Two days after he died, Kobe Bryant still hung over the game, over the NBA. The Raptors, one of the most mentally tough groups in the league, asked not to field Kobe questions until after their game. When the Raptors had to play in San Antonio hours after the crash Sunday, even Kyle Lowry couldn’t warm up; he tried and retreated to the locker room, overcome.
And on this day, at the morning shootaround, Vince Carter’s young teammates sang “Happy Birthday” to him two days after he turned 43, because nobody wanted to celebrate anything the day Kobe, his daughter Gianna and seven others died in a helicopter crash.