After senior guard Devonte Green hit a 3-pointer to put IU men’s basketball up 67-59 over No. 17 Maryland, I received a puzzling text:
“Wait is this Kobe Bryant news true?”
I was confused, so I immediately checked Twitter. The news hadn’t hit my feed yet. I searched his name and saw reports that he died in a helicopter crash Sunday afternoon.
As I stood surrounded by IU fans in the bleachers of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall watching the game, I didn’t think it could be true.
How could a basketball legend be gone so soon? He was supposed to spend the rest of his life watching Los Angeles Lakers games courtside. He was supposed to see his statue erected outside of the Staples Center. He was supposed to go on to watch his daughter Gianna Bryant play in the WNBA.
The game continued on as I scoured Twitter to find any shred of information that would somehow disprove the horrifying news I was just faced with.
More and more fans around Assembly Hall pulled their phones out to see the headlines for themselves. The Hoosiers’ lead dwindled as the once excited crowd turned its attention to something much more pressing than the game.
“Kobe is dead,” students repeated to each other.
The news didn’t appear to be fake. A legend had perished. And the worst part was no one on the court knew yet. Completely unfazed, they continued on with the game that Bryant defined.
Bryant wasn’t just one of the greatest to ever play the game. He was a hero. He was an icon. He was an inspiration for so many who play the game today.
And his impact on the game of basketball was felt throughout the world Sunday. But it was especially heartbreaking within the walls of Assembly Hall. It’s called the Carnegie Hall of college basketball for a reason. To learn of something so earth-shattering to basketball in a place where the game is so sacred was unreal.
Watching the rest of the game felt wrong. How were we supposed to continue to cheer? How were we supposed to watch basketball when an icon who helped shape the game and inspire so many players had just passed?
As fans began to process the news, they became much tamer than they were when IU started the second half on a 11-1 run. Watching the game didn’t feel right.
The mood had shifted and so had the control of the game.
Maryland forward Jalen Smith hit a layup to take back the lead with 14.5 seconds left. IU had only one possession to secure their second-straight win over a top 20 team.
After the timeout, sophomore guard Rob Phinisee dribbled up the court and passed the ball to freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis at the top of the key. Jackson-Davis backed down Smith in the lane and went up for the game winning shot with his left hand. The ball bounced off of the back of the rim and out as the final buzzer sounded.
Later, after he’d learned the news his fans already saw, Jackson-Davis tweeted:
“You gave me the confidence to take shots like that last one, and you’re the reason why I will keep taking those game-winning shots. #RipMamba.”
Once the Hoosiers made their way to the locker room, the fans filed out of Assembly Hall. The sadness that plagued the masses of people making their way to their cars wasn’t a result of the loss. It was because major news networks confirmed Bryant's death.
Head coach Archie Miller learned of Bryant's passing right before he entered the postgame press conference. Miller told the press he knew Bryant personally. They both grew up in Pennsylvania, and Miller said his dad coached Bryant in the McDonald’s All-American Game.
“That can’t be real,” Miller said. “That’s like the most sick, stunning thing that’s happened.”
Phinisee grew up watching Bryant as a fan. Following the game, he described his death as heartbreaking.
“Arguably the best player ever to play,” Phinisee said. “My heart goes out to his family."
Green didn’t have much to say in the press conference. He merely shook his shook his head and said, “It’s sad.” He later tweeted:
“The whole world felt this one #RIPMamba.”
While the Hoosiers desperately wanted the win over Maryland, it doesn’t matter at the end of the day. Something so much greater than a basketball game was lost.
