SPORTS USA TODAY ❚ MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2020 ❚ 3C
TMTHANK YOU TO OUR VALUED SPONSORS FROM THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BASKETBALL COACHESNABC.com | @NABCThe entire NBA family has had more
than two months to grieve, console each
other and share memories. That has not
been enough time to fully process Lak-
ers star Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old
daughter, Gianna, and seven others dy-
ing in a helicopter crash.
So when the Naismith Memorial Bas-
ketball Hall of Fame announced Bryant
as a first-ballot selection Saturday, this
was not just a moment to celebrate how
Bryant won five NBA championships,
became the franchise’s all-time leading
scorer and overcame too many injuries
to count. This was also a moment that
reopened a wound that might not ever
fully heal.
“Obviously we wish he was here with
us to celebrate, but it’s definitely the
peak of his NBA career,” Bryant’s wife,
Vanessa, told ESPN shortly after the an-
nouncement. “Every accomplishment
that he had as an athlete was a step-
pingstone to be here. We’re incredibly
proud of him. There’s some solace in
him knowing he would be a part of the
2020 Hall of Fame class.”
But there is also an incredible
amount of sorrow that Bryant won’t be
part of the 2020 class in person. We
lived through these same emotions so
many times. When the Lakers played
their first game after Bryant’s death and
LeBron James delivered an inspiring
speech beforehand. When the NBA hon-
ored Bryant at All-Star weekend in Chi-
cago with various video tributes and
performances. When the Kobe and
Gianna Bryant memorial took place at
Staples Center headlined by Vanessa’s
moving speech. Just like those mo-
ments, this Hall of Fame ceremony will
be cathartic and emotional.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Bryant was supposed to deliver a
speech that fully matched his complex
personality. He would share tales on
how he stubbornly overcame injuries.
He would defend his demanding leader-
ship style. He would express gratitude
for the various mentors that shaped
him. And after becoming passionate
about storytelling following his NBA ca-
reer, Bryant would deliver a speech that
no scriptwriter could ever write.
Bryant would offer precise details
about how he fell in love with basketball
as a kid growing up in Italy and in Phila-
delphia. Bryant would express gratitude
that Lakers general manager Jerry West
secured his draft rights in 1996 by trad-
ing fan favorite Vlade Divac to the Hor-
nets. Bryant would shout out his other
various muses, whether it entailed an
NBA star he modeled his game after
(Michael Jordan), a coach’s wisdom he
eventually appreciated (Phil Jackson) or
an NBA luminary that played for the
hated Celtics (Bill Russell).
Bryant would spin epic tales on how
he scored a career-high 81 points, how
he overcame a left Achilles injury or howhe dropped 60 points in his final game.
Bryant would offer defiance, context
and perhaps revisionist history on his
clashes with Shaquille O’Neal, his trade
demands in 2007 or his high-volume
shooting. Bryant would surely bring up
his battles with other new Hall of Fam-
ers in Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.
Bryant would gush about the women’s
game, including what he admired about
inductee Tamika Catchings.
Nearly every NBA fan became famil-
iar with all of the intimate details about
Bryant’s career. But the stories never got
old. There were always new details to
emerge atop the ones we already knew.
There were always new anecdotes no
one knew about until Bryant and those
he impacted eventually shared them.
“Kobe was always one to downplay
his professional accomplishments –
MVPs, NBA championships, gold med-
als, Oscars, and on and on and on,” Lak-
ers general manager Rob Pelinka said in
a statement. “But all of us can trust that
this Basketball Hall of Fame honor is
one Kobe would, and will, deeply appre-
ciate. The highest of congratulations toyou, dear friend. This one is so well de-
served – for all the hard work, sweat and
toil. Now, a part of you will live in the
Hall with the rest of the all-time greats,
where your legend and spirit will con-
tinue to grow forever.”
Because of that spirit, Bryant’s Hall
of Fame induction will still be memora-
ble. But it would have been much better
for him to be there, obviously.
There would have been intrigue
about whom Bryant would choose as his
presenters. Would one of them be Jor-
dan, who delivered a memorable speech
at Bryant’s memorial about how he be-
came a “big brother” to him? Would one
of them be Jackson, who eventually in-
spired Bryant to appreciate his triangle
offense and meditation practices?
Would one of them be Lower Merion
coach Gregg Downer, whom Bryant
credited for knowing how to motivate
him? Would one of them be Lower Me-
rion English teacher Jeanne Mastriano,
whom Bryant said inspired his passion
for storytelling? Would one of them
have been WNBA star Diana Taurasi,
Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma or
Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu about how
Bryant supported women’s basketball?
“No amount of words can fully de-
scribe what Kobe Bryant meant to the
Los Angeles Lakers,” Lakers controlling
governor Jeanie Buss said in a state-
ment. “Kobe was not only a proven win-
ner and a champion, he gave everything
he had to the game of basketball. His
fierce competitiveness, work ethic and
drive were unmatched. Those qualities
helped Kobe lead us to five titles – and
have now brought him to the Hall of
Fame, where he will be enshrined with
the greatest to have ever played the
game. No one deserves it more.”
Yet Bryant also deserved something
more and something so simple. He de-
served to be able to stand on stage, ac-
cept his award and fully process the sig-
nificant contributions he made to the
game he loved.Besides Kobe Bryant, the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame class includes Tim
Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Rudy Tomjanovich, Tamika Catchings, Kim Mulkey,
Barbara Stevens, Eddie Sutton and Patrick Baumann. DANIEL DUNN/USA TODAY SPORTSMark Medina
Columnist
USA TODAYWhen Duke’s Grant Hill took the ball
before making what is probably the
most famous pass in NCAA tournament
history, he had a thought: “OK, this is
easy.”
That’s not, he said this weekend, be-
cause Kentucky coach Rick Pitino chose
to leave him unguarded on the inbounds
play with 2.1 seconds left in overtime of
the legendary 1992 East Regional final in
Philadelphia. It was because Kentucky
had two players behind his intended
target, Christian Laettner.
“There was a confidence, not an over-
confidence,” said Hill. “I was surprised I
had such a good view of Christian. I got a
clean shot at him.
“I kept thinking to myself, make sure
he gets the ball. He had been so good in
that game. Really so good in that sea-
son.”
He was, in fact, perfect in that game,
10-for-10 from the floor, including that
jumper just past the foul line at the
buzzer that gave the Blue Devils a stun-
ning 104-103 victory and sent them to
Minneapolis for their fifth consecutive
Final Four appearance, where they won
their second title in a row.
Hill was not supposed to be at home
this weekend reminiscing about a game
28 years ago. He was supposed to be in
Atlanta with Jim Nantz and Bill Raftery
broadcasting the Final Four, including
what would have been the national
championship game Monday night. As
COVID-19 has shut down sports, ath-
letes, broadcasters and journalists are
adjusting. Hill is learning more songs to
play on the piano and spending time
with his family.
The media are showing and writing
about games and moments in the past
because there is no present.
“I feel like I just want to check out a
game and want to read about it, and
there’s nothing there,” said Hill, a part
owner of the NBA’s Hawks and a basket-
ball Hall of Famer. “It just speaks to how
important that role of sports is in our so-
ciety.”
Hill agreed to talk with USA TODAY
about his memories of arguably thegreatest college game ever played. For
one thing, Hill did not start that game.
It was just one of nine games he
didn’t start that season.
“It’s funny – I’ve seen people say, ‘I
didn’t know Grant didn’t start.’ ”
An injury to guard Bobby Hurley dur-
ing the season ignited a chain of events
that included Hill switching positions
and his replacement, roommate Anto-
nio Lang, playing very well, then Hill
himself suffering an ankle injury late in
the season. He said coach Mike Krzy-
zewski told him, “ ‘Let me ease you back
in and bring you off the bench.’ We won’t
get into how I felt about that.”
Hill, a sophomore and UPI second-
team All-American that season, came
off the bench in the Atlantic Coast Con-
ference tournament and in the NCAA
tournament until the Final Four, when
Brian Davis was hurt. Hill was in the
starting lineup for the national final vic-
tory over Michigan’s Fab Five Freshmen.
He said he remembers reading a news-
paper that gave the position matchup
edge to Michigan. “They said Ray Jack-
son was a starter and Grant Hill was a
bench player. I was a little ticked off.”
He scored 18 points and had a team-
high 10 rebounds in the final, which
Duke won 71-51. Jackson did not score.
Coming off the bench against Ken-
tucky that regional final, he played 37
minutes, scoring 11 points with 10 re-
bounds and seven assists. None was
more important than his last.
Hill said he was confident he could
make that pass because he basically
practiced it every day – not precisely to
where Laettner was, but as part of a drill
the Blue Devils did at the start of every
practice, even in the open workout atthe Final Four. It’s a partner passing and
shooting drill with a progression that
ends with one player making a long
baseball pass trying to hit the other on
stride for a layup.
Hill said he was so good at throwing a
long pass he used to “trash talk even in
drills about what a great arm I had. ... I
think Coach K noticed that. He put me in
position to throw that pass.”
So while Hill said Duke never prac-
ticed the particular play to Laettner that
beat Kentucky, “I practiced that throw
every day.”
Making the pass was only part of the
play. Then came the shot (which has its
own Wikipedia page, by the way). After
catching the ball, Laettner faked, took a
dribble, turned and made history. Hill,
out of habit, started moving down the
court after the pass as he watched
Laettner, even panicking when Laettner
took that dribble with so little time re-
maining.
“He dribbled, and that threw me off,”
Hill said. “I’m thinking, ‘Get the ball off.’
“I had a great angle to view the shot.
When it left his hand, I remember think-
ing, that’s good.”
Asked if he and Laettner tried to rep-
licate the play when they got back to
campus, Hill said no. But nearly 10 years
later, they did try it again during an
alumni game in Cameron Indoor Stadi-
um. The former players got on the court.
Hill threw the pass, “and Christian made
the shot. Those were the only two times
we did that.”
The second was even easier.
“There was,” Hill said laughing, “no
defense.”
Some might say, kind of like that first
time.Hill’s NCAA-reel pass to Laettner was ‘easy’
Christian Laettner shoots the OT win-
ner after a long pass from Grant Hill.
1992 PHOTO BY CHARLES ARBOGAST/APThomas O’Toole
USA TODAY
Kobe deserved to give Fame speech
361667513