Mark Pope just announce an unexpected departure of a significant player

Each Kentucky basketball player received a pair of Mambacita Kobe 4 shoes for partnering with Vanessa Bryant and Mambacita Sports for camps. Bryant is the widow of NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, and the shoes are named for Bryant’s daughter Gianna “Gigi,” who died in the same 2020 helicopter crash. Bryant’s nickname was the “Black Mamba,” making Gianna “Mambacita.” It’s always fascinating to see Bryant’s impact and reputation with young players who revered him as a player and symbol of the game.

Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996-2016, winning five NBA titles and reaching 18 All-Star games. He scored 33,643 points, averaging 25 points per contest, and twice led the league in scoring, in back-to-back seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07, when he put up 35.4 and 31.6 points per game, respectively.

An 11-time first-team All-NBA selection, Bryant reached the NBA All-Defensive first team in nine seasons and twice led the league in scoring. Bryant won the NBA MVP Award once, in 2008, when he averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game for a 57-win Lakers squad.

Kentucky posted video of the players receiving the shoes on Twitter.

The Wildcats have one of the most intriguing rosters in college basketball heading into 2023-24. Kentucky landed the nation’s best recruiting class, one that yielded three of 247Sports’ top six players in Justin Edwards (No. 3), Aaron Bradshaw (No. 5) and DJ Wagner (No. 6). Edwards, at small forward, Bradshaw, at center, and Wagner, at combo guard, were the top-ranked players at their respective positions in the class. Point guard Robert Dillingham finished just outside five-star range, at No. 20 overall, while Reed Sheppard, the son of former Kentucky star Jeff Sheppard, ranked No. 75 in the class.

The biggest issue is experience, a problem helped by the return of Antonio Reeves and buoyed by the addition of transfer center Tre Mitchell from West Virginia. If Bradshaw can make a healthy return from his foot injury, Kentucky is the kind of team that could be significantly better in March than it is at season’s start.