NBA --- The Kobe Memorial at Staples Center is gone but the sadness lingers (PHOTOS)
By Nicholai R. Roska
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 06 Feb 2020
LOS ANGELES --- Quietly, in the dead of a dwindling Super Bowl Sunday night, the makeshift memorial that came to life around the Staples Center-L.A.Live campus was taken down to make way for contractually obligated events at the venues.
With loving and careful diligence, each of the thousands of non-perishable items (toys, jerseys basketballs etc) that fans left behind as a tribute to their fallen star were catalogued, most of which will be shipped to Kobe Bryant's widow, Vanessa Laine Bryant, who made the request.
In the days following the death of Kobe, his 13-year old daughter Gianna, and seven other passengers in a helicopter crash last week, the shrine became a vivid expression of the world's grief over the horrendous tragedy.
It's gone now. But the sadness lingers.
The text was short but jarring enough to bring friends Chad Noval, Ryann Gestopa and John Paul Maglasang together in communal sorrow. Lifelong Kobe fans since the 90’s and now based north of the border in Canada, frigid Detroit and sunny California, respectively, the trio reconnected and recalled their Kobe moments, recalling the times when they harbored the same affinity for collecting Kobe jerseys, sneakers during their youth.
Ryann made a heartfelt basketball confession :” I was really shocked when I got a call from from Chad in Canada, I haven’t heard from him in a long time...Kobe was kind of our hero growing up! We had to tell each that other friendships endures and will always remember the L.A. Laker icon for bringing us up together."
Grief is a cycle, tenacious in its intensity, searing in its pain. But it will eventually subside because time almost always heals what is broken.
Meanwhile, it is the fond memories and remembrances that will keep some emotions from completely falling apart.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Nicholai R. Roska.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Blu Girls Crush Singapore 13-0, Set Sights on China in Asia Cup Showdown
By Marlon Bernardino, Thu, 17 Jul 2025Laylo, Dableo to play in Baguio Open
By Marlon Bernardino, Thu, 17 Jul 2025Pacquiao Shines in Final Press Conference: Can The Pacman Defeat Father Time and Barrios? (Analysis & Prediction)
By Carlos Costa, Thu, 17 Jul 2025More lucrative fights await Manny Pacquiao
By Leo Reyes, Thu, 17 Jul 2025Rumors about Pacquiao-Mayweather rematch
By Gabriel F. Cordero, Thu, 17 Jul 2025Tapales, Laurente to help Inoue against MJ
By Lito delos Reyes, Thu, 17 Jul 2025AL BERNSTEIN, CHRISTY MARTIN AND ERIC BOTTJER TO SERVE AS ALL-STAR COMMENTARY TEAM FOR THIS FRIDAY’S ‘LOPEZ VS. VARGAS’ EVENT
Thu, 17 Jul 2025SALITA PROMOTIONS CONGRATULATES SUBRIEL MATIAS ON BECOMING THE WBC SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION
Thu, 17 Jul 2025Gaisano Grand Cup Season 20 opens August 3
By Lito delos Reyes, Thu, 17 Jul 20253 Division World Champion & Hall of Famer Shane Mosley Confirmed for Eighth Annual Box Fan Expo, During Mexican Independence Day Weekend, Saturday September 13, in Las Vegas
Thu, 17 Jul 2025HALL OF FAMER MANNY PACQUIAO SET TO CHASE HISTORY YET AGAIN THIS SATURDAY NIGHT IN WORLD TITLE FIGHT AGAINST MARIO BARRIOS
Wed, 16 Jul 2025Round 12 with Mauricio Sulaimàn: New York, a Special Place for Boxing
By Mauricio Sulaimán, Wed, 16 Jul 2025Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua talking for a possible fight?
By Gabriel F. Cordero, Wed, 16 Jul 2025Philippines Rolls Past Pacific Oceania in Davis Cup Group IV Opener as Cebuana Lhuillier Ambassadors Set the Pace
Wed, 16 Jul 2025QUOTES FROM TONY HARRISON’S OPEN MEDIA WORKOUT TODAY IN DETROIT
Wed, 16 Jul 2025