Star Tribune · Jan 27, 2020
Young Kobe Bryant was a work-in-progress under Willie Burton's watch
An emotional Willie Burton addressed the Williams Arena crowd on Sunday afternoon.@Souhanstrib‘‘Tomorrow is not promised.”
Those are among the saddest words ever spoken by beloved Minnesota athletes. We heard them first from Kirby Puckett when he was forced into retirement by glaucoma. We heard them again Sunday, when Willie Burton reflected on the death of his old practice partner, Kobe Bryant.
Sunday, The Barn was a bubble. While any fan with a phone could have learned about the death of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others on a helicopter that crashed in the Los Angeles area, the players on the Williams Arena court did not hear the news until after the game.