Outside of the gymnasium that bears …

Outside of the gymnasium that bears Bryant’s name, there has been a steady trickle of mourners since news of the crash first broke. They’ve left flowers, basketballs and jerseys. The news will stick with many in the Lower Merion community for the rest of their lives. That’s why, even as he talks about Bryant’s passion for using his experiences to tell stories to the next generation, Young can’t pretend to have the proper perspective. It’s too soon. “I think that’s an amazing legacy to leave, and I think as time passes and we begin to kind of process this a little more, hopefully we will be able to reflect on that,” Young said. “Right now, I just can’t help but think of those families and his family. It’s just a quadruple whammy. Like you take your worst nightmare and just times it by 10, and this is it. It’s beyond belief.”

Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka …

Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike, the 2016 MVP and WNBA champion, said Gigi was “symbolic of his legacy, and also the future of women’s basketball.” Gigi had become a big fan of 11-time national champion UConn, and she went to Huskies games with her father, including UConn’s senior day in 2019 for Samuelson and Napheesa Collier. Samuelson said Bryant sent her a text after that game. “He recorded me walking out with my dad,” Samuelson said. “He said he had to get that moment, because he knew he’d be a wreck if it was him.”

Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird sat next …

Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird sat next to Bryant and Gigi at the WNBA All-Star Game last July in Las Vegas. The four-time Olympic gold medalist — at the game with girlfriend and U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe — was sidelined with a knee injury. They got a chance to chat with Bryant and Gigi while watching many of the best women’s basketball players in the world. “He just really wanted to expose Gigi to as much greatness as he could,” Bird said. “He wanted her to meet Megan, to meet me. I know he’s taken his whole family to Megan’s soccer games. He’s been very present in the WNBA. He was going on this journey with his daughter, and I think we could all feel that it was going somewhere special. For him as a father, for her as a future basketball player, for them in that father-daughter relationship.”

Hield came off the bench to score a …

Hield came off the bench to score a career-high 42 points, helping the Kings storm back from a 27-point second-half deficit to beat the Timberwolves 133-129 in overtime. Sacramento (17-29) trailed Minnesota (15-32) by 22 points with 5:52 to play in the fourth quarter, but Hield made five 3-pointers in the final 4:34 of regulation to send the game to overtime. “I was thinking about (Bryant) a lot,” Hield told NBC Sports California. “Even when my brother called me, he was like, ‘Do it for Kobe.’ Everybody knows how much Kobe meant to me in the Bahamas. All the arguments, all the fights I got in (saying) he’s better than Michael Jordan. I shouldn’t say that, but that’s all I knew growing up is Kobe Bryant. That’s all I could watch. … Kobe was always that guy for me and he made me believe.”

Gordon scored a career-high 50 points …

Gordon scored a career-high 50 points to lead the short-handed Rockets to a 126-117 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night without James Harden and Russell Westbrook. In a stat line that resembled one Harden might put up, Gordon shot 14 of 22 from the field — including 6 for 11 on 3-pointers — and 16 of 20 at the free throw line. He became the first Rockets player besides Harden to score 50 points in a game since Hakeem Olajuwon had 51 in January 1996, according to STATS. Harden has done it 23 times since. “I feel like I’m getting back to being myself,” said Gordon, who had knee surgery in November. “I told everybody when you have surgery during the season, it’s always going to be a process.”