Fred Hoiberg grew up idolizing Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and, later on, Michael Jordan.
The Nebraska basketball coach knew the profound effect those players had on him as a younger player. So he understood how Kobe Bryant, a "larger than life figure" in the basketball world, Hoiberg said, influenced today's players, Huskers included.
That's why on Sunday, when news broke that Bryant, the retired Los Angeles Lakers superstar, was among nine people who died in a helicopter crash in California, Hoiberg felt the importance to meet as a team and discuss the unthinkable tragedy.