The Los Angeles Lakers say they are fully prepared for the steady stream of tributes to Kobe Bryant that they will surely see the rest of the season.
LeBron James welcomes it, calling it a therapeutic and needed part of the Lakers’ healing process.
James had another triple-double, despite an off-night shooting, while Anthony Davis scored 21 points as Los Angeles thumped the Sacramento Kings 129-113 on Saturday, their first win since Bryant’s death.
Photo: AP
“It’s never going to feel normal. It’s never going to feel the same, but we got our first win since this happened,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “There’s going to be a lot of important steps for us along the way and this was definitely one.”
James had 15 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds while helping Los Angeles end a two-game skid. James shot 6 of 15 and missed three of four three-pointers, but made up for it with his 11th triple-double of the season and the 92nd of his career.
Meanwhile, Bryant’s stolen high-school jersey has been returned.
The jersey spent more time in China of late than it did hanging on the wall of the gym named in honor of Lower Merion High School’s career leading scorer.
Bryant’s retired No. 33 jersey was stolen in 2017 from the school’s campus and eventually bought by a collector in China.
Suspicious that the jersey was stolen, the Kobe collector contacted the school and helped return the keepsake to suburban Philadelphia, a process already under way before Bryant was killed on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash.
The uniform was at last back where it belonged on Saturday at Bryant Gymnasium.
“Good timing,” Lower Merion coach Gregg Downer said. “That was kind of an iconic moment when the spotlight went on that jersey. It was just tremendous. It was major irony, almost, how we’ve been waiting for that jersey for a long time. For a long time we didn’t know where it was. To have it back, it’s a fitting ending to a tough week.”
In other games, it was:
‧ Trail Blazers 124, Jazz 107
‧ Celtics 116, 76ers 95
‧ Clippers 118, T’wolves 106
‧ Heat 102, Magic 89
‧ Mavericks 123, Hawks 100
‧ Wizards 113, Nets 107
‧ Spurs 114, Hornets 90
‧ Knicks 92, Pacers 85
‧ Warriors 131, Cavaliers 112
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
RSS