LOS ANGELES – Kyrie Irving needed a moment of peace long before the spectacle of Tuesday’s festivities began. The Dallas Mavericks star paid a visit to see the newest statue commemorating the legacy of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant hours before his team suffered a 107-99 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

CONGRATS, GIANNIS! The only players to score 20,000 career points at a younger age than the 30-year-old Antetokounmpo were LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.

It was the first time he visited the Kobe and Gigi Bryant statues outside Crypto Arena. Irving made the visit during pregame. "It meant everything to me. I needed that before game," Irving said. "I don't know if anybody has dealt with that avoiding feeling,

A Mavericks fan was brought to tears after seeing a West Hollywood mural of Dončić and Bryant. "They took our star away," he said.

Both Harrison and Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont have used the work ethic of Kobe Bryant and his "Mamba Mentality" motto as the standard of what they want out of their players going forward, something that, according to both of them, Dončić did not fit into.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points to bring his career total over 20,000, Damian Lillard added 34 points and Kevin Porter Jr. had a triple-double as the surging Milwaukee Bucks trounced the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 137-107 The 30-year-old Antetokounmpo has scored 20,