Duane Washington’s shoe honoring Kobe Bryant.
https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/gallery-buckeyes-at-northwestern/
DUANE WASHINGTON MOURNS HIS “UNCLE KOBE”
UNCLE KOBE. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like yesterday's news about Kobe Bryant. I can't tell you the last time that there was an event so big, so rattling and so unbelievable that pretty much everyone I know was reacting to it seemingly nonstop.
For a solid three hours, at least 98 percent of the Tweets on my timeline were about Kobe. Every conversation I was having was about Kobe. Everything on the news was about Kobe. Shit, my mother who's never watched an NBA game in her life texted me asking if I heard what happened to Kobe.
But as crazy as it was for me – and probably y'all too, assuming your circle didn't include Mamba – I'd never met Kobe, much less had a relationship with him. But to Duane Washington Jr., Kobe was like an uncle. So it hit a little different.
Each player took the news in his own way, but none felt it more acutely than Washington. The nephew of longtime Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher, who played with Bryant for much of his career, Washington was close enough to call Bryant “Uncle Kobe.”
So when Washington called his father out of disbelief, the news shook him.
“I didn’t believe it was real at first,” Washington told The Dispatch.
As he recalled the sequence of events following Sunday evening’s 71-59 win over Northwestern, Washington’s voice wavered. One tear slid out of his right eye as freshman teammate D.J. Carton, standing to his left, wrapped his right arm around Washington’s neck for comfort.
Washington and Bryant hadn’t seen each other since Washington lived with Fisher while spending his senior high school season at Chatsworth (California) Sierra Canyon, Washington said. It had been a different story as a youngster.
“I remember going to my uncle’s games and (Bryant) always coming up to me and calling me ‘neph’ (nephew) and giving me a hug and telling me I’m getting bigger every time I saw him,” Washington said. “It’s Kobe Bryant, man. I looked up to him as a role model. It’s just heartbreaking to have an unfortunate accident like that.”
Washington said he never considered sitting out last night's matchup with Northwestern, and he had himself a solid game, playing the third-most minutes on the team (28) and finishing with eight points, three boards, three assists and no turnovers in the road win.
And he had his own personal nod to Uncle Kobe on his shoes.
I know how weird it makes
me feel that Kobe's gone so suddenly, I cannot imagine what it feels like for those who were close to him. Prayers up for everyone involved, from the rest of the Bryant family to Duane to all everyone who ever knew him personally.
What a wild, wild day.
Entire article:
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/skul...cts-every-game-jonah-jackson-draft-stock-rise
