NBA 2019-2020 Season

[Schlitzbrille]

 Say sike please, preferably within the next few seconds.

[Tyrone]

His 13 year old daughter Gianna has also passed away... 😭

[The Buscher]

19 minutes ago, DMN said:

Celebrity deaths usually don't affect me, but this one really has.

You’re certainly not alone.  Virtually everything trending on Twitter right now is related to Kobe and if you click anything the tweets won’t load.  The sheer mass of everybody weighing in with their shock and condolence has basically frozen the site.

[VerbalPuke]

31 minutes ago, DMN said:

I believe she was his oldest.

I'm reading the comments on Reddit and I'm sitting in my car on lunch crying. I honestly haven't felt like this since Tupac got shot. Celebrity deaths usually don't affect me, but this one really has.

I know dude. My sister in law said to me that "I wasn't even a huge Kobe fan but I'm rattled by this". We're huge Pistons fans, but yeah, we're rattled. I'm sorry dude, I remember our bantering for the 2004 finals.

[Your Mom]

Kobe was the man. I was really looking forward to him picking a young player to mentor someday. He is easily in my top 5 all time favorite players and would probably be number 1 if you removed Chicago Bulls from the list. He'll be missed

[Colly]

It feels really weird this news has broken while there's games on. Obviously I wouldn't expect them to call anything off but it must be surreal playing or watching knowing about it. One of the Houston players has a message on his shoes in felt tip.

Bloody hell, this half time show guy hasn't read the room. "How you doing guys?!?".

[Pooker]

There is talk that the NBA might postpone the night games, but it was too late for the afternoon games. Cool moment in the Spurs/Raptors game, where both teams took 24 shot clock violations to start the game. And the fans chanting Kobe before the Nuggets game.

Just heartbreaking. Like many others. I hated Kobe growing up. Always had respect for him and his game. And following him with his daughter getting into basketball lately has been awesome as well.

[Meacon Keaton]

It's sad enough that Kobe passed away, but it becomes absolutely devastating that his 13-year old daughter was also on board. That's gut-wrenching. 

[FLiam]

I’m in genuine shock. He was one of the main reasons I got into basketball in the late 90’s/early 00’s. First of all it was knowing a basketball player shared my last name was kind of neat, then I saw him play and he pulled me into the sport, along with Shaq. 

Awful, awful news. Even worse knowing one of his daughters was onboard as well as one of her teammates and another parent.

[Krabby]

RIP Kobe, that sucks. Like someone up there said, people beyind the scope of the game or being a fan knew Kobe's name.

[Lineker]

Utterly horrific. Nine people on board died, apparently.

 

[The Buscher]

 

[arwrestling]

Pardon my ignorance as I'm no basketball fan, but last I heard of Kobe in the news he was a rapist. Why exactly is he receiving a hero's farewell? Genuinely confused. I heard CNN refer to him as a "Champion for Women" and honestly have never felt so disgusted.

Awful way to go. I feel for his family, and the loss of his 13 year old as well is gut wrenching. Shit situation over all.

[Pooker]

Because the accuser refused to testify in court, the case was dropped. Kobe did say later that he realized that after hearing her in person, that it wasn't consensual like he thought it had been. They later settled out of court.

[arwrestling]

Ok, so he is an admitted rapist then, though not convicted through a technicality. He then bought her off. 

So my point stand. He's no hero. This is news, no doubt. But he's only one of the greats because he managed to get away with rape and played a further 10 years after the fact. Going to and supporting the WNBA doesn't make him a Hero for Women. That's still a gross assessment of his legacy. 

[Lineker]

This has literally just happened and emotions are going to be high - I really am not sure whether this is the time or place for that particular debate.

[arwrestling]

They eulogized him by calling him a champion for women, hence the question I posed.... It's not really a debate. That's like calling Michael Jackson a champion for children everywhere. 

His death is news, there's no doubt. But that doesn't excuse what he did. Let's see if Brock Turner, Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey, R-Kelly and Harvey Weinstein get the same big farewell tour. It's gross, emotions involved or not.

[Lineker]

arwrestling, we can certainly have this discussion on EWB in a few days time. I am neither agreeing or disagreeing with your take on it at this moment in time. 

 

But right now, at this moment in time, just drop it mate? Thank you - much appreciated.

[Chris2K]

There's no denying there are things you're saying that are correct, but have a look at the reactions of some of the people in this thread and how this has affected them. Like Lineker says, this isn't the time for that debate.

[GoGo Yubari]

Rooting for Sasha Banks to win this.

EDIT: the worst part is it still took me like three days to notice I fucked up on which tab I switched over to. But I'm leaving it up for posterity!!