ATLANTA — Trae Young was hit especially hard by the passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter - he was 13-year-old Gianna's favorite player, and had met her previously.
Before the game he shared an emotional moment with his mother, revealing just how difficult the news was for him. Then went out and played a game Kobe would have truly appreciated.
He wore No. 8 to start the game - Kobe's number to start his career with the Lakers. Then he took 24 shots - the number Kobe wore for a decade until he retired in 2016.
And he finished with 45 points and 14 assists - a double-double, and incredibly, beyond just that, a 45-point double-double with fewer than 25 shots. The last person to do that against the Washington Wizards, the Hawks' opponent on Sunday night, was.... Kobe Bryant, back in 2006.
"Can't make this up...," Young wrote on Twitter. "He was with me tonight."
It's a fairly specific accomplishment, to be sure, but it also speaks to what an influence Kobe was for Young, and how connected he felt to the late basketball legend.
(He also shot 81 percent from the free-throw line, another echo of Kobe, who famously scored 81 points in a game in 2006.)
"Man just being happy for me...man just saying how proud he was of me and how he wants me to continue being a role model for kids growing up...and...just for Gigi...and all the kids looking up to me just continue to inspire these kids and continue to play my heart out," Young said after the game. "That's one of the last things he said to me."
On Twiter, he wrote: "That one was for you... Rest Easy Kobe."
The Hawks won the game 152-133.
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