Lakers play outside to lighten spirits after Bryant's death
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - Before the Los Angeles Lakers practiced on the final day before their first game since Kobe Bryant´s death, they played.
The players, their coaching staff and general 経営者／支配人 略奪する Pelinka took to the park across the street from the team´s （警察，軍隊などの）本部 Thursday to kick around a サッカー ball and throw a pigskin.
The sight of these basketball big men 緊張するing to make saves in goal or loping underneath LeBron James' 30-yard passes brought smiles and laughter to fans walking by. The excursion also seemed to 解除する the spirits of the players, who got a fun 一時的休止，執行延期 from a rough week.
"It´s a beautiful day out, and there´s always 治療力のある 利益s to 日光 and 存在 outside in fresh 空気／公表する," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.
The Lakers will return to the 法廷，裁判所 Friday night at 中心的要素s 中心 to 直面する the Portland 追跡する Blazers in their first game since Bryant's death along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven more in a ヘリコプター 衝突，墜落 Sunday.
The Lakers will 持つ／拘留する a pregame 尊敬の印 to the Bryants and the other 犠牲者s, although the franchise wants the 詳細（に述べる）s kept 私的な until game time.
Los Angeles Lakers 今後 LeBron James joins team members during NBA basketball training outdoors in El Segundo, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. The Lakers held their second practice Thursday, while they continue to grieve for former player Kobe Bryant. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
"I would imagine it probably makes it a little harder than an ordinary game with all the emotions and that stuff, but we shouldn´t do it any other way," Vogel said. "It´s the 権利 thing to do, and an important night for our franchise and for Laker Nation."
Bryant retired in 2016 after a 20-year career with the Lakers. He remained a franchise icon and kept の近くに 関係s to many team 従業員s, all the way up to Pelinka - Bryant's longtime スパイ／執行官 - and owner Jeanie Buss. Pelinka 問題／発行するd a 声明 through the Lakers on Thursday, while Buss 地位，任命するd a 深く心に感じた letter to Bryant and his family on Instagram.
"My father loved you like a son, which makes us family," Buss wrote before going on to 述べる a lunch with Kobe and Gianna in which she 設立する inspiration and strength to become the franchise's leader after the death of her father, Jerry.
Pelinka was Gianna Bryant's godfather, and he referred to Bryant as his "best friend" while 述べるing the 悲劇 as "an amputation of part of my soul."
"For any of us who knew them, there is an irreplaceable 無効の left behind," Pelinka wrote. "But I am also finding that there is a hope. For now, each new step for me will be 十分な of 深い love and 祈りs, as a 激しい 悲しみ for Vanessa (Bryant and their daughters) Natalia, Bianka, and Capri, and all the families 伴う／関わるd, is slowly redeemed into somethi ng 傷をいやす／和解させるd and new."
Spanish big man Pau Gasol, Bryant's most important チーム仲間 on two Lakers 選手権 teams, also 地位，任命するd poignant thoughts on Twitter.
"I will be heartbroken for a long time, but I will forever be thankful for having had (and) 株d so much together," Gasol wrote. "You 奮起させるd me and 押し進めるd me to be a better 見解／翻訳／版 of myself everyday. As you have done with many others."
The loss also still 苦痛s James and the players, who all decided not to speak to the マスコミ for the second straight day. Before Vogel coached his players through a workout to 準備する for the Blazers, he got his players outside and across the street to 緩和する up.
"We are striking a balance of trying to make guys feel good," Vogel said. "Laughter is always a good 治療（薬） for something like this when it´s appropriate. Today´s workout outside, it´s not the first time we´ve done that, but it does feel good to be out there."
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Los Angeles Lakers 今後 LeBron James, left, and guard Quinn Cook embrace at the end of NBA basketball practice in El Segundo, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. The Lakers held their second practice Thursday, while they continue to grieve for former player Kobe Bryant. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles Lakers 今後 LeBron James sprints during NBA basketball training outdoors in El Segundo, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. The Lakers held their second practice Thursday, while they continue to grieve for former player Kobe Bryant. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles Lakers 今後 LeBron James, 中心, and other team members work out during NBA basketball practice in El Segundo, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. The Lakers held their second practice Thursday, while they continue to grieve for former player Kobe Bryant. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Former Los Angeles guard Lakers Derek Fisher, 最高の，を越す left, Dan Grigsby, 中心, 長，指導者 合法的な officer and general counsel for the Lakers, watch the Lakers during NBA basketball practice in El Segundo, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. The Lakers held their second practice Thursday, while they continue to grieve for former player Kobe Bryant. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles Lakers 今後 Jared Dudley, left, and James LeBron, second from left, smile during NBA basketball practice in El Segundo, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. The Lakers held their second practice while they continue to grieve for Kobe Bryant. The team held a light 狙撃 workout Wednesday as they 再開するd basketball activities after the death of Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others in a ヘリコプター 衝突，墜落. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
