Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark and her Hawkeyes teammates had just wrapped up their third straight Big Ten championship.
As Bri Lewerke watched the celebration on the Target Center floor in Minneapolis, the freelance photographer couldn’t help but think about another basketball icon — the late Kobe Bryant, who had become a huge champion for women’s sports following his 20-year career with the Lakers.
“I often think about Kobe Bryant when it comes to women’s basketball in general,” Lewerke, 29, told The Times in a phone interview. “ I often find myself just feeling sad, like we missed out on so much of Kobe’s support for the women’s game.