Shaquille O’Neal led the crowd near the Staples Center Tuesday night in a chant for Kobe Bryant hours after he gave a tearful tribute to his longtime Lakers teammate who was killed in a Southern California helicopter crash on Sunday.
O’Neal, who was walking out onto the street, quieted the crowd to lead them in a loud chant of “Kobe, Kobe, Kobe!”
“I haven’t felt the pain that sharp in a while,” O’Neal said as part of TNT’s tribute to his former Lakers running mate.
O’Neal said the loss of the 41-year-old Bryant hurt even more because Shaq had just lost his younger sister Ayesha to cancer in October.
“Now I lost a little brother,” Shaq said, referring to Bryant, as the rest of the panel including Ernie Johnson, NBA greats Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Dwyane Wade consoled him.
O’Neal, who won four NBA titles in his illustrious career, captured three with the Lakers. Shaq and Kobe, who won five rings with Los Angeles, led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA crowns from 2000-2002.
A California woman who lives near the site where Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crashed says her Google Nest camera captured audio of the doomed aircraft’s final moments, a report said.
Ronna Leavitt’s recording, which was obtained by ABC 7 Los Angeles, has a timestamp of 9:45 a.m. — the same time Bryant’s Sikorsky S-76B plummeted into the hills of Calabasas.
What is believed to be Bryant’s helicopter can be heard at varying levels of intensity throughout the 43-second clip.
The 41-year-old NBA legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in the wreckage.
Leavitt’s Nest video is not the only footage purported to capture Bryant’s chopper.
Glendale resident David Lyudmirsky shot cell phone video of what is believed to be Bryant’s helicopter “performing a very aggressive circling maneuver’’ a half-hour before it crashed.
Fox discussed the reaction of his family after several early reports suggested Fox was on board the chopper at the time of the crash. Initially, five people were believed dead in the wreck and it wasn’t until NBA TV’s Jared Greenberg tweeted he communicated with Fox that the NBA veteran was ruled out.
“My family went through, in the midst of all this, something that I couldn’t imagine them experiencing,” an emotional Fox said Tuesday during TNT’s NBA coverage. “One of my daughter’s greatest fears is finding out that one of her parents has been lost through social media, instead of from a loved one or a family member. And she fortunately called me and we were just talking and crying about the news of Kobe.”
Fox spent seven seasons as Bryant’s teammate with the Lakers, guiding L.A. to three NBA championships in the early 2000s. The duo remained close following Fox’s retirement from basketball in 2004.
The 50-year-old said he was talking to his daughter — who was unaware of circulating reports her father died – when his phone became inundated with calls. Distraught by the news of Bryant’s passing, Fox said he did not answer calls until he noticed close friend and basketball coach, King Rice, reaching out.
“I’m seeing King’s number repeatedly going and going and going, and so I think he’s worried about me, so I said, ‘I’m gonna talk to my best friend,’ so I answered and said, ‘Hey man, this is crazy about Kobe,’ and he just was bawling,” Fox said. “He was like, ‘You’re alive!’ And I was like, ‘Well, yeah. What do you mean?’ And it was in that moment that my phone just started going, and my mom and my sister and my brother [were calling].
“I’m glad [the rumor] is over with, but it was hard to deal with because it shook a lot of people in my life.”
Fox was part of a star-studded panel on Tuesday which included hosts Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson. Dwyane Wade and Derek Fisher also made appearances to discuss Bryant’s legacy and passing.
After re-living Sunday’s traumatic experience, Fox was given a playful warning from his former teammate “Shaq.”
“I’m glad you’re alright,” O’Neal said to Fox. “But the next time I call you and you don’t call me back I’m gonna put these hands on you.”
MIAMI -- My bosses had a great idea this week and that idea was to send me to the Super Bowl, and since I'm always completely on board with any idea that involves me traveling to a tropical location in the middle of winter, I obliged them. I know, I know guys, my life is rough.
The one thing about being in Miami is that it means I'll be around if something crazy happens, and there's a 90 percent chance something crazy will happen, because this is Miami. From a Super Bowl perspective, no city does crazy better than Miami.
After all, this is the city where Joe Namath made his guarantee before Super Bowl III. It's the city that gave us the first ever Super Bowl game-winning field goal (Super Bowl V). And if that's not crazy enough for you, it's also the city where a player got suspended from playing in a Super Bowl because he went on a drug bender the night before the game in January 1989. Seriously, that actually happened, and you can read about it by clicking here. As if that's not enough, Miami was also the host city in January 1999 when a player got arrested and charged with soliciting a prostitute less than 18 hours before the kick off of Super Bowl XXXIII. I think what I'm trying to say here is that if you spend more than a week in Miami and don't get arrested, you should consider that a moral victory.
Based on all the craziness that seems to happen in Miami when the city hosts a Super Bowl, I am fully expecting things to go completely off the rails on Sunday.
So what exactly is going to happen in the game?
Let's get to the pick and find out.
Actually, before we get to the pick, here's a quick reminder to check out the Super Bowl picks from all of our other CBS Sports NFL writers, which you can do by clicking here. If that's not enough Super Bowl content for you, then I recommend clicking here and subscribing to the Pick Six Podcast. Will Brinson, Ryan Wilson and I are spending the week in Miami together and we'll be putting out new podcasts every day, which means you get more of me, which I have to think is a good thing.
Also, since I'll be in Miami this week, feel free to start following me on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, or none of them. I won't be offended, but if you do end up following, you'll notice that I ask the important questions on social media that everyone else is afraid to ask, like: Is Jimmy Garoppolo too handsome for Instagram?
Could I sit here and share Jimmy Garoppolo photos with you all day? Probably, but I'm not going to, because we have a Super Bowl pick to get to, and the faster we get there, the faster I can make one of these fan bases hate me after I pick against their team.
The last time we saw 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan in a Super Bowl came three years ago and things couldn't have gone any worse: As the Falcons offensive coordinator, he misplaced his offensive game plan, he almost lost $30,000 in Super Bowl tickets and his team blew a 28-3 lead. I mean, based on how his week went, it's mildly surprising that his car didn't get stolen.
The one thing that often gets overlooked in that game is that the reason the Falcons even had a 28-3 lead to blow is because Shanahan's offense absolutely diced up the Patriots defense for two and a half quarters in Super Bowl LI. That happened because Shanahan is one of the most creative offensive minds in the game, and that's something that could be trouble for the Chiefs defense. With Shanahan calling the shots, the 49ers offense had the second-most rushing yards, scored the third-most points and totaled the fourth-most yardage overall in the NFL this year.
That first thing on the list is what could end up being an issue for the Chiefs, and that's because Kansas City gave up 4.9 yards per carry during the regular season, which was the fourth-worst in the NFL. Although the Chiefs defense has played much better in the postseason -- THEY EVEN STOPPED DERRICK HENRY -- I'm not completely sold on the fact that they're going to be able to stop the 49ers rushing attack.
One thing the 49ers love to do on offense is to disguise almost all of their plays by using motion.
The reason motion helps is because the defense has no idea whether a play is going to be a run or a pass, and even if a defense somehow knows a run is coming, they have no idea which way it's going to go. Here's how motion can help an offense on something like a simple counter play.
Basically, trying to figure out the 49ers offense is like trying to solve a Rubik's cube, only this Rubik's cube has 19 sides and you have to wear a blind fold that's been set on fire while you're trying to figure it out. I can't even finish a normal six-sided Rubik's cube without a blindfold, so I wouldn't have a prayer if you added 13 sides and a blindfold.
Of course, even if the 49ers can move the ball on offense, that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to win. If this game turns into a shootout, there's no team in the NFL better equipped to win in a shootout than the Kansas City Chiefs. Not only are the Chiefs averaging 43 POINTS PER GAME in the playoffs, but Patrick Mahomes is on pace to have possibly the best postseason of any quarterback in NFL history, and ironically enough, that honor currently belongs to a 49ers quarterback. Back in 1989, Joe Montana threw 11 touchdown passes and zero interceptions during a postseason where he led the 49ers to a win in Super Bowl XXIV. Through two games, Mahomes has eight touchdowns and zero interceptions, which means he could tie or pass Montana with a big game in Super Bowl LIV.
Speaking of Montana, I'm still not sure who he's cheering for in this game.
PICK A TEAM, JOE.
I'm guessing he's cheering for Mahomes not to break his record for most playoff touchdown passes without an interception. Although Mahomes has been nearly unstoppable this season, the 49ers defense is one of the few in the NFL that actually has the talent to slow him down. For one, they gave up the fewest passing yards in the NFL this year. The easiest way to shut down a quarterback is to constantly hit them, and no one is better at that than the 49ers. Including the playoffs, the 49ers have racked up 57 sacks this year, which is the most of any team in the NFL.
By the end of Super Bowl LIV, we should finally know for sure whether or not defenses actually win championships, and the good news for the 49ers is that that's pretty much the only football cliche I believe in.
Super Bowl LIV pick: 49ers 34-27 over Chiefs
Record picking 49ers games this season: 10-8 (including 2-0 in playoffs) Record picking Chiefs games this season: 13-5 (including 1-1 in playoffs)
Last week
Best pick: Two weeks ago, I predicted that there was no way the Packers would be able to beat the 49ers in the NFC title game, and I think we can all agree there was no way the Packers were going to win. If those two teams had played 220 times, I"m fully convinced that the the 49ers would have won all 220 games and Raheem Mostert probably would have rushed for at 220 yards in every single one of those games. The Packers defense looked absolutely lost on the field trying to stop San Francisco's offense.
Also not helping the Packers was the fact that Kyle Shanahan was basically pointing out penalties before they even happened, and when a coach starts doing that, you know there's no way that coach is going to lose.
The Chiefs might want to watch that clip a few times this week, because they were flagged for more holding penalties than any other team in the NFL this year.
Worst pick: In the AFC title game, I picked Tennessee to beat Kansas City, but I only did that because I didn't think there was any way that the Titans could possibly forget that they had Derrick Henry on their team, yet somehow, I think that actually happened. During the second half of the Chiefs' 35-24 win, Henry was given exactly three carries. It's almost like Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith accidentally threw away the team's offensive game plan at halftime, which we can't rule out. I mean, Kyle Shanahan almost lost his game plan at Super Bowl LI, so let's be real, anything is possible, even challenging your wife to a trial by combat in Iowa.
Alright everyone, that's it for this year.
If you come back for my picks next season, I'm going to warn you now that there will likely be slightly more diaper jokes, and that's mainly due to the fact that my wife and I have a baby due this offseason, which means there's a 77 percent chance that I'll only be getting a total of nine hours of sleep over the next six months. I promise not to be crank, though.
Picks record
Straight up in championship round: 1-1 SU overall in playoffs: 7-3 Against the spread in championship round: 1-1 ATS overall in playoffs: 5-5
Final 2019 regular-season record Straight-up: 163-92-1 (Ranked first overall at CBSSports.com) Against the spread: 120-130-6 (Did not rank first overall)
After the game ended, Shabazz Napier made his way out of the Timberwolves locker room and back onto the Target Center floor, where he took 100 free throws. The Wolves’ locker room was quiet, subdued. Andrew Wiggins was sitting at his locker stall, Karl-Anthony Towns had already left the building.
What was there to say?
This:
“As low as you can get,” Napier said. “This is it.’’
Monday night at Target Center began with a tribute and ended with the seemingly impossible. It was emotional, evocative and, ultimately, embarrassing.
The Wolves opened the game paying tribute to the late Kobe Bryant. They spent three and a half quarters — more, really, — setting franchise shooting records and dominating the Kings.
They spent the final 2 minutes of regulation in free-fall. The result: On a night in which the Wolves made a franchise-record 23 three-pointers they lost, 133-129 in overtime, for their 10th straight defeat.
The Wolves made history. They also gained infamy. According to ESPN Stats & Info, since 1996-97, the first year of play-by-play data, NBA teams entered the day 0-8,378 when trailing by 17 or more in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.
Make that 1-8,378.
“I’ll say we win as a team, we lose as a team,’’ Wolves coach Ryan Saunders said. “No matter what, we should be able to play with a 15-point lead with a couple minutes left. They made shots. We didn’t execute our defensive game plan. We didn’t get rebounds when we needed to. We didn’t make the needed plays. It ends up in a really tough one for us.’’
The Wolves led by 27 after Andrew Wiggins hit a floater with 3:46 left in the third quarter. They led by 22 when rookie Jarrett Culver set the franchise record with the team’s 21st three-pointer on the opening possession of the fourth quarter. They led by 19 with 5:42 left and by 17 when Wiggins hit a three with 2:49 left. They were up 13 when Ryan brought Wiggins, Towns and Napier to the bench with 1:39 left. They re-entered the game with 37 seconds left and the Wolves up seven.
Didn’t matter.
The Kings’ Buddy Hield was hot. He scored 20 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter. He scored 12 of those in the final 2:02. He and De’Aaron Fox combined to score 19 points in a 21-4 run over the final 2:30.
In that stretch the Wolves went 1-for-6 and missed two free throws — by Napier, with the Wolves up six with 34.9 seconds left.
After that: Hield hit a 29-footer and Wiggins missed. With 4.7 seconds left Fox was fouled. He made the first, deliberately missed the second off the front rim. He got the rebound and scored to tie the game.
In overtime two free throws by Nemanja Bjelica with 48.3 seconds left broke a tie and put the Kings ahead for good.
“We’ve got to remember this,’’ said Wiggins, who scored 36, made seven of 11 threes, had nine boards and eight assists. Robert Covington had 24, making six of 10 threes. “For sure, this is a bad way to lose.’’
Which is why Napier was shooting free throws after it ended. “As a point guard, you’re not supposed to miss free throws,’’ he said. And then, later, when asked about Bryant: “The competitor he is, he would be upset with us, truly upset with us. ... Today we did a dishonor to him, to the Minnesota Timberwolves organization, to the fans.’’
