OKC Thunder: Emotional start to week for Chris Paul as he remembers Bryant

The OKC Thunder evened the series on Monday but captain Chris Paul had a lot of other things on his mind including his friend Kobe Bryant.

The biggest work item on the itinerary on Monday, August 24th was the fourth game between the OKC Thunder and Houston Rockets. Although every game is important this match was particularly important since it meant the difference between tieing the series or going down 1-3. Fortunately, the former occurred and now the teams will embark on what will be a best of three games series.

As the captain of the squad, Chris Paul was key in making sure to keep his club focused despite a scoring outburst by the Houston Rockets at the start of the third frame. Fortunately, this OKC Thunder. It’s a familiar position for CP3 as his team has come back numerous times this season and knows if they can get the game close they can win in the pivotal final five minutes of matches.

Chris Paul has ‘Bean’ in mind every game he plays

Yet again, Paul was at his best closing out the game but how he managed to keep other things off his mind should be credited.  The veteran guard who is in his 15th season was a close friend of Kobe Bryant. This week has everyone thinking of the superstar who died tragically with his daughter and seven others in a helicopter crash this past January.

Sunday, would’ve been Kobe’s 42nd birthday and this week is being recognized by many in LA, in the NBA community, and across America as Mamba week. Monday being 8-24 the two jersey numbers Bryant wore was isolated as Mamba Day (or Mamba Monday).

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The Lakers played on Monday and during the match, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope dropped in a bucket that pushed the score to 8-24. Everyone watching noted the scoreboard as if Kobe Bean Bryant was announcing his presence in the arena. His good friend Paul hit social media with his hat tip of the score:

Up until January, Paul hadn’t missed a game but took a day off to grieve the passing of his good friend.  Orange County in California has designated August 24th as Kobe Bryant Day while Nike is running ads all week honoring the superstar and referencing the week as Mamba Week.

Kobe or “Bean” (Bryant’s middle name) is always on Chris Paul’s mind. In a video on the NBA official site by CP3, he tells of a custom now built into every match that pays tribute to his good friend. Throughout his career, Paul has always hit the stanchion three times before every game. He’s switched that practice to eight taps now and says “let’s go Bean” before every tipoff.

Also in the above video CP3 ponders what Kobe would’ve been like in the bubble. No doubt, he would’ve brought his typical Mamba mentality to the matches. For the OKC Thunder, his presence will be felt in every game with the captain beginning every game by acknowledging his good friend and reminding himself to enjoy every moment and compete with that Mamba mentality.