The tragic loss of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna Bryant, and seven others in a helicopter crash is something that will forever be felt throughout the entire world and especially, the Los Angeles Lakers.
From top to bottom, it rocked them and that certainly rings true for Lakers owner and president Jeanie Buss.
The Lakers have always prided themselves on being a family run organization at heart. The relationship between the Buss family and their players have been something that very few teams in any sport can match. Whether it was Jerry or Jeanie Buss, there has always been a special connection to their greatest players be it Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and of course, Bryant.
It is still a difficult time as many are struggling to deal with Bryant’s passing and Buss recently spoke about it at the 2020 Lakers All-Access event, via Los Angeles Times:
Jeanie Buss on Kobe Bryant: “We will continue to celebrate and honor him and Gigi and we will embrace the entire Bryant family and keep them close and they will be apart of us forever.” pic.twitter.com/3HnYnalqRe
— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) March 3, 2020
It will take a long time before this becomes any easier for Buss or anyone who was close to Bryant. Many have spoken about how difficult it has been to deal with the tragedy and that won’t be going away anytime soon, but what she said makes a lot of sense and is the best course of action.
What steps the Lakers take in order to honor Bryant remains to be seen. He has both of his jerseys retired in the Staples Center rafters and many are calling for a statue to be erected in his honor outside of Staples Center as well. In fact, Oscar De La Hoya has said that he asked for his statue to be taken down in order to build one for Bryant.
There will never be enough that can be done to honor arguably the greatest Laker ever and one of the greatest NBA players period. But one thing the Buss family has always done better than anyone is honor and treat their players with the utmost respect so there is no doubt that she will do everything and more to ensure Bryant is remembered forever.
