Pitt, Duke Honor Kobe Bryant Before Tuesday’s Game

Pitt and Duke wore pregame shirts honoring the late Kobe Bryant before their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday night as part of an extended pregame moment in honor of the Los Angeles Lakers great.

The shirts had 24 on the back and 8 on the front in Lakers colors. Those were the two uniform numbers worn by Bryant over his career.

#Pitt – #Duke – #Kobe … @PghSportsNow pic.twitter.com/gdcD3DlUjd

— Mitchell Northam (@primetimeMitch) January 29, 2020

Duke also offered a 24.8-second moment of silence before the game.

Both Pitt head coach Jeff Capel and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski spoke earlier in the week about the effect Bryant had on them and this generation of basketball players.

“It’s been tough for them,” Capel said to PSN’s Nate Bell on Monday. “These young guys, like they admired him so much, looked up to him so much, as a player and what he’s meant for the game of basketball. It’s like a superhero dying. Like, Kobe was one of these guys that seemed invincible.”

“Kobe was one of a kind, and he wasn’t like anybody; everyone was trying to be like him,” Krzyzewski said. “He was always in pursuit of special and the next moment. But instead of just pursuing it, he always prepared. There’s really nobody who prepared any harder than him, and [he] was never afraid of the next moment.”

#Duke’s tribute to #Kobe. pic.twitter.com/Vg8lqjUFnY

— Mitchell Northam (@primetimeMitch) January 29, 2020

PSN’s Mitchell Northam contributed reporting from Durham, N.C.