CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns had an extra pep in their step in their game against the Denver Broncos inside Broncos Stadium at Mile High on December 15, 2018, and it partially had to do with the message they received in a team meeting Friday.
In addition to the usual meetings with position coaches, coordinators and interim head coach Gregg Williams, the Browns met with one of the NBA’s greatest players, former Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant.
Early Wednesday morning, Browns receiver Jarvis Landry shared a picture of himself and Bryant from that meeting on Instagram, along with heartfelt condolences just four days after Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others perished in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California Sunday.
“Man, I can’t begin to explain the lives you’ve changed forever,” Landry wrote. “I’m grateful to have met you, watch you and admire the father and person you were. You will forever be a part of my journey and millions of others.
“My prayers to the Bryant family and others. REST EASY #mambamentality.”
When Bryant stepped onto a basketball court, he was the ultimate competitor who accepted nothing but the best effort, no matter if it was a training camp practice with the Lakers in Hawaii, the deciding game in the NBA Finals with a championship hanging in the balance or in the Olympic Gold Medal Game.
In 20 seasons with the Lakers, Bryant scored 33,643 points, pulled down 7,047 rebounds, handed out 6,306 assists, converted 44.7 percent of his 26,200 shots from the field and knocked down 1,827 three-pointers.
More than the numbers, Bryant’s success can be measured by the five championship teams he was a part of as well as a tireless work ethic and unrivaled competitiveness, both on and off the court that led him to leave the game as the No. 3 scorer in league history, only to be surpassed by former Cavaliers great LeBron James just hours before his passing.
Bryant’s jersey numbers, 8 and 24, have been retired by the Lakers, and it is expected that he will be part of a star-studded class of inductees into the National Basketball Hall of Fame later this year.
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