Sports

Trae Young Honors Kobe Bryant With 45 In Emotional Hawks Win

Young wore a No. 8 jersey during the first few seconds of Sunday's game to pay homage to retired Laker Kobe Bryant. Bryant died Sunday.

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Trae Young, No. 11 of the Atlanta Hawks, walks onto the court wearing a jersey with the No. 8 in memory of Kobe Bryant prior to Sunday's game against Washington Wizards at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Trae Young, No. 11 of the Atlanta Hawks, walks onto the court wearing a jersey with the No. 8 in memory of Kobe Bryant prior to Sunday's game against Washington Wizards at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

ATLANTA, GA — Trae Young's face was etched with emotion throughout the Atlanta Hawks' Sunday night game against the Washington Wizards.

The point guard, recently selected to his first All-Star game, had to compose himself more than once when he was asked about Sunday's death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, and seven others.

"One of my last conversations we had, he was just telling me how much he's seen my game progress and he's just been happy for me," Young told reporters at Sunday's game. "He said how proud he was of me and how he wants me to continue to be a role model for kids growing up and for Gigi."

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Young started the game wearing Bryant's No. 8 and took an eight-second violation to honor his mentor and basketball legend.

The Hawks sensation then put on a show, scoring 45 points on 13-of-24 shooting with six threes and 14 assists in a 152-133 win over the Wizards. It's a stat line that incredibly alluded to Bryant in more ways than one.

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Young's Sunday night performance was the first time a player had a 45-point double-double with under 25 field goal attempts against the Wizards since Bryant did it in 2006.

It's also worth acknowledging that Young took exactly 24 shots. That's the same number Bryant made famous for wearing after he switched from No. 8.

Young also had a special relationship with Kobe's daughter, Gianna. She came to multiple Hawks games this season and met the Atlanta point guard. Their relationship solidified when Bryant hired Young's trainer, Alex Bazzell, to also work with Gigi.

"This s--- can't be real … this is the first moment I was able to meet Gianna Maria, she's been to only 3 games this year ... 2 of them were mine …. She told me I was her favorite player to watch. I can't believe this. Rest easy Gigi," Young wrote on Twitter.

Nearly everyone in the State Farm Arena stood for a moment of silence before the game to honor Bryant, the five-time NBA champion and father of four.

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