LOS ANGELES — Shortly before her team played at USC last season, Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu discovered that her coach had a surprise for her.
Ionescu assumed Nike had sent some new shoes or gear or something, but at tipoff she learned that it was more exciting than that.
“Kobe walks in with his daughter Gianna and two of her teammates,” Ionescu explained during her speech at Monday’s public memorial honoring Kobe and Gianna Bryant. “They sat courtside while my jaw sat dropped.”
Ionescu had long emulated Kobe’s unapologetic competitiveness and unrelenting work ethic, but she had no idea the respect was mutual.