‘We tried to mimic his moves.’ TCU players, coaches saddened by Kobe Bryant’s death
TCU center Kevin Samuel described Sunday as a “tough day.”
The basketball world lost one of its greats, Kobe Bryant, in a helicopter crash that took the lives of nine people, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
“That was a tough one, man,” Samuel said on Monday. “I had no words at the time. Just seeing Kobe had passed … it was crazy. It’s not like something you’d expect to see in a headline. It was just kind of tough.
“He was somebody I really looked up to growing up in the Caribbean. At that time I was a Celtics fan, but I had watched Kobe and some of my friends were Kobe fans, so it’s something we always talked about — being like Kobe, trying to go out on the basketball court and mimic his moves.”
Samuel agreed the majority of players of his generation idolized Bryant to some extent. He recalled a number of former teammates being mega fans, wearing Bryant’s shoes and requesting No. 24.
For TCU coach Jamie Dixon, the news was simply heart breaking. Bryant’s accomplishments on the court are well-documented, but Dixon was taken aback by reading stories about Bryant and the other victims involved in the crash being on their way to watch a youth-league basketball game with their daughters.
When he learned of Bryant’s passing, Dixon was sitting in the stands watching his own daughter’s volleyball game with other parents.
“There’s a basketball guy to me, but I think the side that’s hit me more is the family aspect of it,” said Dixon, who grew up in the Los Angeles area.
“I remember reading something about how the parents were all friends because of their children and the interests of their children. It probably resonates more with me because of that. It doesn’t matter who he was as a player. At the end of the day, his friends were based on his daughters.
“I was sitting with three other parents watching our daughters and, in reality, that’s what he was doing too.”
Several TCU players went on social media to express their condolences.
Guard RJ Nembhard called Bryant his “idol.” Freshman point guard Francisco Farabello wrote, “Day 1 without Kobe: I feel empty.”
TCU assistant coach Ryan Miller didn’t know Bryant too well, although his brother Mike Miller played with Bryant on USA Basketball teams. Still, Bryant’s impact on the game reached everyone involved in the sport.
“He was the ultimate competitor,” Ryan Miller said. “He invested in the game. Spent hours working on his craft and his game. He was an amazing player and a model on how you work and compete in our game.”
