’s death continues to dominate the conversation on social media and beyond. Details about the crash, and its cause, are still emerging.