Sornnarin Tippoch will lead Thailand's first-ever team at a global tournament, after being named captain of the 15-member squad for the women's T20 World Cup, which starts on February 21 in Australia.

While the core of the squad is largely the same as the one that won the qualification event in Scotland last year, Thipatcha Putthawong and Suwanan Khiaoto, who were part of the 14-member squad for the recent T20 quadrangular series in Patna, India, have been brought in. Khiaoto has yet to make her international debut.

Arriya Yenyuak, the right-arm seamer who was left out of the quadrangular squad, didn't find a place in the squad either, but Phannita Maya has come back after missing the quadrandular.

Under 33-year-old Tippoch, who has led Thailand in all of their 35 T20Is so far, the team produced a record-breaking 17 consecutive wins in the format last year. In 2018, she led the side that notched up a historic four-wicket win over Full Member nation Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, in Kuala Lumpur.

Other experienced names in Thailand's T20 World Cup squad include Naruemol Chaiwai, Nattaya Boochatham, Suleeporn Laomi, and the 2019 ICC Women's Emerging Cricketer of the Year Chanida Sutthiruang, who have all played every single one of Thailand's T20Is down the years.

Sutthiruang, the 26-year-old right-arm seamer, took 12 wickets at the T20 World Cup qualifier, while Boochatham was the leading wicket-taker in T20Is last year, and Chaiwai was the leading run-scorer in T20Is last year. Wristspinner Laomi, meanwhile, was a key performer in their qualifier campaign, her guile often outsmarting batters.

Thailand's preparation in the lead-up to the world event hasn't been ideal as they finished last in the quadrangular series, which also featured Bangladesh and the India A and B sides. They have ODI-playing nations as contenders in Group B, such as England, Pakistan, South Africa, and West Indies, and will play their tournament-opener against West Indies in Perth on February 22.

Hall of Fame defensive end Chris Doleman died Tuesday night after a battle with cancer, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced in a statement. He was 58.

"The entire Pro Football Hall of Fame family mourns the passing of Chris Doleman after a prolonged and courageous battle against cancer," said David Baker, the Hall of Fame's president and CEO. "I had the honor of getting to know him not only as a great football player but an outstanding human being. One of the honors of my life was witnessing Chris get baptized in the Jordan River during a Hall of Fame trip to Israel.

"The legacy of Chris Doleman will live forever in Canton, Ohio, for generations to learn from how he lived a life of courage and character."

Doleman played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1985 to 1993 and ended his career with the club in 1999.

In 2018, he had surgery to remove a brain tumor.

Doleman, a first-round pick by the Vikings in the 1985 NFL draft, played for nine seasons with Minnesota before spending the 1994 and 1995 campaigns with the Atlanta Falcons and 1996 to 1998 with the San Francisco 49ers. He wrapped up his career in Minneapolis as an eight-time Pro Bowler.

Doleman totaled 150.5 sacks -- with 22 coming during the 1989 season when he led the NFL -- along with eight interceptions and three touchdowns. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012.

"The Minnesota Vikings express our deepest sympathies to Chris Doleman's family and friends upon his passing," the team said in a statement. "Chris was a great example for players past and present, as he embodied all the best characteristics of a Viking -- resilience, toughness and a competitive spirit. Chris always carried himself with dignity and class. Vikings fans worldwide will greatly miss him."

LOS ANGELES -- The helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant didn't have a recommended warning system to alert the pilot he was too close to land, but it's not clear it would have prevented the crash that killed nine on Sunday because the pilot might have lost control as the aircraft plunged into a fog-shrouded mountain, federal officials said Tuesday.

Pilot Ara Zobayan was climbing out of the clouds when the aircraft banked left and began a sudden descent that lasted nearly a minute.

"This is a pretty steep descent at high speed," said Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board. "We know that this was a high-energy impact crash."

The aircraft was intact when it hit the ground, but the impact of the crash spread debris over more than 500 feet. The last of the bodies and the wreckage were recovered from the Calabasas, California, hillside Tuesday, authorities said.

Autopsies confirmed the deaths of Bryant, Zobayan, John Altobelli and Sarah Chester, the medical examiner reported. The names of the five other victims have not been released, but they have been publicly identified as Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna; Chester's 13-year-old daughter, Payton; Altobelli's wife, Keri, and daughter Alyssa; and Christina Mauser, a girls' basketball coach at a Southern California elementary school.

Determining what caused the crash will take months, but investigators might recommend that, to avoid future crashes, helicopters be equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system that would have sounded an alarm if the aircraft was in danger of crashing.

The agency made that recommendation after a similar helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76A carrying workers to an offshore drilling ship, crashed in the Gulf of Mexico near Galveston, Texas, killing all 10 people on board in 2004.

The NTSB concluded if a terrain awareness and warning system had been installed, pilots would have been warned in time to prevent hitting the water. The board recommended the Federal Aviation Administration require the warning systems on turbine-powered helicopters capable of carrying six or more passengers.

Ten years later, the FAA required such systems on air ambulances but not other helicopters. FAA officials questioned whether the technology would work on helicopters, which fly lower and could trigger too many false alarms that might detract from safety.

The NTSB said FAA's response was unacceptable but dropped the matter.

The helicopter flying Bryant did have a warning system using GPS, said pilot Kurt Deetz, who flew the longtime Lakers star dozens of times in the aircraft over a two-year period ending in 2017.

NTSB investigator Bill English said they are looking to document whether there was a GPS-based terrain avoidance system, but said it "doesn't look to be part of the scenario."

Zobayan, 50, was well-acquainted with the skies over Los Angeles and accustomed to flying Bryant and other celebrities. He spent thousands of hours ferrying passengers through one of the nation's busiest air spaces and training students how to fly a helicopter. Friends and colleagues described him as skilled, cool and collected.

Zobayan had flown the day before the crash on a route with the same departure and destination -- Orange County to Ventura County. But on Sunday, he had to divert because of heavy fog.

The decision to proceed in deteriorating visibility was questioned by some experts and fellow pilots.

Jerry Kidrick, a retired Army colonel who flew helicopters in Iraq and now teaches at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, said there can be pressure to fly VIPs despite poor conditions, a situation he experienced when flying military brass in bad weather.

"The perceived pressure is, 'Man, if I don't go, they're going to find somebody who will fly this thing,'" Kidrick said.

The chartered Sikorsky S-76B crashed into a cloud-shrouded hillside as Bryant was on his way to a youth basketball basketball tournament in which Gianna was playing.

NTSB investigators said Zobayan asked for and received permission from air traffic controllers to proceed in the fog. In his last radio transmission before the helicopter went down, he reported he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer.

Investigators have not faulted his decision to press on or explained why he chose to do so.

Deetz said he often flew Bryant to games at Staples Center, and never remembered Bryant or his assistants pressing him to fly in bad weather.

"There was never any pressure Kobe put on any pilot to get somewhere -- never, never," Deetz said. "I think he really understood professionalism. 'You do your job. I trust you.'"

Deetz said he flew with Zobayan a half-dozen times and that Zobayan was familiar with airspace and terrain around Los Angeles and knew "the back doors" -- alternative routes in case of trouble, such as changes in the weather.

Others who knew Zobayan praised him as unflappable and skilled at the controls.

"Helicopters are scary machines, but he really knew what he was doing," said Gary Johnson, vice president of airplane parts manufacturer Ace Clearwater Enterprises, who flew with Zobayan about 30 times in roughly eight years. "I wouldn't do it unless he was the pilot."

Zobayan was chief pilot for the craft's owner, Island Express Helicopters. He also was a flight instructor, had more than 8,000 hours of flight time and had flown Bryant and other celebrities, including Kylie Jenner, several times before.

Island Express has had three previous helicopter crashes since 1985, two of them fatal, according to the NTSB's accident database. All involved flights to or from the company's main destination of Santa Catalina Island, about 20 miles off the Southern California coast.

In 2008, three people were killed and three injured when an Island Express helicopter was destroyed as it came in for a landing on the island. Investigators said the chopper lost power, probably as a result of cracking in turbine blades inside the engine.

In 1985, an Island Express helicopter returning from the island collided with another copter near a landing pad in Los Angeles. One person died and 11 were injured.

Fatal helicopter accidents have fluctuated between 17 and 30 per year since 2013, according to a safety group that includes representatives of the helicopter industry and the FAA. The rate of accidents per hours flown has declined slightly over that time.

The FAA warns helicopter pilots that it is their job to decide whether to cancel a flight due to bad weather or other risks, and to have a backup plan in case weather worsens during the flight.

Inclement weather has been cited as a cause of other deadly celebrity helicopter crashes.

Grammy-winning blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan was among five people killed in 1990 when their helicopter slammed into a hill in dense fog after leaving a concert in Wisconsin. Music promoter Bill Graham and two others, including the pilot, were killed when the pilot ignored warnings not to fly in rain and fog and flew into power lines outside San Francisco in 1991.

Bret Mosher, a commercial jet pilot in the Los Angeles area, said some plane owners pressure him to fly solo rather than with the added expense of another pilot.

"Typically these owners, they are successful people in business, they're type-A personalities. They are make-it-happen, get-it-done personalities," Mosher said. "A couple of them have said half-joking and half-serious -- well, probably more than half-serious -- 'Aren't you tough enough?' or 'Aren't you trained well enough?' or 'Aren't you good enough?'"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Two days after the death of Kobe Bryant, emotional tributes to the former Lakers great continued worldwide.

In Bryant's hometown of Philadelphia on Tuesday, the 76ers honored him, along with the other eight victims who died in a helicopter crash Sunday, prior to their 115-104 win against the Golden State Warriors with a video tribute on the scoreboard and a moment of silence.

The Wells Fargo Center was complete with "33" floor stickers on the sideline, signifying the number Bryant wore at nearby Lower Merion High School.

Leading up to the game, the 76ers took the floor for warm-ups in their traditional "Phila" jerseys that included either the No. 8 or No. 24, which Bryant wore with the Lakers. Wearing No. 24 in honor of Bryant, Joel Embiid scored 24 points in his first game in three weeks, later crediting Bryant as the reason he gave up volleyball and turned to basketball as a teen in Africa.

Philadelphia guard Ben Simmons raced out of the locker room, donning those same numbers, as well as "MAMBA FOREVER" and "R.I.P. GIGI" on his sneakers in black marker. Forward Tobias Harris had similar messages on his, "Rest in Peace Kobe" on his right shoe and "Rest in Peace GiGi" on his left.

"I was a Lakers fan," Harris said before the game. "Modeling his work ethic inspired my game. When I got to the league, I played against him -- we had a couple of conversations in games.

"That, for me, was like a dream come true."

On Monday, Lower Merion, a public high school in Ardmore, a suburban community along Philadelphia's Main Line, began the day with a 33-second moment of silence.

Over the past three days, alumni, fans and friends have gone to the school to pay their respects to Bryant. A memorial has been established, complete with flowers, Bryant jerseys -- both Lakers and Lower Merion ones -- candles, teddy bears and basketballs.

"Honestly, I didn't realize how much he had impacted my life until I found out the news," local resident DaVonn Grosvenor said Monday. "It's tough when you lose an icon, when you lose a legend. He had so much more to offer. So I just had to come by and pay my respects. The only way I knew how was on the grounds he walked on once upon a time."

Before playing 20 seasons for the Lakers and winning five championship rings, Bryant dominated at Lower Merion. He enrolled there after his family moved back to the United States from Italy, where his father, Joe Bryant, played professional basketball. Before long, he was on his way to being a four-year starter for the Aces, scoring 2,883 points. Now the court that made him the school's leading scorer bears his name as the Bryant Gymnasium.

On Sunday afternoon, Amy Buckman, a representative for the school district, held a news conference on campus, saying Bryant has "raised the profile of our high school and our district throughout the world."

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles on Tuesday, admirers from as far away as China continued to crowd the plaza leading to Staples Center as arena officials opened adjacent Chick Hearn Court to pedestrian traffic to allow the placement of still more memorials of flowers, balloons, photos, paintings, jerseys, hats, basketballs and thousands of heartfelt written messages.

During the Dallas Mavericks' 133-104 home loss against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, the Mavs' coaching staff wore pins with Nos. 24 and 2 -- the numbers used by Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. On Sunday, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said his team will retire the No. 24 jersey in tribute to Bryant.

The Mavs coaching staff will wear this pin tonight to honor Kobe and Gianna Bryant. pic.twitter.com/1fZ8WmZrst

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 28, 2020

In Durham, North Carolina, Duke and Pittsburgh men's basketball players honored Bryant by wearing T-shirts with purple and gold numerals 8 on the front and 24 on the back.

In Italy, AC Milan and its fans paid tribute to Bryant with lights and applause before and during Tuesday's Italian Cup game against Torino at San Siro stadium.

As Milan and Torino warmed up before the game, the words "Legends Never Die" and "SempreKobe" -- a play on the "SempreMilan" (or "AlwaysMilan") hashtag often used by the club -- were displayed on the advertising boards around the San Siro while images of Bryant were shown on the giant screen.

Shortly before the teams walked out for the kickoff, the stadium was darkened and the public-address announcer paid tribute to Bryant while fans applauded and held up phone lights. The song "Who Wants to Live Forever" by Queen then was played. Both teams also wore black armbands.

On Tuesday, Hall of Famer and Lakers great Magic Johnson said on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" that Bryant "would have wanted us all to carry on and be great at our lives. We should do something positive."

ESPN's Malika Andrews and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MILWAUKEE -- The league-leading Milwaukee Bucks will clearly go as far as Giannis Antetokounmpo can take them this season.

But there are nights when others steal the show. And Tuesday was one of them.

Khris Middleton posted a personal-best 51 points, 10 rebounds and six assists on 16-for-26 shooting, leading the Bucks to their ninth straight win, a 151-131 rout of the Washington Wizards.

Playing without Antetokounmpo, out with right shoulder soreness, Middleton and the Bucks had their way with Washington en route to their 16th win of the season by 20 or more points.

Middleton, like several players this week, drew inspiration from the late Kobe Bryant.

"I wish it was that easy to say that, but, I mean, Kobe was one of my favorite players -- if not my favorite player -- growing up besides [Michael] Jordan," he said. "I took a lot from his game. ... To go out there and play and put on that type of performance, I definitely can dedicate that game to him as a thank you for what he did for the game."

Middleton's previous career high was 43 points at Charlotte on Nov. 1, 2017. His 28 first-half points helped the Bucks become the eighth team in the shot clock era (since 1954-55) to put up 88 points before the break, as they led 88-63. He joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Antetokounmpo as the third player in Bucks history with 50 points and 10 boards in a game.

"He's just very nuanced and he can sneak up on you with how he gets his baskets," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "So, I think the rest of the league is appreciating him more and more. The success of the team, his individual performances. I think that people who understand the sport know how good he is, and at the end of the day it really doesn't matter how he's rated. As long as he's with us, that's all we care about."

Eric Bledsoe contributed 34 points and 10 assists on 11-for-20 shooting as the Bucks improved to 4-0 without Antetokounmpo. All four wins were by double figures.

"It was an awful couple of days," said Bucks guard Donte DiVincenzo, who finished with 16 points. "I think we did a great job of remembering [Bryant] and then focusing on what we needed to do. Khris kind of had that mentality throughout the whole game, he didn't stop.

"It was great to see him have a great night, and it was cool to have everybody smiling, laughing and joking, just enjoying ourselves on such a tough week."

Watching the performance from her home in South Carolina, Nichelle Middleton, Khris' mother, already knew the inspiration behind his effort.

"This is crazy," she told ESPN via text message. "For Kobe!"

Wizards guard Bradley Beal was strong in the losing effort, scoring 47 as he and Middleton nearly accomplished the first dueling 50-point games since Dec. 6, 2000, when Bryant and Antawn Jamison did so as members of the Lakers and Warriors, respectively.

Antetokounmpo was present in the locker room following the game, as a playlist of hip-hop star DaBaby's music blasted through the speakers. He scribbled 51 on a blank sheet of paper, reminiscent of Wilt Chamberlain's iconic 100-point game and made Middleton hold it for a photo.

Middleton exited the locker room with the game ball tucked underneath his arm.

"I'm going to find one," Middleton said of a special holding place for the ball. "I don't want to lose it."

Middleton's effort comes the week that NBA All-Star reserves are selected. Wizards coach Scott Brooks already confirmed before Tuesday's tip that he voted for Middleton.

LOS ANGELES -- Before moving forward, the Los Angeles Lakers had to take a look back.

The Lakers gathered their players and coaches at the team's practice facility in El Segundo, California, on Tuesday for the first time since Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others died in a tragic helicopter crash Sunday.

Following a light workout and optional shootaround, the team gathered for a luncheon and an impromptu story session broke out, sources told ESPN, with players and staffers -- from ownership on down in attendance -- taking turns retelling their favorite Bryant memories.

One of the highlights was when LeBron James, sources said, took the room back to the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold-medal game when he and Bryant teamed up on Team USA against Spain, featuring Bryant's Lakers teammate Pau Gasol.

James recalled in amazement the moment, just a few possessions into the game, when Bryant "blew up" Gasol when Gasol was setting a screen -- he just ran straight through him, putting Gasol on the hardwood.

James said his reaction at the time was along the lines of, "Oh, wow, you're going to have to play with this guy next season ..."

That's when the Lakers' director of sports performance, Dr. Judy Seto, chimed in to explain that the over-the-top contact from Bryant was all calculated. Seto, who traveled with Bryant to the Olympics as his physical therapist and worked in a similar capacity for the Lakers back then, explained how L.A. was just months removed from an NBA Finals loss to the Boston Celtics, and Gasol was labeled "soft" because of mediocre play with the title on the line.

By mowing down Gasol, Seto explained, Bryant wasn't just trying to get in Gasol's head for the medal game, he was planting the seed for Gasol to obsess over what he needed to improve on for the upcoming season so that L.A. could win it all, which it did.

To bring the point home further, Bryant hung his gold medal in Gasol's locker at the start of training camp the following fall.

Of course, the story behind the story that James shared, according to league sources, was that James and Bryant were battling for alpha dog status not only on that team but for that perch atop the entire league. And now, years later, it is James filling in for Bryant to occupy that position for the franchise.

As different members of the organization took turns speaking, the team enjoyed a spread prepared by Lakers chef Sandra Padilla, and they even raised glasses of wine as a toast to Bryant's legacy. At one point, players had a separate breakout session of their own, sources said.

It was viewed as an important first step toward a return to normalcy, sources told ESPN, as the organization continues to reel from the loss of Bryant.

Those in the Lakers' traveling party hadn't seen one another since they exited onto the tarmac Sunday following a cross-country flight at the end of their five-game road trip, the Bryant news still fresh in their mind.

Tuesday was seen as a "centering" moment by several sources within the organization.

It echoed the stories being swapped throughout the organization since Sunday's crash -- some sad, some sweet.

Nick Mazzella, the Lakers' director of pro personnel, revealed his favorite Bryant memory from when he took his then-fiancée, Susan, out to a late dinner at Benihana during one of the team's preseason trips to Hawaii. Bryant and several of the team's security personnel rolled in behind Nick and Susan and waited for the restaurant to clear out before approaching Mazzella's table. "Ma'am, do you have any idea who you are sitting next to? That's Nick Mazzella! He's the best guy, and he's going to go far," one of them said.

Mazzella, telling the guys he and Susan were already engaged, told them they could stop laying it on so thick. Bryant, undeterred, kept going. "Hi, I'm Kobe," he said, and extended his hand out to greet Susan. "Congratulations, that's so great. Marriage is the best. It's such a blessing."

Mazzella told other longtime members of the organization it made him and Susan "feel on top of the world."

With the Lakers' world turned upside down since Sunday, the two-hour gathering provided some healing and appreciation.

"Everybody in the company has a Kobe story or their version of a Kobe story," a team source told ESPN. And Tuesday they all began to write the story of how they would cope after the tremendous loss of Bryant.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES -- An emotional Shaquille O'Neal broke down in tears Tuesday, knowing that he won't be able to have another conversation with Kobe Bryant or celebrate his former teammate's induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

"I haven't felt a pain that sharp in a while," O'Neal said during a TNT tribute to Bryant on the Staples Center floor, where he was joined by Dwyane Wade, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, Reggie Miller and Jerry West.

"We, our names will be attached together for what we did. People always ask about our relationship, and I tell them it's just like me and Charles [Barkley]. You got two strong-minded people that are going to get it done that way ... going to say certain things, but the respect will never be lost, but when it comes to being inside the lines and winning, that is what me and him, that is what we did."

O'Neal continued as tears streamed down his face.

"The fact that we are not going to be able to joke at his Hall of Fame ceremony, the fact that we are not going to be able to say, 'Ha, I got five. You got four [championships],'" said O'Neal, whose sister, Ayesha Harrison-Jex, died of cancer in October. "The fact that we are not going to be able to say if we would have stayed together, we could have gotten 10 ... those are the things you can't get back. With the loss of my father and my sister ... that is the only thing I wish, I could just say something to them again."

"I haven't felt a pain that sharp in a while.. it definitely changes me."'@SHAQ on the loss of his brother, Kobe. pic.twitter.com/dM5i0DDgGK

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 29, 2020

Bryant, 41, his daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others died in a helicopter crash on Sunday in Calabasas, California. Determining what caused the crash will take months, federal investigators said Tuesday.

O'Neal said he was working out with his son and nephew when another nephew came in crying and showed him the news on a cellphone. O'Neal said he initially snapped at his nephew to get the phone out of his face, believing the report was a hoax.

"I can never imagine nothing like that," O'Neal said. "I have never seen anything like this. All the basketball idols I grew up, I see them, they're old ... The fact that we lost probably the world's greatest Laker, world's greatest basketball player ... people say take your time and get better. But it's going to be hard for me."

A devastated West, his eyes bloodshot due to crying, said he will never get over Bryant's death.

"Saddest day of my life," West said. "I lost a brother in Korea is the only thing that compares to this to me ... I had a special relationship with [Bryant]. No one knows the intimate talks I had with him. No one knows. Even people close to him, they don't know the conversations I had with him. They don't know the conversations I had with him when I was working in Memphis. We still communicated."

The man who orchestrated the trade that brought Bryant to the Lakers revealed how he advised him to not join the LA Clippers when the All-Star wanted to leave as a free agent in 2004. West was working for the Memphis Grizzlies at the time and is now a consultant for the Clippers.

"Not this Black Mamba."

The Logo remembers Kobe's unshakable confidence. pic.twitter.com/wo9CSlM5H6

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 29, 2020

"I remember when he was going to leave the Lakers, and I never really mentioned this to anyone," said West, the Grizzlies' general manager from 2002 to '07. "He was going to come and sign with the Clippers, whom I am now involved with as a consultant. And I told him, Kobe, under no circumstances can you do this.

"And he was mad at everyone at the Lakers, the owner, everyone else. I said, you can't go play with the Clippers. You can't play for that owner [Donald Sterling] -- period. We had two conversations about it. And he supposedly made a commitment to the Clippers, and we talked [one] last time.

"But there are so many things we talked about. He was just seeking information [constantly]. I honestly felt like his father for two years. ... I don't know if I can get over this ever."

While with the Lakers, O'Neal won three consecutive championships alongside Bryant (2000 to '02). He said that since Sunday he has been in touch with Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss and executive director/special projects Linda Rambis, and he said the organization is struggling to cope.

"My condolences go out to his family, his mom and dad and sister and other families, everybody involved," O'Neal said. "Lakers organization, I talked to Jeanie and Linda, people here are hurting, especially this organization. Some people have to get [counseling] treatment. Some people don't understand. I didn't want to believe it.

"I hoped some buttface made this up and it's not true. I didn't want to believe it .... my spirit just left my body. I just wish I could be able to say one last thing to the people that we lost because once you're gone, you are gone forever, and we should never take stuff like that for granted."

Wade said he entered the league in 2003 idolizing Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson and Bryant. He told a story Tuesday about how he stole the ball, guessing one of Bryant's moves in transition, and called it a moment he never forgot.

"I was scared as hell," Wade said of playing Bryant for the first time. "He don't remember the moment. But for me, it meant the world."

Wade said he had to go to the gym Tuesday just to get out and be among people. He said he saw others in the gym, some wearing Bryant gear and others just staring off. He encouraged fans to mourn however they want and share their Bryant memories.

"Getting this news the other day, I think I have been in shock for two days, and this is the first moment where it actually feels real," Wade said. "My body right now, I'm shaking. I'm numb."

O'Neal, who said he spent the past few days watching video highlights of Bryant and himself, noted that in his eyes, there never will be a better center-guard duo in NBA history than Bryant and himself.

"When Kobe came, I sat him down and said, what do you want to be?" O'Neal said. "At 17, he said, 'I am going to be the best player in the world, and off the court, I am going to be bigger than Will Smith.' You know me, I'm like, slow down, slow down ... it was fun. Our names will always be linked. We talk about who's this and who's that. I truly believe that we will be the most dominant big, little one-two punch ever.

"I still can't believe it."

CANTON, Ohio -- The widow of Thurman Munson, the New York Yankees' catcher killed in 1979 while flying his plane in Ohio, spoke about the similar death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant -- saying the response to her husband's tragic death helped her get through it.

Diana Munson was in the Plain Township home she shared with her husband when she received the news that the Los Angeles Lakers' icon had died Sunday, the Canton Repository reported.

"My first thought was, 'This can't possibly be true. We're not supposed to lose heroes like this,''' Diana said. "And obviously it brought up our day, with the memories of how it hit everyone.''

Thurman Munson was 32 when he died in a plane crash at the Akron-Canton Airport in August 1979. His Cessna twin-engine crashed short of the runway and burst into flames. He left behind his wife and three daughters.

Bryant died alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna on Sunday when their helicopter crashed outside of Los Angeles, killing all nine aboard. Bryant also leaves behind his wife and three daughters.

Like with Munson's death, Bryant's death prompted a nationwide outpouring of sadness and disbelief from fans and fellow players.

"We have something that other people don't have, because people lose people they love every day, but they don't have that outpouring of love and support,'' Diana Munson said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MILWAUKEE -- New Brewers shortstop Luis Urias could miss the start of the season after he had surgery Tuesday to repair a broken bone in his left hand.

Urias will be sidelined for about eight weeks. He is expected to make a full recovery with no lingering effects, but general manager David Stearns said he is questionable for Opening Day on March 26 against the Chicago Cubs.

The 22-year-old Urias was acquired in a multiplayer trade with San Diego on Nov. 27. Milwaukee sent right-hander Zach Davies and outfielder Trent Grisham to the Padres for left-hander Eric Lauer and Urias, who made his big league debut in 2018. The Brewers also were slated to receive a player to be named or cash in the swap.

Urias got hurt while playing winter ball in Mexico. He was expected to compete with Orlando Arcia for the shortstop job during spring training.

Urias split 2019 between the Padres and Triple-A El Paso. He had two stints with the Padres, batting .223 with four homers and 24 RBIs.

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- Nate Johnson spent the past seven years as an assistant baseball coach at Orange Coast College, working underneath the legendary John Altobelli. He was promoted to associate head coach before this season began, which put Johnson in line to take over when Altobelli retired, which Altobelli had continued to say would happen in three to four years.

On Tuesday afternoon, roughly 50 hours after finding out that Altobelli had died in the helicopter crash that also killed Kobe Bryant, Johnson was suddenly managing what will probably be the most difficult game of his life.

He kept a seat open next to him, to honor Altobelli and, perhaps, provide himself some comfort.

"You're sitting there, and you're making all these decisions that the man who you looked up to, who mentored you, was making the last seven years," Johnson said. "It won't hit me for a while. Maybe it'll hit me tonight. Maybe it'll hit me during the game tomorrow or Saturday. Whenever it is, it's going to hit me that, 'Wow, I am this person now. I'm running this team.'"

During almost every half-inning, Johnson jogged down the right-field line, found Altobelli's daughter Lexi and gave her a hug. Lexi, a high school junior, didn't just lose her father in Sunday's accident. She also lost her mother, Keri, and her 13-year-old sister, Alyssa, who was on her way to play alongside Bryant's daughter Gianna in a youth basketball game with their Mamba Sports Academy team. Lexi spent most of the game alongside her brother, J.J., a scout for the Boston Red Sox.

After the game on Tuesday was over -- it was postponed in the ninth inning, with Orange Coast trailing Southwestern College by a run, because it got too dark to play in a stadium with no lights -- Johnson gave Lexi another hug and followed it with a question:

"Are you OK with hugs from the rest of the guys?"

"Absolutely," she said.

And so the players formed a line, approached Lexi and J.J., and shared their love for two siblings whose grief seemed unimaginable.

"When you look into their eyes and you see a piece of Alto there, in the flesh, it hits you a little bit," OCC pitcher Brenden Argomaniz said.

"It was very heartbreaking because we only got a little bit of it," OCC utility player Nolan Funke said. "He was just our coach. He wasn't our father. Even though we all felt like he was, we didn't experience that bond that they did. Just seeing them out there, it really put it into a different light."

Altobelli won more than 700 games and four state championships in 27 years with the Orange Coast Pirates. He took it upon himself to raise roughly $3 million and significantly upgrade the school's baseball facilities. Along the way, he impacted countless lives with his unique ability to push players while letting them know he cared.

"He was the program," said Travis Clutter, a Huntington Beach resident who played for Altobelli in the mid-1990s. "He meant a lot to a ton of kids. Kids are vulnerable when they get here because they're either really good at baseball and can't get to the school they want or they're not good enough for baseball. This was the most pivotal time in my life, and he was like the stabilizing adult in my life. That's more important than baseball."

Clutter was among the 300 players and coaches who gathered at the complex on Sunday afternoon to grieve Altobelli's sudden death. The current players, many of them coming off a state title and a program-record 39 victories in 2019, decided then to honor the schedule without interruption, which meant practicing Monday and opening the season on Tuesday.

By the time the players arrived for Tuesday's game, a memorial had sprouted at the entrance of the stadium, with flowers, candles and pictures. Altobelli's No. 14 was featured on a large, orange banner in the left-field corner and also on several dozen T-shirts sprinkled throughout the stands. Johnson, athletic director Jason Kehler and Tony Altobelli, John's brother and OCC's sports information director, gave speeches to a crowd that ballooned to an estimated 2,000 people.

Among the spectators was New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who attended high school 15 miles away and made a surprise appearance in the Pirates' dugout. Also in attendance was John's father, Jim, who has attended his son's games since his first season coaching in 1993.

"A lot of emotional ups and downs," Jim Altobelli said of the past few days. "It's very difficult. You know, kids are not supposed to die before I do. And that's something that I've heard for years and realize how tough that is. But in learning through all this, I've learned, 'Don't take tomorrow for granted.' You don't know if you'll have a tomorrow. And that's a perfect example of that."

The Pirates fell behind by four runs in the top of the third inning, and Johnson knew they were trying too hard. He knew they wanted it too badly. The score was 7-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth when Johnson brought the players together and reminded them to breathe. He saw a more relaxed, carefree group thereafter. The Pirates then scored four runs to cut into the deficit and added another in the seventh, making it a one-run difference before the sun faded.

The game will resume with two on and none out in the top of the ninth on Feb. 18.

Johnson swears his team will walk off with a win.

"There was no quit tonight," he said. "Most teams, they're not going to come back from down six like we did today and make it a game with what we had to deal with these last few days. Honestly, any result would've been a win. Just showing up today was a win."