Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Pacers will stay quiet at the deadline because they have their fair share of drama already

The Pacers won’t have another media availability like this tomorrow.

Last night’s Pacers collapse in Toronto was horrifying.  Leading 118-108 with under two-and-a-half minutes left, they allowed the Raptors to score the final 11 points to snatch defeat out of the usually reliable arms of victory.

That was the third straight loss for the Pacers as they try to adapt to the return of Victor Oladipo.  It’s not a challenge to see how the rhythm of this formerly fun-to-watch team has eroded.

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That’s the magic and art of basketball.  Addition can cause erosion, and subtraction can sometimes bring improvement.  That’s what makes the NBA’s trade deadline day so fascinating for fans.  Who’s willing to push a tall stack of chips to the middle of the table to try to gain an edge.  Forget that the results are often disastrous – it’s fun to watch.

Given this recent spate of poor play, Pacers fans are wondering what team president Kevin Pritchard might do to correct the roster to get things back on track.

I’ll tell you what he is going to do – nothing more than listen politely to rival GMs trying to lowball with an offer for Myles Turner or Aaron Holiday.  Maybe swap T.J. Leaf for a second round pick, or something like that, but nothing substantial to impact the immediate future.

Fans are crazy people.  We look at a three-game losing streak as a cataclysm, especially when last night’s game was caused by one of the worst collapses in team history.  Up 10 points with less than two-and-a-half minutes left should be an automatic win.

I’ll tell you what Pritchard woke up thinking about this morning – last night’s cave in, sure, but also the 43-18 ass-whooping the Pacers put on the Raptors in the second quarter.  He’s also thinking about how the Pacers were better than expected with a 31-17 record.  Pritchard has the discipline to see both the forest and the trees, and his behavior today will show that.

Myles Turner is a 23-year-old under contract at a manageable number through the 2022-2023 season, and while production has slipped this season as he shares the floor with Domas Sabonis, he is still a big piece of the current and future Pacers puzzle.

Aaron Holiday is a key to the Pacers continuing to be competitive if Malcolm Brogdon or Oladipo miss time with an injury.  If the Pacers are going to deal him, the bounty in return would have to be unreasonable.

There is also the matter of trades being dramatic events for teammates.  The Pacers are already dealing with plenty of drama.  Coach Nate McMillan is especially keen on avoiding drama.  Adding to the strife they are already experiencing is unacceptable to him.  It should likewise be seen as unwise by everyone else.

A trade that brings one more step back to generate two future forward steps might cripple the Pacers efforts to succeed in the short-term without any guarantee of long-term gain.

The Pacers got closer to being the team they want to be last night against the defending NBA champs on their home court.  Kawhi Leonard is no longer with the Raptors, but their 37-14 record shows the quality of their play.  That step in the right direction is likely to yield more positive steps, and the Pacers don’t need to put more hurdles in their own path with tumult of their own choosing.

So the Pacers will stay quiet today.  It’s not as much fun, but hopefully April and May can be a big party in Indianapolis because of today’s relative silence from the Pacer front office.

Mark Dantonio resigns weeks after receiving a $4.3-million bonus for staying at Michigan State

Mark Dantonio walks into retirement with pockets filled with unearned Michigan State University money.

Michigan State football coach Mike Dantonio quit yesterday – less than one month after collecting a $4.3-million bonus for staying in East Lansing.

I’m sure Dantonio feels like a smart guy with $4.3-million (less taxes) of someone else’s money in his pocket.  And I’m also sure Michigan State University administrators are pleased with how this has played out.  The $4.3M isn’t theirs, so why not give it to a coach who rebuilt Spartans Football into a relevant entity.

Dantonio is not exactly resigning as a wealthy hero.  He and others are being sued for wrongful dismissal by a former recruiting coordinator who alleges Dantonio was complicit in knowingly recruiting a sexual predator to campus as well as violating several NCAA rules.  The program has also wobbled a bit over the past four years, compiling a 27-24 record over the last four seasons after nearly a decade of excellence under Dantonio.

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But Dantonio put the bonus in his pocket regardless, claiming that his resignation has nothing to do with the lawsuit.  He said yesterday that he wants to spend more time with his family, and that he did not want to talk about the lawsuit because his resignation is a cause for celebration.

Maybe for a guy without a conscience, pocketing $4.3M because he adhered to the letter of a contract but not the spirit is a reason for a big party.  That kind of cash can buy a very comfortable place to lay your head at the end of the day while pondering decisions.

What Dantonio needs to remember is that his bonus came from somewhere.  It might not have belonged to a specific person, but neither does the money funding loans that current students will pay off for the rest of their lives.

Students at Michigan State University are incurring a lifetime of debt for the privilege of trying to better themselves there.  It’s instructive to know that $4.3-million could pay the tuition for 252 Michiganders for a year – or endow 63 four-year scholarships.

Dantonio took the Spartans to 12 bowls, including one Rose Bowl and two Cotton Bowls.  He leaves with more wins than any coach in Michigan State history, and the university has certainly benefitted from the notoriety the football program brought during his tenure.

Given the extreme wealth provided to Big 10 athletic departments through media contracts, there is no argument Dantonio earned his salary and other bonuses, but a retention bonus of $4.3-million for a coach who retires a couple of weeks after it’s deposited in his bank account?  That should raise Dantonio’s own eyebrows as well as those who understand money is money, regardless of the source.

Dantonio used to be the face of coaching excellence in Big 10 football.  Now, he is the face of a convenient combination of good timing and greed.

Some might think it a fair result if the lawsuit was won by the recruiting coordinator and the judgment against Dantonio required a $4.3-million payment.  But then that cash would just wind up in the pocket of yet another person who didn’t earn it.

Bob Knight’s return to Assembly Hall may have very little to do with him

Bob Knight was at home at Indiana State yesterday. Will he ever be home at Assembly Hall again?

So, I wrote yesterday about how I am no longer invested in former Indiana coach Bob Knight returning to Assembly Hall, and how being jerked around by Knight has grown tiresome.  The phone started ringing as soon as I published the post.

On the other end of the phone for the rest of the morning were former Knight players, each certain that Knight has very little to do with the decision making and his avoidance of Assembly Hall.

When Knight went to a Marian University instead of the Indiana vs. Ohio State game on January 11th I felt like I had been played.  Yesterday, Knight watched an Indiana State practice with his son Pat.  He’s scheduled to attend the Indiana Pacers vs. New Orleans Pelicans game this Saturday night with former Purdue coach Gene Keady as part of the Basketball Day Indiana celebration.

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At 2p, a few hours before the Pacers vs. Pelicans, Indiana will host Purdue.  Knight is rumored to be planning to attend that game as a public return to the building where he coached the Hoosiers for 29 seasons.

As I wrote yesterday, I am no longer enthusiastic about Knight coming back to Assembly Hall.  The rumor proliferation began to feel like manipulation – as though an easily amused guy with nothing better to do was yanking the chains of those who respect him – maybe a guy who used to eat at the Jiffy Treat in Bloomington who had a closet full of red sweaters.

The IU Basketball alums who took the time to call said the same thing – Knight has dementia and his wife is the cause of the difficulties in engineering a successful return to Assembly Hall.  I have no reason to distrust any of those who called.  We’ve spoken many times before without lying to each other.

So it seems my angst was misdirected.  I understand a wife protecting a husband who is battling an erosion of his mental capabilities.  Throwing him into an arena, even one with which he is intimately familiar, can be startling for a man battling dementia.

If he comes back this Saturday, we’ll hope for the best.  Knight being received warmly would be a nice moment for those who love him.  It would be great if he understands what the ovation he’ll receive means.

There are a lot of Indiana Basketball fans who remember what he meant to IU and would like to thank him.  Maybe that opportunity comes this Saturday and maybe not.  Regardless, it might be time to stop investing in Knight coming back for a bunch of reasons.

Whether Bob Knight comes back to Assembly Hall or not means nothing anymore

When Knight went to Marian instead of Assembly Hall, I left him.

Rumors are circulating again that Bob Knight will be back at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

This time, I don’t care.

Indiana fans have been down this road before.  Knight’s steadfast refusals to come back to the building where he coached for 29 years softened a little over the last 12 months, so people got excited about the prospects for his return.

That reached a crescendo almost four weeks ago when it was speculated that Knight would be in attendance for the Ohio State game.  As is often his wont, Knight disappointed.  He took in a Marian University game instead.

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For me, that was that.  I don’t mind embracing nostalgia to the point where the thought of the Old Man walking onto the court one more time would move me, but being dicked around with for years and years finally closed my mind to the idolized version of that moment.

Knight means a lot to Indiana fans who learned about basketball and life from him.  He set very valuable positive and negative examples for students who paid attention, and he was extremely generous with his wisdom about the game.  Fans have wanted to thank Knight en masse for a long time.  A visit to Assembly Hall would allow them that opportunity.

But he hasn’t come.  Instead, he indulged in a snit against the institution he felt wronged him despite all of men and women responsible being dead or retired.  Knight is mad at bricks, mortar and ghosts, so fans wait for him to honor them with his presence.

I’m done with that.

The fact is, Indiana fans do not need to be honored by Knight.  He should have been honored enough by their love and respect that he came back in spite of the residual anger he embraces because it’s amusing.  He should have valued the loyalists over his own self-centered and scornful agenda years ago.

He didn’t and doesn’t.  And so I’m finally done with him.

Sadly, Knight sees the world through the filter of his bottomless pit of anger and disdain, so I’ve decided to see him for what he is instead of the coach we revered as students.

I guess I’ve finally grown up.

When Victor Oladipo shoots less than once every two minutes, Pacers are a better team

Victor Oladipo needs to learn to trust his teammates at the same level he trusts himself.

It’s been less than a week since Victor Oladipo played his first game for the Indiana Pacers since tearing his quad tendon just over a year ago, so drawing conclusions about his ability to contribute to what has been a surprisingly good season are way premature.

We can believe this though – when Oladipo shoots less than once every two minutes, the Pacers are a very good team.  When he fires up more than a shot in that time, the Pacers chances of winning suffers.

That has been true post-injury just as it was before.

Including last night’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Oladipo has played 114 games for the Pacers.  He has shot more than once every two minutes 66 times, and fewer 48 times.  The Pacers record during games when he shoots more than once every two minutes is 35-31 for a 53% winning percentage.  Shooting less, Oladipo has led the Pacers to a 40-8 record – winning at an 83.3% clip.

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Anyone watching knows that Oladipo has not shot well in the three games since his return.  A glance at the box scores shows he’s hit only three of 21 three-point shots and eight of 39 overall, but the problem isn’t in the percentages but the tonnage of shots.  He’s shot it more than once every two minutes twice, and the Pacers lost both.

There has to be an accommodation both internally and among fans to allow Oladipo time to scrap off the rust that gathered during his year on the shelf, but Oladipo must also understand that the team that compiled a 30-17 record in his absence did not need a massive infusion of Vic to win games.  His average of 13 field goal attempts in 22 minutes has made winning more difficult rather than more likely.

No lucid basketball fan doubts that the Pacers will figure out how Oladipo can help win games in time to make a playoff run, but the challenge of getting him to turn his game down from an 11 to a seven might be the toughest coach Nate McMillan will face this season.  And no question requires a clearer answer from the front office than whether to offer Oladipo a max money extension as he heads into his final season under team control.

Again, these are concerns, not indictments.  Oladipo is three games into his comeback and has looked a lot like pre-injury Vic.  Reasonable people expected issues like this as he returned to the roster.  One of the things people love best about Victor is the way he trusts himself to deliver in all moments.  He’s always believed in himself.  Now he may be asked to maintain that confidence but deny his impulses to carry a disproportionate amount of the offensive load.

If you can divorce yourself from the emotional investment you feel in the Pacers, this is a fascinating time to watch these games, and the next two might be especially engrossing.  Tomorrow night, the Pacers will travel to Toronto and then play the Raptors again at home on Friday night.  One of the restrictions for Oladipo is to avoid back-to-back games, so a Saturday night game against New Orleans will give the Pacers a choice to play Oladipo against the Raptors or Pelicans.  If they choose the Pels, the Pacers will play a game with Oladipo followed immediately by a game without him against the same team.

A loss against the Raptors with Vic followed by a win without him would cloud optics and suspend excitement that has been generated by his return.

Again, these are solvable issues given competent leadership and a willingness of Oladipo to adjust his offensive impulse control.

The next step belongs to Oladipo.  Does he double down on his confidence in himself, repping the “Mamba Mentality” he spoke of last week as he eulogized Kobe Bryant, or does he dial back his volume shooting in favor of feeding teammates because it makes the Pacers better?

Really interesting times at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

 

 

College basketball’s transfer rules are about money and coaching security, not what is good for student-athletes

Those who make rules for college transfers are not concerned with the welfare of student athletes.

It’s about the money.  It’s always about the money.

There is an argument that most student-athletes who transfer should sit out for a year at the new school.  Adjusting to a new campus and environment takes time.

Be just a student for a little bit.  Get your grades rolling.  Make some friends.  Work on your game.  Nice.  Same argument goes for freshman eligibility.  It might be a good idea for freshmen to get acclimated before competing.

But whether I believe it’s a good idea to sit for a year is not the point.  What you believe about immediate eligibility for transfers isn’t important either.  Hell, what the NCAA thinks is good for the student-athlete is beside the point.  The rule mandating a year without playing has nothing to do with any of that.  It’s all about athletes remaining the property of their schools for as long as possible

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And we know what motivates the NCAA and its conferences to legislate a year-long timeout for athletes because the rules only apply to those who play baseball, men’s or women’s basketball, FBS football or men’s ice hockey.  Those who play other sports can wander from school to school like hobos if they like.

The common thread among the sports whose athletes must sit for a year is the existence of a professional league to which they might aspire.  So the fear expressed by the rule forcing a year of assimilation is that the student-athletes with the brightest futures will bolt to enhance his or her future earnings.

They are the most important to the success of their schools and coaches, so of course there is a rule to penalize them for bolting.

Again, if the NCAA interceded based upon the common sense belief that it’s a great idea to sit for a year, that would be a defensible activist stance.  But we know they don’t believe that because the rule doesn’t exist for wrestlers, swimmers, golfers, soccer players or track athletes.

Because the rule was clearly sanctioned based upon something other than what is in the best interest of student-athletes, any argument to keep it for that reason is specious.

If there is evidence that immediate eligibility for transfers damages the professional prospects of a student-athlete, that might move the debate in another direction.  Not only doesn’t that evidence exist, there are dozens of examples of NFL players who spent a year or two in junior colleges before transferring to a D-1 school who demonstrate a year in the cooler is of no benefit to student-athletes.

A reasonable conversation can be had as to whether it’s best for student-athletes to wait a year to compete, but it’s disingenuous to suggest the rule mandating it exists for the good of student-athletes.  It exists to penalize potential pro’s from becoming someone else’s star.

The middle ground solution that is likely to pass is a one-time transfer with immediate eligibility be granted to all D-1 student-athletes.  This is limited to one-time, I assume, because no one views habitual transferring as a good thing.

No argument there, but why should a rule be needed to protect student-athletes from themselves?  The answer is that it doesn’t.  It protects schools and coaches from losing valuable commodities – just like the current rule.

 

 

Top Five reasons the Pacers will stand pat at the NBA Trade Deadline

Kevin Pritchard was smiling during the offseason, and he’s still smiling. Smiling GMs don’t make deadline deals.

The NBA Trade Deadline is coming this Thursday, and with just a hair’s difference between the second through sixth place team in the East, GMs could be very active I trying to gain an advantage.

Indiana Pacers president Kevin Pritchard is no stranger to rolling the dice on a headline grabbing deal, but this time around it’s very likely he’s going to listen politely to pitches from rivals without pulling the trigger, unless someone offers trade equity for a non-rotational player.

Of the five teams, the Pacers are the least likely to make one of the deals for many reasons.  Here are the top five:

5 – Nate McMillan has a low threshold for drama.  McMillan is an easy guy to read.  Sailing calm waters, he smiles and enjoys his job.  When there is drama, Nate tightens up.  Distractions bother McMillan because they get in the way of winning.  A trade would be a distraction.  We saw how that works in 2014 when Danny Granger was sent to the 76ers for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen.  The Pacers started that season looking like favorites to go to the NBA Finals building a 41-13 record before the trade.  After the deal, they went 15-13.  The Pacers already have their share of drama with Victor Oladipo’s return.  They don’t need more.

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4 – Pacers have few pieces to deal.  Justin Holiday is the only expiring contract among the rotational players, and their first round pick will go to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the return for Malcolm Brogdon.  They could trade T.J. Leaf for some low level draft equity, but that isn’t the kind of deal we are talking about.  Aaron Holiday could go if he’s incensed by a lack of use since Oladipo’s return, but the Pacers are better with him than without so a deal won’t be initiated by Pritchard.

3 – Pacers are not one player away from NBA Championship.  At the deadline, teams generally look to build for the future or try to get the final piece of the current puzzle.  The Pacers like their roster for the present AND the future.  It’s not ready to win a championship, but there is no logic in guessing at what players are key cogs and who is expendable before the end of the season.  Unless an idiot GM rolls out a Brink’s truck of assets for Myles Turner, there’s no urgency to complete a swap.

2 – Pritchard did his heavy lifting in the offseason.  When Pritchard acquired Brogdon, T.J. Warren, Jeremy Lamb, T.J. McConnell and Goga Bitadze, he set the rotation for the next two seasons.  If Oladipo signs an extension, every key cog would be locked down through 2022.  The future of the Pacers will be determined by how this group develops together, not by what Pritchard does to reshape the roster.

1 – Victor Oladipo is the piece the Pacers need.  If the Pacers were going to address a roster hole, Oladipo would be a pretty good place to start.  His defense and ability to get to the rim are areas of need for the surprise team in the Eastern Conference.  Thankfully, his return to health coincided with the Pacers beginning its stretch run.  With the Pacers already preoccupied with Oladipo’s return, more roster tumult would be especially chaotic.

Nine facts about Indiana Basketball that zealous Hoosiers fans are not going to like

Indiana Basketball fans need to embrace reality – PLEASE!

Hoosier Basketball’s faithful fans are passionate.  Psychotics often are.

Indiana lost at Penn State, and social media was filled with condemnations of Archie Miller.  A week before, Indiana beat Michigan State at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and fans cheered that Indiana was finally back.

The Hoosiers will play Ohio State in Columbus tomorrow, and fans will voice their unbridled joy or despondence at 2 p.m. depending upon the result.

There are bipolar fanbases in college basketball, but I don’t know any as prone to extreme highs and lows as Indiana’s.  Cries to “Fire Archie!” are heard and read after each loss.  When Indiana wins, fans believe a return to the Final Four is nigh.

A quieter sane group continues to watch and checks boxes that mark areas of progress, but they are easy to miss because they don’t produce hundreds of screaming Facebook and Twitter comments responding to a podcast that calls for fans to relax and embrace the journey.

Here are 10 truths sane fans embrace that will outrage bipolar Indiana fans:

10 – Crazy fans are part of the problem.  Who wants to deal with a bunch of social media nuts?  No one.  Not coaches or players.  Certainly not their families.  It can be exhausting for people who aren’t used to it.  Indiana fans have developed a well-earned reputation as kooks, and that does not help the current players – or those who might be considering playing at IU.

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9 – Devonte Green is not trying to drive you crazy!  Green tries to help Indiana win by making plays.  Sometimes those plays result in turnovers and bad shots.  That’s his game.  Celebrate the makes and mourn the misses if you like, but know that he’s trying to do the right thing regardless of your perception.  Green is not evil, just a streaky player who sees basketball as an individual test.

8 – College basketball is filled with mediocre teams.  For a variety of reasons, the talent level has flattened.  The Big 10 is a mess from the top through the 12th spot.  Other than Northwestern and Nebraska, any team can win against any other team on any given night – especially at home.  There used to be a top, middle and bottom tier.  Not anymore.  There is a bloated middle with a few stragglers.

7 – Miller WILL be Indiana’s coach through 2021-2022.  Until the end of that season, Miller’s buyout is 100% of the money due him through the end of his contract (2024).  There is no chance IU is going to eat that expense unless Miller steps way outside societal norms.  You might as well enjoy Miller’s efforts to recruit the State of Indiana and build the program from the bottom up because that is what is going to happen.  A loss at Penn State will not cause Fred Glass or his replacement (or any reasonable person) to consider bouncing him.

6 – Ohio State is 3-6 in the Big 10 with Chris Holtmann as coach.  Many IU fans have looked at Ohio State as an example of a program that has evolved positively since replaced Thad Matta a few months after Indiana fired Crean.  Holtmann’s Buckeyes are struggling, and the cries for IU to regret hiring Holtmann away from Butler have quieted.

5 – Cook Hall is no longer a competitive advantage.  The facilities race across college hoops cannot won by any school because the means to put up Cook Halls exist at all power five programs.  Without a quality practice space, programs can’t compete, so all have built them.  We think Cook Hall is cool, but recruits see them everywhere.

4 – Miller is building a culture through recruiting, and that takes time.  Indiana was one specific type of program under Crean, and it is evolving into another as Miller successfully recruits Indiana high school players.  His first two classes brought Indiana’s Mr. Basketball and other All-Stars to IU.  That’s the first step toward getting the SS Hoosier headed in the right direction, and it requires patience.

3 – Building a culture happens over many years, not months.  Crean won two Big 10 titles through acquiring talent.  Superior talent can win games, but it’s only a predictable source of competitive advantage at programs like Kentucky and Duke – de facto minor league way stations for NBA bound players.  Culture brings consistent success.  Getting that squared away is work that requires patience.

2 – Firing Archie Miller would cripple Indiana’s chances to hire the right coach.  Let’s call this Miller’s Razor.  If Miller is not the right guy to coach Indiana, firing him will destroy IU’s chances to hire the right coach.  Coaches are not fools.  They look at the treatment of their peers as a bellwether of their treatment if they accept the same position.  Coaches look at Crean’s termination as explainable and his longevity as enviable.  He had nine years and earned over $25-million.  If Miller is fired after three years, hot coaches will see a university too impatient to build a program correctly.

1 – Becoming Indiana as it existed in the 1970s and 1980s is impossible.  Recruiting has changed and coaching has changed.  The wealth generated by winning has become extraordinary.  As a result, cheating is the rule rather than the exception.  Kids are going to get paid tens of thousands in order for coaches to be able to get paid millions.  That is part of the reason for the flattening of talent across power five conferences.  Indiana finding its way to the top of the Big 10 an astounding 11 times in 24 years as it did under Bob Knight is not possible when players and their families are in it for the cash.

In the wake of Kobe Bryant’s death and Victor Oladipo’s return, the Super Bowl doesn’t seem important

Moments like this between Kobe and Gigi Bryant interest us more than the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl is three days away, and I’m thinking about other things.  I haven’t devoted a moment of attention to what is a fascinating matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.

This is unusual for me.  Pouring over video and analytics to try to predict a Super Bowl winner is usually great fun, but enjoying that frivolity has been difficult this year.  Maybe part of it is that quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Jimmy Garoppolo appear likable.  Maybe it’s the lack of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick earning their way into another championship game. Who doesn’t love rooting against two guys Brady and Belichick?

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But I think the distraction is in our priorities.  Processing the sudden death of Kobe Bryant is much more important to many.  It is continuing to dominate our thoughts.  I’m usually pretty quick to move on from the death of someone I did not know, but this is unique and I’ve been slow to turn the page.

Bryant and eight others were killed Sunday morning when a helicopter, dense fog, and hillside conspired to take them.  These tragedies are not so unusual they should consume us, but this was different because of the remarkable evolution of Bryant from self-immersed young athlete to devoted and mature father and leader.

His loss has profoundly affected people beyond the normal response – a few hours of sadness and empathy as we imagine ourselves in the shoes of the victims or their families.  Bryant’s death has been different because by all accounts he became the person many aspire to be.  The pictures of Bryant and his daughter Gigi – also lost in the crash – talking and laughing while watching basketball games embody memories of the moments parents and children covet.

It seems ridiculous to stop thinking about mortality, Bryant’s evolution, and being robbed of his presence and positive example to accommodate a breakdown of the 49ers running game against a balky Chiefs rush defense and Patrick Mahomes magical abilities to extend plays and attack openings with his arm and feet.

Locally, the Super Bowl also pales in importance to Victor Oladipo’s return to the Pacers after his year long recovery from a torn quadriceps tendon.  That story is not just about the joy of seeing Oladipo hit a three-pointer with :09 left in last night’s game to force overtime against the Bulls; it’s about a special human being overcoming adversity and self-doubt to emerge whole again.

Andy Reid vs. Kyle Shanahan.  Old school guy without a championship against the 41-year-old pup.  Maybe without focusing on Bryant’s death and Oladipo’s recovery, that sidebar would be worth pondering for a few minutes.  Not today though.

This week is about the Bryant Family, examining loss, finding strength, and deciding what we might learn from all of it to become better people.

The result of a football game pales in comparison.  And rightly so.  We’ll get back to frivolous things eventually, but not yet.