Louisville's Chris Mack, Ryan McMahon address Kobe Bryant's death

Chris Mack thought it was important as the leader of Louisville men’s basketball to talk about the tragic death of former NBA star Kobe Bryant. The Louisville head coach said everyone processes things differently, calling Bryant’s death incredibly sad.

“I addressed it with the team. I shared how I felt. I wouldn’t say it is a weird mood around the team, I would say it is a weird mood around the country,” Mack said. “We are all in disbelief and shock, how do you make sense of what happened.”

Fifth-year senior Ryan McMahon said it has been a weird few days for the sports world.

“It’s just a tragedy what happened, you’re thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and three daughters now. It shows you how fragile life can be,” McMahon said. “It makes you not take for granted simple things like getting home, saying high to your loved ones, telling them that you love them, because you never know the last time you’re going to be able to tell them that.”

Bryant was McMahon’s first ever favorite player. He said friends would watch documentaries and interviews that included Bryant.

“I watched a lot of college basketball growing up, I didn’t watch a lot of NBA, so whenever people asked me who my favorite player, a lot of other people’s favorite player was Kobe Bryant, so I just said it was Kobe Bryant,” McMahon said. “It wasn’t until I watched a few of his games that he became my favorite player and it wasn’t until Steve Nash blew up that Nash became my favorite player.”