Some love, some hate and all respect in Pelicans tribute to Kobe
(via @PelicansNBA) #MambaFarewellTourhttps://t.co/DNklDYufmo— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 9, 2016
With just under a week left in the regular season, the Kobe Bryant farewell tour is winding to a close. On Friday night, Mamba made his final appearance at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, so the organization used the occasion to honor his legacy with a tribute video featuring several Pelicans players paying their respects to the Lakers legend they grew up idolizing and/or competing against over the years.
Some of the highlights include Kendrick Perkins waxing nostalgic about their Finals battles during his Celtics days, Ryan Anderson lamenting his hometown Sacramento Kings’ playoff losses to the Lakers in the early aughts, and Anthony Davis expressing his gratitude for how Kobe took him under this wing during the 2012 London Olympics.
Kobe played sparingly on Friday night, logging just over 19 minutes of action in the first half and scoring 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field. It didn’t look like he’d return to the game in the second half, that is until Byron Scott had him check back in at the seven-minute mark of the fourth quarter amid chants from the crowd. There are just three games remaining for the Lakers this season: back-to-back road games against the Rockets and the Thunder before closing out the season at home against the Jazz next Wednesday.
