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Doc Rivers breaks down, players in tears after surreal Kobe Bryant tragedy

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Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports


Basketball was still played Sunday without Kobe Bryant.

After the tragedy that touched just about everyone, the Lakers legend and his daughter, along with three others, being killed in a Southern California helicopter crash, the NBA kept churning. The bodies were still on the court even if the minds were elsewhere.

Before the Clippers’ game in Orlando, Doc Rivers had trouble getting through his media session.

“He had that DNA that very few athletes can ever have. The Tigers Woods, the Michael Jordans,” Rivers told reporters. “It’s funny, I was getting to know him more since he retired. This is a tough one. I don’t … we have to go play. The news is just devastating for [wife] Vanessa and his family.”

In San Antonio, the Spurs and Raptors started the game by exchanging 24-second clock violations — a tribute to the legendary No. 24.

In Denver, the Rockets and Nuggets had to face off at a time both would have preferred grieving. Tyson Chandler was on the bench in tears:

The news traveled to Israel, too, where Amar’e Stoudemire was informed and had difficulty putting his thoughts into words: