NEW YORK, NY—Basketball will never be the same. Even though Kobe Bryant would never play another game in the NBA, his influence over a league he once dominated is unmistakable. It takes a lot to silence Madison Square Garden. Kobe had done it more than his fair share of times during his career and on Sunday evening, he did it one more time.
When the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets took the floor, the game felt like background noise while an entire arena of basketball fans tried to come to grips with the gut-wrenching news.