Kobe Bryant's Death Continues to Linger as Celtics Defeat Heat

It was a thrilling matchup between Boston and Miami at AmericanAirlines Arena, but the devastating loss of Kobe Bryant makes it difficult to shift the focus back to basketball.

MIAMI – How do you move forward?

When do you move forward?

Basketball was played at AmericanAirlines Arena on Tuesday. The Celtics and Heat, two top-four Eastern Conference teams, jockeying for playoff position. The Heat was on the second night of a back-to-back. Boston was wrapping up a three-game road trip and playing without Jayson Tatum.

It was a terrific matchup.

But have we reached the point where it’s OK to write about it?

Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter accident on Sunday. His 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other passengers perished, too. Bryant’s death has been felt worldwide. News networks have covered the story. Late-night television hosts devoted entire shows to it. Testimonials, thousands of them, have revealed Bryant to be a revered figure who touched the lives of so many. Not since Roberto Clemente has the sports world dealt with such a stunning tragedy.

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The world will never move on from Bryant’s passing.

But when will it feel right to move forward?

In Miami, you want to write about the Heat, a surprising success story. Miami has spent the last three seasons in basketball purgatory. There was a 41-win season. Then 44. Then 39. There were calls for the Heat to blow it up. There were suggestions that they should tank. They didn’t. They battled. They fought. They built winning habits in Bam Adebayo. They developed Derrick Jones. Last summer, they added Jimmy Butler to the mix. This season they are a contender, again.

Before the game, I asked Heat coach Erik Spoelstra if those years spent trying to claw out wins contributed to the way Miami has played this season.

“For better or worse, that’s who we are,” Spoelstra shrugged. “We think it matters for all of the guys that games have meaning, have significance. That we are not talking out of both sides of our mouth, saying that we are playing to compete every single night and then playing people not based on merit.”

“For a player like Bam, a young player coming into this league, he knew he had to earn his minutes. That happened his rookie year. Everything he got was earned. The games had significance and meaning and context to them. So he didn’t think anything other than that, that this is the way it always should be. And so he has developed winning habits over the course of two years, before he had to take another step this year as the starter.”

You want to write it … but then you turn on TNT and see Shaquille O’Neal on the Staples Center floor, sobbing. The NBA postponed Tuesday’s Lakers-Clippers game, but the TNT crew stuck around. Instead of a pregame show, it was a Bryant memorial. And it was powerful. O’Neal, Bryant’s former teammate, recounted how he heard of Bryant’s death. “I haven’t felt a pain that sharp in a while,” O’Neal said. Dwyane Wade, Charles Barkley, Steve Nash and others offered testimonials.

You want to write about Gordon Hayward. Kemba Walker is an All-Star starter for Boston. Tatum and Jaylen Brown are battling for an All-Star slot. But Hayward is starting to look like Hayward. Against Miami, he was everywhere. He scored 29 points. He knocked down 71% of his shots. He got to the free-throw line 10 times, making eight of them. He did a credible job on Butler, holding the Heat’s likely All-Star to 5-of-14 shooting. He played 38 minutes, the third straight game he has played at least 37.

You want to write it … and then you see two dozen players hit the floor wearing Kobe’s signature sneakers. For two days, NBA players have been lacing up Kobe Nike’s. They have inscribed messages on them. Hundreds of them, most marked up by sharpies.

RIP, Kobe.

Rest in peace, No. 24.

Legends are forever.

There will come a time to write about basketball again. Today just doesn’t feel like it. On Tuesday, Walker dressed slowly in a corner locker. Bryant’s death hit Walker hard. He met Bryant in high school. “My team,” Walker said on Sunday, “was actually a Kobe team.” He played five years in the NBA with him. He played Sunday in New Orleans in a daze.

So, I asked Walker after Boston’s win over Miami—was today any better?

“It’s still tough,” Walker said. “That’s a huge loss man … that’s a huge loss. That’s tough. That’s Kobe Bryant. That’s not something any of us wanted to hear. It definitely was still tough to be out there on the court, but we have to play. The best I can do or say and think is that because of the fierce competitor that he was, he would want us to continue to play. We just have to respect the game in his honor.”

The trade deadline is next week. The All-Star game next month, and the playoffs are around the corner. The Celtics and Heat will meet again in April. There will be plenty of time to talk basketball.

Just not yet.