Portland Trail Blazers star Carmelo Anthony will not play during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night at the Staples Center. The game is the first time the Lakers will take the court since Kobe Bryant‘s death in a helicopter crash on Sunday. Anthony and Bryant were close friends and played together on the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams.
Portland coach Terry Stotts officially listed Anthony’s reason for not playing as “personal reasons,” reports USA Today Sports.
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Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard told USA Today Sports he respects Anthony’s decision to miss the game.
“I know him and Kobe had a great relationship,” Lillard said. “It’s something he was not ready to face and deal with. We all respect his decision.”
Lillard said heading back to playing is a “tough situation for everybody.”
“The people closest to him and his family and things like that is obviously going to be harder for them,” Lillard continued. “But for me it’s going to be emotional because I grew up idolizing Kobe, I grew up a huge fan of Kobe and cheering for Kobe and eventually becoming a peer of his and playing against him and getting cool with him and being in contact with him. All of those things makes for a very sad and emotional night. It’ll be a tough game to play. But i’m choosing to honor him and coming out and competing and showing my respect in that way.”
Bryant and Anthony became close when they played for Team USA during the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, winning two gold medals.
On Tuesday, Anthony shared a heartbreaking tribute on Instagram, pointing out that Bryant talked to him before he played last week.
“Damn Bro!! I hate when I have so much to say, but I can’t put any of it into words,” Anthony wrote. “The times I have the most to say are the times that I can’t talk. I’m screaming inside but I can’t be heard. YOU don’t know how hard it is to try to pretend to smile when I have these clouds of emotions. YOU just called me and told me you were coming to the game Friday and that you were proud of me and ‘regardless of anything, stay true to myself and STAYME7O.’”
“We were just laughing about how hard YOU was working GiGi and her teammates and I told YOU they need a day off,” Anthony continued. “This pain is almost unbearable Champ! Why you bro? Why GiGi? Why leave Vanessa with this Sadness and Pain. WHY? This will never make sense to me.”
Later, Anthony called this a moment when there are “simply NO words to describe the pain within.”
“YOU will continue to be Loved,” Anthony wrote. “YOU will be missed. YOU will forever be remembered. YOUR legacy will live on FOREVER. OUR FRIENDSHIP will never be forgotten. I know YOU will be near, Even if I don’t see YOU.”
Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant and seven others died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California Sunday.
The Lakers and Trail Blazers tip-off at 10 p.m. ET, live on ESPN.
Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
