#chester dawkins

[vianthemindelectric]

A redraw of an old banner I made for myself, a BINR boss lineup!

I remember pretty vaguely how the old one looks (as unfortunately I don’t have the og file) but all of them have the best goddamn glowups… man…

[cretonki]

Gigi allen

#Gigi allen pro#

1,346īoth of the Lakers’ rookies selected in the first round of the 1996 N.B.A. Shawn Kemp sat out a year after graduating high school in 1988 before he was drafted in 1989 by Seattle. Those four predecessors: Moses Malone, Darryl Dawkins, Bill Willoughby and Kevin Garnett. Only four players - all big men - made the jump directly from high school to the pros before Bryant and Portland’s Jermaine O’Neal were selected in the 1996 N.B.A. A future teammate with the Lakers, Andrew Bynum, eventually became the youngest player in league history at 18 years and six days old when he made his debut in 2005. history when he made his regular-season debut for the Lakers on Nov. 18īryant was the youngest player in N.B.A. In tribute to Kobe Bryant and his second of two jersey numbers, we present a 24-item assemblage of standout statistics from his career with the Lakers. “He knew me when there was no Shammgod moves.” “I knew him when he wasn’t this Kobe,” Shammgod said. playing careers, Shammgod has landed on the Mavericks’ staff as a player development coach - yet he remains so revered for his ball handling that, even in a coaching role, he has his own Puma signature shoe.ĭays after that Lakers/Mavericks game, never realizing the sorrow that was looming, Shammgod told me some moving stories of his workouts with father and daughter - how he had the extraordinary opportunity to coach them both. Wearing a bright orange hoodie and a green ski cap to rep his hometown Philadelphia Eagles, Bryant was sitting courtside beside Gianna as they watched - make that studied - the Lakers’ LeBron James and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks going head-to-head.Īlso in the building that night was God Shammgod, whose extraordinary dribbling ability made him a New York playground legend. 29 at Staples Center, he had never looked more joyful. “She’s like, ‘Oy, I got this,’” Bryant said of Gianna, then 12. Perhaps by now you have seen the clip of Kobe from his visit to the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” show in 2018, telling the world that Gianna bristled any time she heard a fan suggest to her father that he and his wife, Vanessa Bryant, needed to have a boy to uphold Kobe’s legacy.

#Gigi allen pro#

On Monday, I wrote about how he was convinced, from the first minute of his pro career, that he was bound for the Hall of Fame. Kobe Bryant was 17 when I met him, then freshly acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers. The list gets sadder every time it is recited. The lives of three teenage girls with so much to look forward were taken in the crash, along with those of Bryant Alyssa’s parents, John and Keri Payton’s mother, Sarah Kobe’s assistant coach, Christina Mauser and Ara Zobayan, who piloted the helicopter. “Mambacita is forever a Husky,” the school posted on Twitter, referring to the nickname that Kobe Bryant, the self-styled “Black Mamba,” had given the second-born of his four daughters.Īlso on board were two of Gianna’s teammates from the AAU squad coached by her father: Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester. 2 on the bench for an exhibition game against the United States national team. Beloved by members of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball program, which she dreamed of joining someday, Gianna received a moving tribute from the team on Monday when it placed flowers and a UConn jersey bearing her No.

[greatwonfidence]

THAT WAS PROBABLY A JOKE BUT IMMA TAKE THAT SHIT SERIOUS. in line with the other anon, the noob dude uses homophobic humor because he's ashamed of his sexuality. he's been secretly in love with his friend, the gamer for god, after engaging him in "debates" about atheism (he just quotes dawkins without really getting it) and thinks that chester is cute but dumb. eventually gets cancelled by his homophobic fans for getting caught sending nudes to guys.

HAHAHA PERFECT

we’d better not forget about one of gamer for god’s prayers including the line “i’ve seen many attractive women and men here,” meaning he knows god doesn’t care if you’re gay. he knows it’s internalized homophobia but whenever he tries to tell noob dude that god still loves him he responds with “that’s pretty gay of him”

[mwsa-member]

Truly Are the Free by Jeffrey K. Walker

MWSA Review Pending  

Author's Synopsis

South Boston-native Ned Tobin has all the luck. Alive after the Somme, he meets, beds and falls in love with the alluring Adèle Chéreaux. Their love affair is suddenly upended in 1917 when Ned is called home and Adèle flees the last German advance of the First World War. Young Harlem lawyer Chester Dawkins dutifully joins a new regiment anxious to fight for their chance at valor in the face of deep-rooted racism. Meanwhile, his sister, Lena, is left at home to shoulder a crippling legacy of family debt. Ned finds himself back in France with Chester's regiment. Can these soldiers from very different backgrounds overcome long-held prejudices and find common cause in the bloody trenches? Will Ned ever find Adèle again? And what will become of Lena? Journey through avant-garde Paris, Prohibition-era Harlem and newly independent Ireland in this heart-wrenching yet hopeful story of love and loss.

ISBN/ASIN: 1947108026, 978-1947108028, B077SB7ZLH

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 278

[webionaire]

Alan Klotz Gallery, New York

Arnika Dawkins Gallery, Atlanta

Atlas Gallery, London

Augusta Edwards Fine Art, London

Barry Singer Gallery, Petaluma, CA

Baudoin Lebon, Paris

Bildhalle, Zurich

Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York

Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, New York

Catherine Couturier Gallery, Houston

Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago

Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York

ClampArt, NewYork, NY

Contemporary Works/Vintage Works, Chalfont, PA

Daniel Blau, Munich

Danziger Gallery, New York, NY

DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY

Deborah Bell Photographs, New York

Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ

Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles

Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Galerie Catherine et André Hug, Paris

Galerie Clementine de la Feronniere, Paris

Galerie Johannes Faber, Vienna

Galerie Karsten Greve, Germany

Gallery 19/21, Guilford, CT

GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Antwerp

Gary Edwards Gallery, Southhampton, NY

G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA

Gilles Peyroulet & Cie., Paris

Gitterman Gallery, New York

HackelBury Fine Art Limited, London

Hans P. Kraus Jr. Inc., , New York

Henry Feldstein, Forest Hills, NY

Holden Luntz Gallery, Palm Beach , FL

Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

Huxley-Parlour Gallery, London

Hyperion Press Ltd., New York

IBASHO, Antwerp

Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA

Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Jorg Maaß Kunsthandel, Berlin

Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney

Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, CA

Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Mt. Pleasant, SC

Kahmann Gallery, Amsterdam

Keith de Lellis Gallery, New York

Kicken Berlin AG, Berlin

L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, New York

Laurence Miller Gallery, New York

Lee Gallery, Winchester, MA

Lee Marks Fine Art, Shelbyville, IN

Les Douches La Galerie, Paris

Lisa Sette Gallery, Phoenix, AZ

Loewenthiel at the 19th Century Shop, Brooklyn, NY

MEM, Inc., Tokyo

Michael Dawson Gallery, Los Angeles

Michael Hoppen Gallery, London

Michael Shapiro Photographs, Westport, CT

Miyako Yoshinaga Gallery, New York

Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe, NM

Nailya Alexander Gallery, New York, NY

Obscura Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

Pace Gallery, New York

Paci Contemporary, Bescia/Porto Cervo, Italy

Patricia Conde Galeria, Mexico City

Paul M. Hertzmann, Inc., San Francisco, CA

PDNB Gallery, Dallas, TX

Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

PGI, Tokyo

Richard Moore Photographs, Oakland, CA

Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA

Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Robert Mann Gallery, New York

Robert Morat Galerie, Berlin

Rolf Art, Buenos Aires

Scheinbaum & Russek Ltd, Santa Fe, NM

Scott Nichols Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Sous Les Etoiles Gallery, New York

Staley-Wise Gallery, New York

Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto

Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago

The Halsted Gallery, Birmingham, MI

Throckmorton Fine Art, New York

Utopica, São Paulo

Vasari, Buenos Aires

Wach Gallery, Avon Lake, OH

Weinstein Hammons Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

Weston Gallery, Inc., Carmel, CA

William L Schaffer/Photographs, Chester, CT

Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York

Yumiko Chiba Associates, Tokyo

[hocats-blog]

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." Albert Einstein

This morning the press, and public, went into uproar over headlines claiming evolutionary biologist and writer Richard Dawkins thinks fairy tales are harmful to children. After a quick look at Dawkins' personal Twitter feed, and his subsequent interview with The Guardian, it seems that his comments have been misunderstood. Nevertheless, in light of the conversation, we look at five reasons why fairy tales are in fact great for children...

1. They boost a child's imagination and cultural literacy A child's imagination is a powerful and unique thing. It's not only used to make up stories and games, it's a key factor in their creative thoughts and can define the type of education, career and life they have. With this imagination comes a cultural literacy; fairy tales often include different cultures and ways of doing things. They teach children about cultural differences in the world outside their own gifting them a curiosity to learn new things and experience new places.

2. They teach us right from wrong Standing strongly within fairy tales of magic horses and glass slippers is a moral backbone. It's in a fairytale's DNA to have a strong moral lesson, a fight between good & evil, love and loss, and these lessons rub off on our children.

According to The Telegraph, Mrs Goddard Blythe, director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester, said: "Fairy tales help to teach children an understanding of right and wrong, not through direct teaching, but through implication."

Fairy tales help to teach children an understanding of right and wrong, not through direct teaching, but through implication

Fairy tales teach children that good will always triumph and, while this may not be true in aspects of the real world, the lesson is simple and important. Be the hero, not the villain. Learn to hope for better.

3. They develop critical thinking skills Following on from the last point, and as Richard Dawkins has pointed out, fairy tales teach children critical thinking. They see the consequences of characters decisions and learn that what will happen to them depends on the choices they make. Not all characters can be good role models, even 'the goodies' can be damsels in distress, or reckless (or feckless) princes. What the stories do teach though, is that when bad things happen, you have decisions to make. If you make the right ones, everything might just turn out OK.

4. They can help children deal with emotions themselves Not only do fairy tales prepare our kids for society and making moral decisions, they teach them how to deal with conflict within themselves. Child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, who specialised in the importance of fairy tales in childhood, believed that fairy tales can aid children in dealing with anxiety they are, as yet, unable to explain. In fairy tales children are often the main character and more often than not will win against the story's evil. Readers can relate to this and find a fairy tale hero in themselves. Watch any Pixar film for guidance on this one.

5. And finally, they are great fun! I have very fond memories of curling up in bed and disappearing into another world where dragons fly and princes fight. My memories of overwhelming excitement when my dad came home with the latest Harry Potter book still makes my smile. The games I played with my friends in our garden were indisputably improved by our imaginations, which were still swimming in last night's story.

Whether it's for indirect moral lessons, improving their imaginations or because your child can't put that book down reading fairy tales should be encouraged. Read them together, help your kids invent their own and make sure they know can win against any wicked witch. (Source: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/blog/reading/2014/06/5-reasons-why-fairy-tales-are-good-for-children?fbclid=IwAR3fciZm5SU_ORppa5FqY001t9dQsprVRjMqsEXmlbDtOHUsr8y_kTe3M1A)

[mastcomm]

Kobe Bryant Saw His Greatness Mirrored in Gianna

The N.B.A. on Thursday is scheduled to announce the players chosen by Eastern and Western Conference coaches as All-Star Game reserves. On the internal calendar I keep, this is traditionally the ideal time to unveil my unofficial All-Star selections.

That won’t be happening this time.

In the wake of the horrific helicopter crash on Sunday that killed the legendary Kobe Bryant and eight others aboard, normal operations have been pretty much suspended for anyone who has anything to do with the N.B.A.

Bryant’s worldwide stature is obviously a huge part of that. He was one of the giants of this game, an immense figure globally, revered by the overwhelming majority of current N.B.A. players — and incomprehensibly struck down at the age of 41. Grief like this will not fade quickly.

It is doubly true in this case because Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was on that helicopter with him.

Beloved by members of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball program, which she dreamed of joining someday, Gianna received a moving tribute from the team on Monday when it placed flowers and a UConn jersey bearing her No. 2 on the bench for an exhibition game against the United States national team.

“Mambacita is forever a Husky,” the school posted on Twitter, referring to the nickname that Kobe Bryant, the self-styled “Black Mamba,” had given the second-born of his four daughters.

Also on board were two of Gianna’s teammates from the AAU squad coached by her father: Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester. The lives of three teenage girls with so much to look forward were taken in the crash, along with those of Bryant; Alyssa’s parents, John and Keri; Payton’s mother, Sarah; Kobe’s assistant coach, Christina Mauser; and Ara Zobayan, who piloted the helicopter.

The list gets sadder every time it is recited.

Kobe Bryant was 17 when I met him, then freshly acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers. On Monday, I wrote about how he was convinced, from the first minute of his pro career, that he was bound for the Hall of Fame.

Bryant was equally convinced that Gianna was likewise destined for greatness. She was his ever-present companion at countless games in recent years — to watch her W.N.B.A. heroes, or the Huskies, or maybe on a special trip to see her favorite N.B.A. player: Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks.

Perhaps by now you have seen the clip of Kobe from his visit to the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” show in 2018, telling the world that Gianna bristled any time she heard a fan suggest to her father that he and his wife, Vanessa Bryant, needed to have a boy to uphold Kobe’s legacy.

“She’s like, ‘Oy, I got this,’” Bryant said of Gianna, then 12.

The last time I saw Kobe, on Dec. 29 at Staples Center, he had never looked more joyful. Wearing a bright orange hoodie and a green ski cap to rep his hometown Philadelphia Eagles, Bryant was sitting courtside beside Gianna as they watched — make that studied — the Lakers’ LeBron James and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks going head-to-head.

Also in the building that night was God Shammgod, whose extraordinary dribbling ability made him a New York playground legend. Despite the briefest of N.B.A. playing careers, Shammgod has landed on the Mavericks’ staff as a player development coach — yet he remains so revered for his ball handling that, even in a coaching role, he has his own Puma signature shoe.

Days after that Lakers/Mavericks game, never realizing the sorrow that was looming, Shammgod told me some moving stories of his workouts with father and daughter — how he had the extraordinary opportunity to coach them both.

“I knew him when he wasn’t this Kobe,” Shammgod said. “He knew me when there was no Shammgod moves.”

In their high school days, Shammgod — then known as Shammgod Wells — wound up at an ABCD youth camp with Bryant in New Jersey. Kobe had spent some of his formative years in Italy, where his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was playing professionally, but Shammgod said Kobe’s fellow campers knew only that he had mostly played abroad somewhere.

“The boy from France,” Shammgod said. “That’s what we called him. After the first game, guys were saying, ‘Who’s this guy who actually thinks he’s Michael Jordan?’ He’s walking like Jordan, he’s doing every Jordan move, shooting all the balls.”

Bryant was clearly a special talent, but his ball handling was a weakness. Joe Bryant had noticed Shammgod’s slick handles and asked the 16-year-old if he could help Jellybean’s 15-year-old son.

Shammgod told the elder Bryant that he would be happy to work out with Kobe — at 6 the next morning. “I was thinking, ‘He’s not going to show,’” Shammgod said. “I get there and he’s already there.”

A bond was forged, and the two remained close. The friendship endured even as Bryant rose to stardom and his dribbling mentor was forced to scour the globe for jobs (in Poland, China, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Croatia) after an N.B.A. career that lasted just 20 games with the Washington Wizards in 1997-98.

During the All-Star break last February, Shammgod received an urgent summons from Bryant to Southern California. Kobe was now coaching Gianna’s travel team and wanted to introduce her and the rest of the squad to the move known in hoop parlance as “The Shammgod” — which requires the dribbler to bring the ball to the side with one hand to get the defender off balance, then snatch it back with the opposite hand to execute a crossover dribble. Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul and the Nets’ Kyrie Irving are two of the most accomplished modern practitioners.

Shammgod spent two days at Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

“When I say that’s all he wanted to do is dribbling, that’s all he wanted to do,” Shammgod said. “From 10 to 12 in the morning, then from 2 to 4. These girls were dribbling four hours straight without shooting the basketball.”

One-on-one tutorials with Gianna would soon follow. Shammgod said they had worked out about a dozen times over the past year. Kobe wanted to fly him in more often, but Shammgod said he had to remind him occasionally, “I work for the Mavs and I can’t leave.”

When the trio huddled at that Dec. 29 game at Staples, Gianna excitedly told the story of how she “did the Shammgod on this girl” in a recent game.

“She was so locked in,” Shammgod said. “Her mind-set was just like his mind-set.”

That was evident in a 2019 glimpse of Gianna on camera with the Las Vegas CBS affiliate during a trip to watch that season’s opener for the W.N.B.A.’s Las Vegas Aces. Explaining her fascination with film study, Gigi could not have sounded much more like her father when she said, “More information, more inspiration.”

Those of us who were there for the start of the Kobe Bean Bryant experience and watched him grow up can’t help but flash back to those early days now. Even though the journalism handbook says we’re supposed to be detached and unemotional — even at times like this — Bryant’s sudden death has been a gut punch for many scribes like me who covered him closely over the past two decades.

What messes me up most, though, is when I start thinking about Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, her two teammates on that chopper and the shattered families that have to try to move on without them.

Gianna, Alyssa and Payton — gone at an age just a few years younger than Kobe was upon his league-shaking arrival in the N.B.A. So, so unspeakably cruel.

This newsletter is OUR newsletter. So please weigh in with what you’d like to see here. To get your hoops-loving friends and family involved, please forward this email to them so they can jump in the conversation. If you’re not a subscriber, you can sign up here.

In tribute to Kobe Bryant and his second of two jersey numbers, we present a 24-item assemblage of standout statistics from his career with the Lakers.

18

Bryant was the youngest player in N.B.A. history when he made his regular-season debut for the Lakers on Nov. 3, 1996, at 18 years and 72 days old. A future teammate with the Lakers, Andrew Bynum, eventually became the youngest player in league history at 18 years and six days old when he made his debut in 2005.

4

Only four players — all big men — made the jump directly from high school to the pros before Bryant and Portland’s Jermaine O’Neal were selected in the 1996 N.B.A. draft. Those four predecessors: Moses Malone, Darryl Dawkins, Bill Willoughby and Kevin Garnett. Shawn Kemp sat out a year after graduating high school in 1988 before he was drafted in 1989 by Seattle.

1,346

Both of the Lakers’ rookies selected in the first round of the 1996 N.B.A. draft — Bryant (1,346) and Derek Fisher (915) — rank in the top five in club history in games played.

7

Bryant started only seven games in his first two N.B.A. seasons.

4

Bryant’s four air balls in a 1997 playoff game in Utah — one at the regulation buzzer and three in overtime — came against the same Jazz franchise he riddled for 60 points in his final N.B.A. game on April 13, 2016.

3

The Lakers’ championships in three consecutive seasons — 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02 — represent the league’s only three-peat this century. The Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls had three-peats twice in the 1990s (1990-91 through 1992-93 and 1995-96 through 1997-98).

38.3

A conversion rate of 38.3 percent in 2002-03 marked Bryant’s most successful season from the 3-point line.

35.4

Bryant’s highest single-season scoring average was 35.4 points per game in 2005-2006, the Lakers’ second season after trading away Shaquille O’Neal.

16,866

Bryant scored 16,866 points and won three of his five championships wearing No. 8 through his first 10 seasons.

16,777

He scored 16,777 points and won two championships wearing No. 24 over the final 10 seasons of his career.

20

Bryant’s 20 consecutive seasons with the Lakers left him one shy of the N.B.A. record for playing with only one team: Dirk Nowitzki’s 21 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.

14

No other Laker played more than 14 seasons (Jerry West and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).

81

Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006.

33

Bryant’s eruption against the Raptors, the second-highest scoring output in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962, came just 33 days after Kobe scored 62 points in three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks.

220

Bryant appeared in 220 career playoff games, which equates to more than two and half seasons of extra wear and tear.

4

The Lakers missed the playoffs in each of Bryant’s last four seasons.

35.6

Bryant averaged just 35.6 games played over his final three seasons following his torn left Achilles’ tendon in April 2013.

11

The 60 points Bryant scored in his farewell outing beat the previous record for an N.B.A. player in his last official season by 11 points. Boston’s Larry Bird scored 49 points on March 15, 1992.

1

Bryant is the only player in league history to have two jersey numbers (No. 8 and No. 24) retired by one franchise.

18

Bryant’s 18 N.B.A. All-Star appearances are one shy of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record 19.

3

Bryant was voted in by fans as an All-Star starter in his third season with the Lakers and in each of the subsequent 17 seasons.

$328,238,062

The value of Bryant’s contracts over 20 seasons with the Lakers, according to Basketball Reference, was nearly $330 million.

0

Bryant and LeBron James never met in a playoff game. James has made nine trips to the N.B.A. finals, winning three titles.

5-2

Bryant posted a career record of 5-2 in the N.B.A. finals, winning five championships in seven appearances.

Hit me up anytime on Twitter (@TheSteinLine) or Facebook (@MarcSteinNBA) or Instagram (@marcsteinnba). Send any other feedback to marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com.

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/kobe-bryant-saw-his-greatness-mirrored-in-gianna/

[jodyedgarus]

Tacko Fall Is 7-Foot-6. And He’s Breaking Basketball.

If Dr. James Naismith had known that the sport he created would one day be dominated by Tacko Fall, he probably would have nailed his peach basket a bit higher than 10 feet.

The University of Central Florida center is listed at 7-foot-6, although Tacko and those around him will tell you that the senior has grown an inch taller. That makes him the tallest basketball player in college or the NBA. And it means Fall can dunk without his feet leaving the floor and play keep-away with the ball by merely raising his arms above his head. On defense, he’s at most a half-step away from the action, capable of plucking rebounds off the glass or stopping layup attempts by sending the ball crashing into spectators.

“He is one of the most talented kids I’ve ever seen,” said Justin Zormelo, a personal trainer who specializes in analytics and has trained Fall in recent years. “He can do things on the basketball court that have never been done before.”

Anecdotal evidence aside, Fall is in the final stretch of one of the most dominant and efficient careers in the history of college basketball.

For a guy who has been playing basketball half as long as many of his peers, Fall picked up the sport pretty quickly. Seven years ago, Fall, then 16, left his family in Senegal to move to the U.S. “Basketball and school, that was the plan,” said Fall, who had effectively never played the sport before his arrival. “I honestly can’t imagine doing that,” UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said.

By Fall’s senior year of high school, colleges from around the country had come calling. Even though he had received scholarship offers from established programs like Georgetown and Tennessee, Fall chose UCF, a relatively green program. (It has had four all-time appearances in the NCAA tournament, none of which went past the opening round.)

Four years later, Fall has arguably led the Knights to three of the five best seasons in the program’s history.1 This year will likely culminate in the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance in 14 years. “I think he wanted to come here and leave this legacy,” Dawkins said. “He chose a place where he could really impact what was going on. He made that commitment. And look where he’s taken the program.”

Few if any have scored with more efficiency at the college level. “You’ve got to feature him as much as you possibly can,” Dawkins said, laughing. “And we do that.”

Although he has never been UCF’s leading scorer over a full season, Fall has made just under three-quarters of his career field-goal attempts. Oregon State’s Steve Johnson set the all-time career mark (67.8 percent) in the early 1980s, which means that Fall could shatter that record by more than 6 percentage points.

Fall is on pace to shatter the field-goal percentage record

NCAA men’s basketball players with the best career field-goal percentages, for players who attempted a minimum of 400 field goals and made a minimum of four per game

College career Player Team Height Final Season total Games career FG% Tacko Fall UCF 7’6″ 2018-19 110 74.0% Steve Johnson Oregon State 6’10” 1980-81 116 67.8 Michael Bradley Kentucky/Villanova 6’10” 2000-01 100 67.7 Murray Brown Florida State 6’8″ 1979-80 106 66.8 Evan Bradds Belmont 6’7″ 2016-17 129 66.7 Lee Campbell Middle Tenn./Missouri St. 6’7″ 1989-90 88 66.5 Warren Kidd Middle Tenn. 6’9″ 1992-93 83 66.4 Todd MacCulloch Washington 7’0″ 1998-99 115 66.4 Joe Senser West Chester 6’5″ 1978-79 96 66.2 Kevin Magee UC Irvine 6’8″ 1981-82 56 65.6 Orlando Phillips Pepperdine 6’7″ 1982-83 58 65.4

Through March 6, 2019

Sources: NCAA, Sports-Reference.com

This season, Fall’s effective field-goal percentage is 75.1 percent, the best mark by nearly 5 percentage points.2 If that number doesn’t change, Fall will finish in the top three for the second time in three seasons.

Synergy Sports Technology started tracking points per possession in the 2005-06 season. As of Tuesday, there were about 23,000 Division I player-seasons that accounted for at least 150 offensive possessions from 2005-06 through 2018-19. Of those, Fall’s four seasons at UCF ranked third, ninth, 23rd and 27th in adjusted field-goal percentages.

Although Zormelo said Fall’s jump shot is much improved, Fall hasn’t been asked to use it much in college. In fact, Fall has taken a whopping 11 total jump shots over his career, according to data from Synergy. “You always have to know where your bread is buttered,” Dawkins said. “And for him, his bread is buttered in the paint.”

UCF has the tallest front court in the nation, pairing Fall with 6-foot-11 Collin Smith. “On defense, he’s a monster,” said Smith, who admitted that he is rarely concerned if an opponent sprints past him toward the rim. “Just knowing that I have that 7-foot monster behind me is just amazing. I know he’s going to clean it up.”

Counting stats, especially on the defensive end, often fail to showcase Fall’s value. For example, despite having a huge impact on what happens in the paint, Fall has never ranked in the top five in blocks per game. But he has won an American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year award. As Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson told The Associated Press, Fall “takes away half of your playbook.”

And Fall’s presence on the court clearly makes his team better on both ends of the floor. His on-off court splits are jarring. According to Hoop Lens, UCF’s defense improves in nearly every facet when he’s playing. On offense, his team’s effective field-goal percentage is nearly 8 percentage points higher when Fall is manning the paint.

Fall’s impact on UCF has been huge on both ends

The on-court and off-court split for Tacko Fall and UCF in a variety of key offensive and defensive metrics in the 2018-19 season, through March 6

Offense Defense Without With Tacko diff. Without With Tacko diff. Points per poss. 1.00 1.08 +0.08 0.97 0.89 -0.08 eFG% 48.9 56.7 +7.8 47.3 45.5 -1.8 Turnover % 16.6 16.5 -0.1 16.6 17.5 +0.9 Off. reb % 27.0 33.1 +6.1 28.1 28.4 +0.3 FTA/FGA 0.523 0.525 +0.002 0.434 0.241 -0.193 2FG% 49.8 55.1 +5.3 48.1 45.1 -3.0 3FG% 31.7 39.6 +7.9 30.5 30.8 +0.3 FT% 72.2 61.9 -10.3 65.8 63.0 -2.8 3FGA/FGA 0.378 0.363 -0.015 0.365 0.395 +0.030

Source: Hooplens.com

In the two seasons before Fall’s arrival, UCF ranked outside the top 220 teams in Division I in points allowed per possession, according to data provided by Synergy Sports.3 The team made up substantial ground in Fall’s freshman year, and over the past three seasons, UCF has ranked in the top 10. The Knights held opponents to 36.5 percent shooting from the field in 2016-17, tying the 10th best mark nationally in field-goal percentage defense since 1978. This year would be the third consecutive season that the Knights ranked in the top 15 in effective field-goal percentage defense.

Individually, Fall has allowed 44 total points on 79 possessions against post-ups over his career. In isolation, he has allowed 25 points on 34 career possessions. Fall’s lateral quickness has also improved considerably, his coaches say, as has his ability to diagnose and thwart offensive schemes. “He’s guarding different actions that teams are throwing at him,” Dawkins said. “I can see his response time has gotten faster. He’s recognizing what’s going on at that end of the floor a lot quicker as well.”

There’s no shortage of reservations hanging over Fall as he heads toward the upcoming NBA draft. The age of the slow-footed big man is over and, increasingly, the league seems to have less room for guys who can’t get it done at the free-throw line. Fall is 23, and there’s a short shelf life for players who stand at least 7-foot-3: Only 25 have logged action in league history, and fewer than half played more than five seasons. Can someone lacking above-average end-to-end quickness and stamina flourish — or even function — in today’s NBA? And how honed is Fall’s jump shot, which hasn’t really been tested outside the paint? Is his skill set more Yao Ming or Hasheem Thabeet?

“I mean, there’s not a lot of guys like me,” Fall correctly noted.

Zormelo believes in his player, though. “The guy can move a ball wherever he wants. Everything he does is crazy.”

For the short term, UCF is enjoying its first appearance in The Associated Press poll in eight years and is coming off a weekend win over then-No. 8 Houston, snapping the Cougars’ 33-game home win streak, which had been the longest run in the country. On senior night Thursday, the Knights host No. 20 Cincinnati in the first top-25 home matchup in program history, with a chance to beat their second ranked opponent for the first time in a single season.

The Knights are hoping for a sellout for Fall’s final game at CFE Arena. But he’s most concerned about one fan who will be there: his mother, who has never seen her son play in person.

Seven years after he said goodbye to his old life, Fall entered an airport a few days ago and paced around the baggage claim. “All of a sudden, I see her head and we started running,” he said.

Onlookers saw a woman sobbing. Fall saw his mother.

“I have thought (about that moment) every day since I’ve been here,” Fall said. “I felt like I was dreaming. It was incredible.”

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/tacko-fall-is-7-foot-6-and-hes-breaking-basketball/

[altusfl]

25. The 1986 season --- Team rosters

Team by team breakdown of more noted players.

Arizona- QB Alan Risher, QB Jim Zorn,  RB Kevin Nelson, RB John Barnett, RB Scott Stamper, FB Kevin Long, FB Mack Boatner TE Mark Keel, WR Trumaine Johnson, WR Lenny Willis, G Carl Roberts G Frank Kalil, C Mike Katolin OL Jeff Kiewel RG Alvin Powell, DT Kit Lathrop, (DE Karl Lorch), DE John Lee, DE/NT Mark Buben DT Joe Ehrmann OLB Ed Smith, OLB Stan White, MLB Jim Fahnhorst  SS Don Schwartz DB Lance Shields DB Eddie Brown DB Don Schwartz DB Gordon Bunch,FS Allen Durden SS David Fulcher  P/K Frank Corral 

Birmingham- QB Cliff Stoudt,QB Bob Lane, RB Joe Cribbs, RB Ken Talton, RB Earl Gant, FB Leon Perry WR Jim Smith, WR Joey Jones, WR Ron Fredrick, WR Perry Tuttle, TE Darryl Mason TE Allama Matthews T Pat Phenix, T Robert Woods G Pat Saindon, G Buddy Aydelette, C Tom Banks G Dave Drechsler DE Jon Hand DE Dave Purifory DE Jackie Cline DE/DT Jimmy Walker DT Doug Smith, DE/DT Ronnie Paggett,  OLB Herb Spencer,LB Dallas Hickman, LB Thomas Boyd CB Ricky Ray CB Dennis Woodberry CB Frank Reed DB Dave Dumars  SS Billy Cesare FS Mike Thomas FS Chuck Clanton P Danny Miller K Scott Norwood 

Chicago-QB Vince Evans, QB Jack Trudeau RB Bo Jackson, RB Thomas Rooks, FB Keith Byars, WR David Williams,WR Steve Bryant, TE Cap Boso, LT Lee Spivey,LT Duane Wilson,RT Jim Juriga,RG Arland Thompson, C Bill Winters  DE Don Thorp, DE Ken Gillen, NT Bob Nelson,NT Paul Hanna DT Tony Suber ILB Pepper Johnson ILB Jeff Leiding LB Byron Lee LB Larry Kolic OLB/DB Jim Bob Morris, OLB/DB John Barefeild OLB/DB Larry James FS Craig Swoope DB Mike Ulmer K Max Zendejas

Denver- QB Doug Flutie, QB Vince Evans,QB Bob Gagliano RB Bill Johnson, WR Leonard Harris, WR/KR Marc Lewis, WR Vincent White, LT Steve Rogers, C Tom Davis OL Sid Abramowitz DE Bruce Thornton, DE Calvin Turner, ILB John Nevens, LB Greg Gerken CB/PR David Martin, CB David Dumars CB Nate Miller, P Jack Weil K/P Jim Asmus (Future deals- FS Scott Thomas)

Hawaii - QB Jack Thompson, QB Robbie Bosco, QB/RB/WR Raphel Cherry, WR Neil Balholm, WR Walter Murray, WR Danny Buggs,  WR Glen Kozlowski, RB/PR/KR Gary Allen, RB Del Rogers, RB Anthony Edgar RB/PR/KR Vai Sikahema,  FB Nuu Faaola, FB Tom Tuipulotu, TE Trevor Molini, TE David Mills, RT Jim Mills LT Dean Miraldi T Vince Stroth, T Nick Eyre, G Bernard Carvalho, C Ed Riewerts DE Junior Ah You, DE Jim Herrmann DE Brandon Flint  DE Brad Anae, DE Junior Filiaga DE/DT Karl Lorch, DT Tom Tuinei OLB Kyle Whittigham, OLB  Leon White, MLB Kurt Gouveia, OLB Cary Whittingham, LB Ben Apuna, LB Filipo Mokofisi, CB Jeff Griffin  CB Manny Hendrix, DB/KR Erroll Tucker, FS Blaine Gaison FS Jeff Wilcox SS Mark Kafentzis SS Kyle Morrell SS Jeff Sprowls S Verlon Redd P/TE Clay Brown K Paul Woodside 

Houston- QB Jim Kelly, QB Todd Fowler WR Richard Johnson, WR Ricky Sanders, WR/PR Gerald McNeil, WR/KR Clarence Verdin, RB Sam Harrell, RB Darryl Clark, LT Bryan Dausin RT Tommy Robinson T Ernie Rogers, T Denver Johnson RG Billy Kidd, LG Scott Boucher, C Frank Kalil, DE Pete Catan, DE Cleveland Crosby DE Hosea Taylor DE Charles Benson DT Tony Fitzpatrick DT Hosea Taylor  OLB Andy Hawkins, OLB Mike Hawkins, MLB Kiki DeAyala,  CB Will Lewis CB Mike Mitchell FS Luther Bradley FS Hollis Hall SS Calvin Eason,S Tommy Myers P Dale Walters K Toni Fritsch,

Jack- QB Ed Luther, QB Robbie Mahfouz WR Alton Alexis, WR Perry Kemp, WR Gary Clark, WR Wyatt Henderson RB Kevin Mack,KR/RB Tony Boddie, RB Archie Griffin, FB Larry Mason T Bob Gruber G George Collins C Jay Pennison T Roy simmons C Mike Reuther,RT Ralph Williams , LG Rich Garza, DE Mike Raines, DE Curtis Anderson, DE Keith Millard, DE Phil Dokes OLB tom dinkle ILB Vaughan Johnson,LB OLB Joe Castillo, CB Van Jakes S Don Bessillieu S Chester Gee CB Mark Harper DB Bobby Hosea, P/K Brian Franco

Los Angeles- QB Rick Neuheisel, QB Mike Rae RB Reggie Brown RB Kirby Warren, WR JoJo Townsell, WR Mike Sherrad WR Duane Gunn TE Tim Wrightman TE Ricky Ellis OL Rod Walters, Vince Stroh, Bob Simmons, Doug Hoppock, Perry Harnett, &  Jerry Doerger,  C Mike Katolin & G Alvin Powell, DE Lee Williams, DT George Achica, DE Fletcher Jenkins, DE Ben Rudolph DT Eddie Weaver,DE Dennis Edwards, DE Ray Cattage, DE Rich Dimler OLB Eric Scoggins MLB Howard Carson,LB Danny Rich  LB Sam Norris CB John Hendy CB Tyrone Justin CB/S Mike Fox P Jeff Partridge K Tony Zendejas,

Memphis- QB Warren Moon, QB Mike Kelley, QB Walter Lewis, WR/KR Derrick Crawford, WR Greg Moser, RB Tim Spencer, RB Harry Sydney, RB Cornelius Quarles, TE Keli McGregor RG Myke Horton G Bill Mayo DE Reggie White, DE/DT Calvin Clark NT/DT Ken Times LB Rod Shoate, LB Mike Brewington CB Mossy Cade CB Leonard Coleman CB mike thomas CB/s Mike Fox DB Terry Love FS Vic Minor SS Barney Bussey P Jimmy Colquitt K Alan Duncan

Miami – QB Mike Hohenesee, QB Don Strock RB Curtis Bledsoe, RB George Works, RB/PR/KR Eric Robinson,  FB Dwayne Crutchfield, WR Eddie Brown,  WR Joey Walters,  WR/KR Mike Harris WR Greg Taylor, WR Ricky Simmons WR Elmer Bailey TE Willie Smith TE Bob Niziolek LT Joel Patten RT Jeff Seevy RT/RG Dave Pacella RG Ed Felton C/G Brian Musselman C Tony Loia T Ed Muransky Vaughn Harman DE Willie Broughton DE Ken Fagan DE Greg Feilds, DE Malcolm Taylor, NT Mike Ruth LDT Bennie Smith DE Bob Cobb DE/NT Richard Tharpe DT Kevin Kellin DT Gurnest Brown  LB Jon McVeigh LOLB Darnell Dailey ROLB Joe Hines MLB Mike Muller LB Ken Kelley LB Ben Apuna CB Jeff Brown CB Reggie Sutton CB Trent Bryant CB Willie Holley FS Victor Jackson SS Mike Guess  P Greg Cater  K Jeff Brockhaus

Michigan – QB Richard Todd, QB Whit Taylor, RB John Williams, FB Albert Bentley,WR Anthony Carter, WR Derek Holloway, WR Anthony Allen, TE Mike Cobb,TE Donnie Echols T Ray Pinney, T ken Dallafior,G Tyrone McGriff, G Thom Dornbrook, C Wayne Radloff, C/G George Lilja DE Larry Bethea DT/NT David Tipton DT Mike Hammerstein DT/DE Allen Hughes ILB Ray Bentley, OLB John Corker, OLB Kyle Borland OLB Angelo Snipes ILB Mike Mallory ILB Robert Pennywell CB Clarence Chapman,VB Brad Cochran CB Ron Osborne DB Oliver Davis  S David Greenwood P Jeff Gossett K Novo Bojovich

New Jersey- QB Steve Young, QB Tom Ehrhardt RB Hershel Walker, RB Dwight Sullivan RB Calvin Murray, FB Maurice Carthon, WR Clarence Collins WR Walter Broughton WR Tom McConnaughey WR Charlie Smith, WR Nolan Franz,TE Gordon Hudson, TE Sam Bowers TE Brian Forster C Kent Hull, DE James Lockette, DE Ricky Williamson, DE Freddie Gilbert DT Tom Woodland, LB Jim LeClair, LB Mike Weddington CB Kerry Justin,CB Mike Williams CB Terry Daniels S Gregg Johnson DB Tony Thurman P Rick Partridge K Roger Ruzek

New Orleans- QB Reggie Collier, QB David Woodley QB Doug Woodward RB Buford Jordan, RB Marcus DuPree, RB Richard Crump, RB Anthony Steels, WR Frank Lockett, WR Jerry Gordon, WR Ron Johnson WR Mardye Mcdole TE Dan Ross, T Broderick Thompson T Randy Theiss G Gerry Raymond,G Louis Oubre G Terry Crouch DT Jerald Bayless, DT Jeff Gaylord, DT Larry McClain, DE Junior Ah You, DE Kenny Neil DE Darryl Wilkerson DE Larry White NT Oudious Lee ILB Marcus Marek, OLB Ben Needham, KB ray phillips CB Woodrow Wilson,CB Lyndell Jones S Joe Restic S Charles Harbison S Tim Smith P Dario Casarino, K Tim Mazzetti

Oakland- QB Fred Besana, QB Tom Ramsey RB Eric Jordan, RB/KR Elmer James FB Tom Newton FB LaRue Harrington WR Gordon Banks, WR Ken Margerum, WR Lew Barnes WR Kevin Williams, TE Brian Williams, T Gary Zimmerman, T Jeff Hart,  G Tracy Franz, G Jim Leonard C Roger Levasa RDE Dave Browning, DE Greg Feilds, LDE Monte Bennett, NT Tim Moore OLB Tim Lucas OLB David Shaw ILB Gary Plummer LB Tony Caldwell LB Mark Stewart LCB Mark Collins,RCB Derrick Martin FS Frank Duncan SS Marcus Quinn,  P Stan Talley, K Sandro Vitiello

Oklahoma – QB Doug Williams, RB Ernest Anderson, RB Allen Pinkett, RB Andrew Lazarus, RB Vagus Ferguson,RB Mike Gunter FB Ted Sample, FB Derek Hughes, FB Jim Stone, WR Al Williams, WR Kris Haines, WR Lonnie Turner,TE Ron Wheeler,TE victor Hicks, LT Joe Levellis T Mike Perino, RT Jim Bob Lamb,G David Huffman, G Tom Thayer, C Mark Fischer,  DE Leslie O'Neal DE Curtis Anderson,DE Bob Clasby, NT Tony Casillas OLB Dewey McClain OLB Kevin Murphy ILB Putt Choate, ILB Terry Beeson, LB Vic Koenning, LB Tony Furjanic CB Peter Raeford,CB Rock Richmond, CB Barry Copeland, CB Roney McMillan CB Lee Wilson DB Rod Brown FS Kelvin Middleton SS Herb Williams, P Case DeBrujin, K Efren Herrera K Luis Zendejas

Philadelphia-  QB Chuck Fusina, HB Kelvin Bryant, HB Allen Harvin, FB David Riley HB Anthony Anderson WR Scott Fitzkee, WR Willie Collier WR Tom Donovan TE Ken Dunek TE Steve Folsom RT Irv Eatman, RG Chuck Commiskey, C Bart Oates, LG George Gilbert LT Mike McClearn D Bill Dugan NT Pete Kugler, DE William Fuller, DE John Walker, DE/DT Willie Rosborough ILB Sam Mills, ILB Glenn Howard, OLB John Bunting OLB George Cooper LB John Brooks CB Garcia Lane, CB John Sutton CB/S Roger Jackson FS Mike Lush, S Scott Woerner, SS Antonio Gibson  P Sean Landeta, K David Trout

Pittsburgh- QB Glen Carano, QB Craig Penrose, HB Mike Rozier, HB Walter Holman, RB/KR/PR Mel Grey FB Amos Lawrence WR Greg Anderson, WR Jackie Flowers, WR Marcus Anderson, WR Julius Dawkins, TE Joey Hackett LT Don Maggs LG Corbin C Correal RG Lukens RT Feilds OL Emil Boures LDE Sam Clancy RDE Doug Hollie DT Ken Times, DT Mike Morgan, DT Dennis Puha, LDT David Graham RDT Dombrowski DE Ike Griffin NT Laval Short LOLB Ron Crosby ROLB Mike McKibben MLB Rich D'Amico,LB Craig Walls CB Jerry Holmes,CB Virgil Livers, S Tommy Wilcox, P Larry Swider K Tony Lee 

Tampa Bay – QB John Reaves, QB Chuck Long QB Jimmy Jordan, QB Ben Bennett RB Gary Anderson, FB Greg Boone,WR Larry Brodsky, WR Willie Gillespie WR Chris Castor TE Marvin Harvey, LT Dan Fike, RT Reggie Smith LG Chuck Pitcock RG Nate Newton C Chris Foote DE Mike Butler DE Don Feilder DE Walter Carter, NT Fred Nordgren, DT Mike Clark DE Jim Ramey ROLB Alonzo Johnson LOLB James Harrell, MLB Kelley Kirchbaum MLB Fred McAllister CB Jeff George,CB Warren Hanna, FS Zac Henderson SS Blaine Anderson DB Alvin Bailey DB Doug Beaudoin P/K Zenon Andrusyshyn,

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[vianthemindelectric]

Don’t let Dewey drive Ever

[vianthemindelectric]

Something that is extremely long overdue: My BINR boss designs of 2022 + WOAH THE MINIONS.. and HANDS! Yeah the slightly bigger minions I'm claiming as my ocs because I love them a lot.m

Many new tidbits because I am dying over this miniscule thing again:

- All the minions seen will be associated most with the boss they're next to

- Everyone, minus Chester and it's Stickler gang, all are different colors aside from yellow because they stuffed themselves with dye. Listen, I just wanted to color code them all but I need an excuse- /lh

- on THAT note, their eyes are all yellow due to the life force that's keeping them.. living! Can't exactly dye those as easily...

- Oldest to Youngest out of the bosses are: Gaskette (by quite a margin), Dewey, Canton, and Chester being the youngest!

- All the big sib minions were made after the events of BATIM, explaining their lack of ink in their appearance.

- Gaskette and Canton have the same last surname because Canton was the one to rebuild the taxi after being used as scrap in machinery. After that, they've accepted themselves as a sort of brotherly bond!

- Dewey has the same surname as both Henry and Bendy because they were once a scrapped character design for the main character of the cartoon.

- Chester has its last name because of the person who gave it it's name, Dawko! Not in universe, just something i thought was neat :)

[mastcomm]

Kobe Bryant Saw His Greatness Mirrored in Gianna

The N.B.A. on Thursday is scheduled to announce the players chosen by Eastern and Western Conference coaches as All-Star Game reserves. On the internal calendar I keep, this is traditionally the ideal time to unveil my unofficial All-Star selections.

That won’t be happening this time.

In the wake of the horrific helicopter crash on Sunday that killed the legendary Kobe Bryant and eight others aboard, normal operations have been pretty much suspended for anyone who has anything to do with the N.B.A.

Bryant’s worldwide stature is obviously a huge part of that. He was one of the giants of this game, an immense figure globally, revered by the overwhelming majority of current N.B.A. players — and incomprehensibly struck down at the age of 41. Grief like this will not fade quickly.

It is doubly true in this case because Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was on that helicopter with him.

Beloved by members of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball program, which she dreamed of joining someday, Gianna received a moving tribute from the team on Monday when it placed flowers and a UConn jersey bearing her No. 2 on the bench for an exhibition game against the United States national team.

“Mambacita is forever a Husky,” the school posted on Twitter, referring to the nickname that Kobe Bryant, the self-styled “Black Mamba,” had given the second-born of his four daughters.

Also on board were two of Gianna’s teammates from the AAU squad coached by her father: Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester. The lives of three teenage girls with so much to look forward were taken in the crash, along with those of Bryant; Alyssa’s parents, John and Keri; Payton’s mother, Sarah; Kobe’s assistant coach, Christina Mauser; and Ara Zobayan, who piloted the helicopter.

The list gets sadder every time it is recited.

Kobe Bryant was 17 when I met him, then freshly acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers. On Monday, I wrote about how he was convinced, from the first minute of his pro career, that he was bound for the Hall of Fame.

Bryant was equally convinced that Gianna was likewise destined for greatness. She was his ever-present companion at countless games in recent years — to watch her W.N.B.A. heroes, or the Huskies, or maybe on a special trip to see her favorite N.B.A. player: Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks.

Perhaps by now you have seen the clip of Kobe from his visit to the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” show in 2018, telling the world that Gianna bristled any time she heard a fan suggest to her father that he and his wife, Vanessa Bryant, needed to have a boy to uphold Kobe’s legacy.

“She’s like, ‘Oy, I got this,’” Bryant said of Gianna, then 12.

The last time I saw Kobe, on Dec. 29 at Staples Center, he had never looked more joyful. Wearing a bright orange hoodie and a green ski cap to rep his hometown Philadelphia Eagles, Bryant was sitting courtside beside Gianna as they watched — make that studied — the Lakers’ LeBron James and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks going head-to-head.

Also in the building that night was God Shammgod, whose extraordinary dribbling ability made him a New York playground legend. Despite the briefest of N.B.A. playing careers, Shammgod has landed on the Mavericks’ staff as a player development coach — yet he remains so revered for his ball handling that, even in a coaching role, he has his own Puma signature shoe.

Days after that Lakers/Mavericks game, never realizing the sorrow that was looming, Shammgod told me some moving stories of his workouts with father and daughter — how he had the extraordinary opportunity to coach them both.

“I knew him when he wasn’t this Kobe,” Shammgod said. “He knew me when there was no Shammgod moves.”

In their high school days, Shammgod — then known as Shammgod Wells — wound up at an ABCD youth camp with Bryant in New Jersey. Kobe had spent some of his formative years in Italy, where his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was playing professionally, but Shammgod said Kobe’s fellow campers knew only that he had mostly played abroad somewhere.

“The boy from France,” Shammgod said. “That’s what we called him. After the first game, guys were saying, ‘Who’s this guy who actually thinks he’s Michael Jordan?’ He’s walking like Jordan, he’s doing every Jordan move, shooting all the balls.”

Bryant was clearly a special talent, but his ball handling was a weakness. Joe Bryant had noticed Shammgod’s slick handles and asked the 16-year-old if he could help Jellybean’s 15-year-old son.

Shammgod told the elder Bryant that he would be happy to work out with Kobe — at 6 the next morning. “I was thinking, ‘He’s not going to show,’” Shammgod said. “I get there and he’s already there.”

A bond was forged, and the two remained close. The friendship endured even as Bryant rose to stardom and his dribbling mentor was forced to scour the globe for jobs (in Poland, China, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Croatia) after an N.B.A. career that lasted just 20 games with the Washington Wizards in 1997-98.

During the All-Star break last February, Shammgod received an urgent summons from Bryant to Southern California. Kobe was now coaching Gianna’s travel team and wanted to introduce her and the rest of the squad to the move known in hoop parlance as “The Shammgod” — which requires the dribbler to bring the ball to the side with one hand to get the defender off balance, then snatch it back with the opposite hand to execute a crossover dribble. Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul and the Nets’ Kyrie Irving are two of the most accomplished modern practitioners.

Shammgod spent two days at Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

“When I say that’s all he wanted to do is dribbling, that’s all he wanted to do,” Shammgod said. “From 10 to 12 in the morning, then from 2 to 4. These girls were dribbling four hours straight without shooting the basketball.”

One-on-one tutorials with Gianna would soon follow. Shammgod said they had worked out about a dozen times over the past year. Kobe wanted to fly him in more often, but Shammgod said he had to remind him occasionally, “I work for the Mavs and I can’t leave.”

When the trio huddled at that Dec. 29 game at Staples, Gianna excitedly told the story of how she “did the Shammgod on this girl” in a recent game.

“She was so locked in,” Shammgod said. “Her mind-set was just like his mind-set.”

That was evident in a 2019 glimpse of Gianna on camera with the Las Vegas CBS affiliate during a trip to watch that season’s opener for the W.N.B.A.’s Las Vegas Aces. Explaining her fascination with film study, Gigi could not have sounded much more like her father when she said, “More information, more inspiration.”

Those of us who were there for the start of the Kobe Bean Bryant experience and watched him grow up can’t help but flash back to those early days now. Even though the journalism handbook says we’re supposed to be detached and unemotional — even at times like this — Bryant’s sudden death has been a gut punch for many scribes like me who covered him closely over the past two decades.

What messes me up most, though, is when I start thinking about Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, her two teammates on that chopper and the shattered families that have to try to move on without them.

Gianna, Alyssa and Payton — gone at an age just a few years younger than Kobe was upon his league-shaking arrival in the N.B.A. So, so unspeakably cruel.

This newsletter is OUR newsletter. So please weigh in with what you’d like to see here. To get your hoops-loving friends and family involved, please forward this email to them so they can jump in the conversation. If you’re not a subscriber, you can sign up here.

In tribute to Kobe Bryant and his second of two jersey numbers, we present a 24-item assemblage of standout statistics from his career with the Lakers.

18

Bryant was the youngest player in N.B.A. history when he made his regular-season debut for the Lakers on Nov. 3, 1996, at 18 years and 72 days old. A future teammate with the Lakers, Andrew Bynum, eventually became the youngest player in league history at 18 years and six days old when he made his debut in 2005.

4

Only four players — all big men — made the jump directly from high school to the pros before Bryant and Portland’s Jermaine O’Neal were selected in the 1996 N.B.A. draft. Those four predecessors: Moses Malone, Darryl Dawkins, Bill Willoughby and Kevin Garnett. Shawn Kemp sat out a year after graduating high school in 1988 before he was drafted in 1989 by Seattle.

1,346

Both of the Lakers’ rookies selected in the first round of the 1996 N.B.A. draft — Bryant (1,346) and Derek Fisher (915) — rank in the top five in club history in games played.

7

Bryant started only seven games in his first two N.B.A. seasons.

4

Bryant’s four air balls in a 1997 playoff game in Utah — one at the regulation buzzer and three in overtime — came against the same Jazz franchise he riddled for 60 points in his final N.B.A. game on April 13, 2016.

3

The Lakers’ championships in three consecutive seasons — 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02 — represent the league’s only three-peat this century. The Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls had three-peats twice in the 1990s (1990-91 through 1992-93 and 1995-96 through 1997-98).

38.3

A conversion rate of 38.3 percent in 2002-03 marked Bryant’s most successful season from the 3-point line.

35.4

Bryant’s highest single-season scoring average was 35.4 points per game in 2005-2006, the Lakers’ second season after trading away Shaquille O’Neal.

16,866

Bryant scored 16,866 points and won three of his five championships wearing No. 8 through his first 10 seasons.

16,777

He scored 16,777 points and won two championships wearing No. 24 over the final 10 seasons of his career.

20

Bryant’s 20 consecutive seasons with the Lakers left him one shy of the N.B.A. record for playing with only one team: Dirk Nowitzki’s 21 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.

14

No other Laker played more than 14 seasons (Jerry West and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).

81

Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006.

33

Bryant’s eruption against the Raptors, the second-highest scoring output in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962, came just 33 days after Kobe scored 62 points in three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks.

220

Bryant appeared in 220 career playoff games, which equates to more than two and half seasons of extra wear and tear.

4

The Lakers missed the playoffs in each of Bryant’s last four seasons.

35.6

Bryant averaged just 35.6 games played over his final three seasons following his torn left Achilles’ tendon in April 2013.

11

The 60 points Bryant scored in his farewell outing beat the previous record for an N.B.A. player in his last official season by 11 points. Boston’s Larry Bird scored 49 points on March 15, 1992.

1

Bryant is the only player in league history to have two jersey numbers (No. 8 and No. 24) retired by one franchise.

18

Bryant’s 18 N.B.A. All-Star appearances are one shy of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record 19.

3

Bryant was voted in by fans as an All-Star starter in his third season with the Lakers and in each of the subsequent 17 seasons.

$328,238,062

The value of Bryant’s contracts over 20 seasons with the Lakers, according to Basketball Reference, was nearly $330 million.

0

Bryant and LeBron James never met in a playoff game. James has made nine trips to the N.B.A. finals, winning three titles.

5-2

Bryant posted a career record of 5-2 in the N.B.A. finals, winning five championships in seven appearances.

Hit me up anytime on Twitter (@TheSteinLine) or Facebook (@MarcSteinNBA) or Instagram (@marcsteinnba). Send any other feedback to marcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com.

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