Back to the Minnesota Timberwolves Newsfeed

Lakers engulf Staples Center with tributes before first game since Kobe Bryant's death

Gallery: Singer Usher performs during a memorial prior to an NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, in Los Angeles. Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday.

LOS ANGELES – All week the NBA tried to move on following the death of Kobe Bryant.

Every team played its games and had its tributes. On Friday, after nearly a week of mourning, the Lakers took the court for the first time since Bryant’s death.