The game was played — perhaps mistakenly — under the pall of the news that Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash this morning in California, along with seven other passengers. Before tip-off, Madison Square Garden held 24 seconds of silence; in keeping with teams all through the league, both teams spent their opening possessions holding the ball for 24 seconds.
Kobe’s death seems no less momentous or complex than his life was. For some, a basketball player died, and all they wanna talk about is what a great basketball player he was.