About the nearest thing approximating Laker Nation’s sustained adoration of Bryant is Barcelona with Messi, or how Cork felt about Ring. Snoop, Jack, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Denzel — Kobe was the one they paid top dollar to see courtside and meet after backstage. There is no more relentless grind of a schedule in world team sport as the NBA. Kobe Bryant was that big around the world because basketball is that big around the world. Even hockey, that other great bastion and champion of women’s sport, only started running leagues on a national basis in 2008-9, 30 years after basketball.

Source: Irish Examiner January 29, 2020 00:00 UTC