Before NBA games on Saturday, the league paid tribute to three different legends who died in recent days.
Longtime University of Arizona coach Lute Olson died Thursday at the age of 85. On Friday, former NBA player Clifford Robinson at the age of 53 and actor Chadwick Boseman died at the age of 43.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets held a moment of silence for the three before Game 5 began, as did other teams who played Saturday.
After the game, Thunder point guard Chris Paul was asked about Boseman.
“It’s a lot to unpack. Chadwick was a special guy. I think everyone took it hard, you know, especially the Black community,” Paul said.
“That was one of our Black superheroes. I think Black Panther was something so powerful for myself, along with my kids, to see a superhero that looks like them. And the way he played it with such class and elegance, that was tough.”
He then brought up Robinson.
“As well as losing Cliff Robinson. I think that on top of everything, one of our brothers, at such a young age at 53 years old,” Paul said. “I remember being a kid, watching Cliff Robinson, growing up, watching him play against Michael Jordan.”
Robinson played 18 seasons in the NBA, spending eight years on the Portland Trail Blazers, where he was named the 1993 Sixth Man of the Year, an All-Star in 1994 and made two All-Defensive second teams.
Robinson also played for the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors and New Jersey Nets. His 1,380 career games are the 14th-most in NBA history.
He died of Lymphoma, his family said in a statement to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Boseman died Friday night from colon cancer, which he was diagnosed with four years ago, his family said in a statement.
His prominent roles in movies included T’Challa in “Black Panther,” Jackie Robinson in “42,” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in “Marshall,” and a leader of a group of Black soldiers in the Vietnam War in Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods.”
Olson, who died at the age of 85, turned Arizona into a powerhouse.
He coached the Wildcats from 1983 through 2007, making the NCAA Tournament 23 years in a row, reaching four Final Fours and winning the 1997 National Championship.
Overall, he went 589-187 with Arizona and won 11 Pac-10 championships.
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