Kobe Bryant achieved international stardom during his storied NBA career — but his impact on basketball in Canada was particularly unique.
Bryant — who was killed in a helicopter crash Sunday in Calabasas, Calif., along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others — was simultaneously an inspiration to countless Canadian athletes who would go on to professional careers and a tormentor of the country’s NBA teams as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Here is a look at Bryant’s relationship with basketball in Canada — both as a friend and a foe — as tributes to the late basketball icon continue to come in.
Tormenting Canadian teams
Before the recent success of the Toronto Raptors, yellow jerseys adorned with either the No. 8 or 24 were ubiquitous whenever Bryant came to town. But Bryant’s most iconic moment against the Raptors came in Los Angeles in 2006, when he dropped 81 points on Toronto.
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Bryant’s 81 are the second-most points scored in an NBA game, behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points scored as a member of the Philadelphia Warriors in 1962. The performance is even more stunning due to the fact it came a month after Toronto held him to just 11 points.
Even games at what was then-known as the Air Canada Centre could have been mistaken for Lakers home games due to Bryant’s transcendent stardom. And for Raptors fans, who for years were starved for any semblance of celebration, a missed shot at the buzzer by Bryant in 2010 was cause for celebration.
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Bryant — who owned a 24-9 record against the Raptors — would go on to finish his career as the third-highest scoring player in league history, a mark that was surpassed by current Laker LeBron James on Saturday.
Watch: Kobe Bryant’s last game in Toronto
Kyle Lowry had 27 points as the Toronto Raptors snapped a three-game skid with a 102-93 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. In his last NBA appearance in Canada, Kobe Bryant had 21 points for the Lakers. 0:28
But what about Canada’s other NBA team, the late Vancouver Grizzlies? Well, Bryant notched his first-career triple-double in 2001 against the team, which later relocated to Memphis.
Feted in Toronto
Bryant was an 18-time NBA all-star during his career, and his final all-star appearance in 2016 was cause for celebration. The festivities were held in Toronto that season, and the weekend for all intents and purposes turned into the Kobe show.
Watch: Kobe Bryant honoured before final NBA All-Star Game
Tribute to Kobe Bryant 6:07
After the video aired in the arena, NBA legend Magic Johnson took the microphone to laud Bryant even further and eventually introduce a second tape of Bryant’s moments, with the retiring Los Angeles Lakers great narrating parts of it and other All-Stars offering him words of thanks.
Bryant then addressed the crowd, as they chanted his name at a deafening level. Bryant said he’s “been extremely fortunate to play the game I love and be in the NBA for more than half my life.”
Bryant, right, hugged fellow Lakers legend Magic Johnson before the 2016 NBA All-Star Game in Toronto. (Getty Images)
He ended his remarks by saying, “Thank you so much — and now I’ve got to go get loose.”
Bryant checked out of the game with just over a minute remaining, leaving to a standing ovation, hugs from players, and more chanting of his name. The West easily defeated the East by a whopping score of 196-173.
Idolized by Canadian players
Throughout his 20-year career, Bryant left his mark on many basketball players whom eventually made it to the NBA — including several Canadians.
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray grew up in Kitchener, Ont., idolizing the five-time NBA champion.
Murray, who was drafted seventh overall by the Nuggets in 2016, told the Denver Post that he admired Bryant’s famous “Mamba mentality.”
“It was his drive to win, it was his never give up on plays, his confidence level in himself and what he could do, his belief in his team, just everything,” Murray said.
After learning of Bryant’s death, Murray tweeted: “I’m trying to process but I just can’t man.”
Surreal day. Every inch of the Pepsi Center has gone quiet. Every person flipping through their phone or shaking their head. Here’s the moment Will Barton informed Jamal Murray about the news. <a href=”https://t.co/D46C6pH4yV”>pic.twitter.com/D46C6pH4yV</a>
Toronto’s Andrew Wiggins has said he watched Bryant’s game voraciously as a child and modelled his game after the star. Wiggins, who plays for Minnesota, would wind up scoring on his idol during a game in February 2016.
After knocking down a fadeaway jump shot with Bryant defending, Wiggins — who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Timberwolves in 2014 — turned to him and said: “I got that from you.”
Andrew Wiggins backs down Kobe Bryant, nails fadeaway <a href=”https://t.co/gjlzN4YXlf”>pic.twitter.com/gjlzN4YXlf</a>
Bryant even had a few Canadian teammates during his illustrious career — notably Rick Fox, who won three consecutive titles in Los Angeles with Bryant in the early 2000s.
Fox, a small forward from Toronto, was a solid contributor during the team’s title run in 2000 and developed into a key starter for the Lakers’ next two championship victories.
Toronto’s Rick Fox, right, won three NBA titles with Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. (Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press)
Reserve centre Robert Sacre, a one-time member of the Canadian men’s national basketball team, also played for the Lakers during the latter part of Bryant’s career.
But the highest-profile Canadian to share the court with Bryant was two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash.
Injuries to both Bryant, left, and Steve Nash limited their time together as teammates, but their playoff matchups as foes were memorable. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
While a member of the Phoenix Suns, Nash and Bryant faced off three times in the NBA playoffs, with the Suns winning two series. At the end of his career, Nash elected to team up with Bryant in Los Angeles, but injuries to both players limited their on-court time together.
“My heart is broken for Kobe and his family,” Nash tweeted on Sunday. “I’ll never forget the battles but what I really admired was the father he was to his girls.
“Rest In Peace old friend with your angel Gianna.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
