KNOXVILLE — Retired NBA star Kobe Bryant, 41, died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif.
Bryant was the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played his entire 20-year career and winning five NBA championships.
The Lady Vols basketball team played Sunday afternoon and defeated LSU, 63-58.
Following the contest, Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper discussed playing and learning of Bryant’s passing.
“We’re excited about the win,” Harper said. “Any time you can get a conference win, it’s a big deal. But then you go in the locker room, and you get the news about Kobe Bryant and our team, our staff, we were just gut wrenched. It was really tough for me to even address our team.
“That’s a big figure and same thing that Rennia (Davis) said just now, I told the team. You hope it doesn’t, but sometimes it takes a big event like that to really put things in perspective. We just played a game, and life is so much bigger than that, and hopefully we don’t take that for granted.”