The magnitude of Kobe Bryant's reach was such that his death, along with his daughter Gianna, in a helicopter accident on Sunday resonated well beyond basketball and into other sports, and soccer proved to be no exception. When reports emerged of Bryant's death, there were tweets from soccer teams all over the globe, including AC Milan, the team he supported in his youth. It felt like the sport had lost a dear friend.

These days, it's not unusual for a professional athlete to show an affinity for other sports, even of the international variety. There is a commonality in the struggle, an acknowledgement of the slog and skill it takes to get to the top. Soccer has been a full beneficiary of this trend. Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has been known to sport a Real Madrid jersey. In an interview prior to last Sunday's NFC Championship Game, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was seen wearing Paris Saint-Germain's colors.

Go back 20 years or so and such overt signs of approval were not as common, but even back then Bryant was an unabashed soccer fan. His roots in the game ran deep. He was a soccer aficionado before the sport was remotely close to being mainstream.

The sport of soccer has tended to appreciate these shoutouts more than most. While it touts itself as the world's game, mainstream acceptance in the U.S. has been slow in coming -- painfully at times -- over the past several decades. Acceptance by the likes of Bryant -- be it by wearing a jersey or talking up the game -- meant another smidgen of added street cred.

- Remembering Kobe -- relentless, curious and infinitely complicated
- NBA world mourns the passing of Kobe Bryant
- Kobe Bryant: Chronicling his career and life

When Bryant's father, former NBA player Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, opted to continue his career in Italy, he took his family with him, including a then-6-year-old Kobe. The younger Bryant was soon immersed in the country's sporting culture, playing soccer one moment and basketball the next on the neighborhood courts where his family lived. And he took what he could from soccer and applied it to basketball.

"[Soccer] is strategic," Bryant told ESPN during a 2017 interview. "Upon receiving the ball you already have to have a good idea of what you're reading in front of you and what the next move is. And also the structure; they taught me at an early age how to play in triangles and how to utilize space, which wound up helping me tremendously in basketball as well. I loved the idea of how quickly the ball moves and how quickly you have to process what's moving right in front of you to make decisions."

By the time Bryant and his family left Italy and returned to the U.S. in 1991, he had adopted AC Milan as his team. At the time in the U.S. the sport of soccer at the professional level was still struggling. The 1994 FIFA World Cup was still three years away. MLS wouldn't launch for another two.

And yet Bryant's fandom continued. His friendship with Brazil great Ronaldinho, and later Argentina superstar Lionel Messi, meant his allegiance tilted toward Barcelona as time wore on. He even took time out during the 2008 Summer Olympics to watch Messi in person during Argentina's 3-0 semifinal win over rivals Brazil. A swarm of fans followed him out of the Workers' Stadium that night in Beijing, his head bobbing above the throng in the evening light. He also hit up Messi in the cafeteria.

"At the Olympics, the cafeteria is always the best place to be because you have all the athletes from all the teams in one place," Bryant said. "When we were in the cafeteria walking around, we saw [Messi] and his team sitting at one of the tables and I just walked up and sat down with him and kind of talked about the Olympics, the game a little bit. It was fun."

Bryant's assortment of endorsements, including BodyArmor, meant he stayed connected to the game of soccer in a sponsorship role. He spoke often of how the U.S. women's national team inspired his daughters. In an interview with ESPN television analyst Herculez Gomez at MLS Media Day, Bryant spoke of how he felt the Lakers were much like present-day Barcelona, storied teams in transition.

Now that connection is gone. The sport of soccer in the U.S. is on solid enough footing now where famous players aren't just fans but investors, with the Houston Rockets' James Harden buying a stake in the Houston Dynamo and the Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson investing in the Seattle Sounders. But Bryant was like the old friend whom you might not see much of these days but are comforted by the mere thought of him being around. He is already missed.

Missed any of the action around Europe this weekend? Have no fear: Gab Marcotti is here to catch you up with all the talking points in the latest Monday Musings.

Jump to: Setien's Barca a mess so far | Kobe the soccer fan | Why Juve lost at Napoli | Klopp entitled to play LFC kids | Zidane, Real keep winning | Man United escape Tranmere | Haaland stars again for Dortmund | Neymar, PSG peaking? | Bayern back in title race | Inter slip again in Serie A | Don't worry about RB Leipzig | Lazio's hot streak ends | Lo Celso perfect for Spurs | Praise for Atalanta | Williams abused in Spain

Setien's attempts to recreate 'classic' Barca didn't work

Quique Setien's appointment at Barcelona was hailed, by those who wanted Ernesto Valverde gone, as a return to the club's core values. It's a fuzzy notion that seems taken straight from a politicians' playbook, but still, it's not without merit... provided it's part of an actual plan.

The problem with Barca is that once they agreed it was time for Valverde to go (not necessarily the wrong decision, by the way), they were all over the place in terms of possible replacements. During their truncated search, they went from a guy with plenty of "Barca DNA" who has 27 games as a manager under his belt (Xavi), to a guy who spent six years at Barca but whose football is of a different stripe (Ronald Koeman), to Setien, who is 61 and has no historical ties to the club. It felt as if Setien was ushered in once the Xavi news leaked to avoid embarrassing Valverde even further.

What we've seen from Setien looks like an attempt to recreate the Barcelona of a decade ago, albeit mostly the bad bits.

- Marsden: Setien learns size of his task at Barca

Against Valencia in Saturday's 2-0 loss, it was almost a parody. Eight hundred and sixty-seven passes, tons of the most sterile possession, defenders caught out of position, almost no legitimate chances created. Most of all, it was their first time in 27 attempts that they failed to score against Valencia and it came in a match where their opponents started without arguably two of their three best players, as Dani Parejo was unavailable and Rodrigo Moreno was on the bench.

Forget the haters' stereotyping. Setien isn't some philosophical fool, preaching possession for the sake of it. And, in fact, after the game, he recognised that the vast majority of his team's passes "served no purpose." The question is whether he can get them to serve a purpose, whether the possession, the probing, can be turned into a creative force like it was in the early Guardiola era. That takes creative midfielders, strikers who make the right runs at the right time and, above all, the sort of chemistry you don't build in a few weeks. It's up to Setien to build it, and to demand it to suddenly appear after three games is just silly.

There are two broader issues that need to be addressed, however, and these aren't as straightforward. Guardiola's Barcelona worked because they kept the ball, yes, but also because when they lost it they pressed with a viciousness and collective intensity few of their contemporaries can match. Can you press as effectively with a 32-year-old Lionel Messi and a 28-year-old Antoine Griezmann? It's not clear to me that you can.

The other issue is Luis Suarez's absence. He turned 33 last week and won't be back for several months. Logic would suggest bringing in a striker, which explains why they were linked to Rodrigo; incidentally, that's why he started on the Valencia bench. But can you commit serious funds to someone now when you'll likely need to do it again in the summer?

Barcelona's season is far from over. Heck, the gap is just three points between them and Real Madrid, they're alive and well in the Champions League and who knows? With Messi and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who saved them a greater embarrassment at the Mestalla and is as close to a shutdown keeper as there is in the game today, anything can happen. But they may want to think about their next steps right about now so they don't get caught (again). As far as Setien is concerned, let him do his work and use the rest of the season to figure out whether you want to keep him around.

Remembering Kobe the soccer fan

At the sort of level Kobe Bryant inhabited, superstardom is universal, slipping across boundaries of sport and even outside it. It's not surprising then that his tragic passing Sunday turned into an indelible "where were you?" moment for so many, including the football world. But Kobe's link to football goes far beyond it, probably further than any other American NBA star.

Simply put, he was a genuine football fan, bitten by the bug at an early age, thanks to the fact that he spent seven years (ages 6-13) living in Italy, where his dad, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, played professionally. He was a Milan supporter, like many of his generation who marvelled at Arrigo Sacchi's powerhouse of that era: Marco Van Basten and Franco Baresi, Ruud Gullit and Paolo Maldini. Little did he know he would become their sporting peer in another discipline.

Carlisle: Bryant's love of soccer is part of his legacy
- Soccer reacts to Kobe Bryant, daughter deaths
- Remembering Kobe: Relentless, curious and infinitely complicated

And that love of football, which went deeper than mere love of competition (though obviously he had plenty of that), continued to grow and flourished even after he moved back home, first to Philadelphia and Lower Merion High School and then to Los Angeles. He returned to Europe whenever he could, catching a game or a bit of training camp. He watched with the enthusiasm of a fan and the affinity of a fellow elite athlete.

Grief, like fame, is universal in these cases, but that star-fan cross-sport duality sets him apart.

Why Juve lost at Napoli

You can chalk up Juve's 2-1 defeat at Napoli to two things. One is purely emotional. After four straight home defeats and seeing their side tumble from seventh to 14th after Carlo Ancelotti's sacking, the San Paolo crowd were ready to unleash all their rage and frustration. They understandably targeted the two men they identified as "uber Judases" in the Juventus ranks (Gonzalo Higuain and Maurizio Sarri), but if the game hadn't gone their way, you can be sure that same venom would have been reserved for their guys. Instead, Rino Gattuso kept them tight, appealed to their pride (something he does very well) and channelled the emotion of the night to his advantage.

The other is down to Juve's failings and the stop-start nature of their campaign. They were as poor in Naples as they had been impressive against Roma in midweek. There's no consistency to their performances. And while Sarri should be praised for being bold -- namely playing Higuain, Paulo Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo on the road in a big game -- you've got to question why this side regularly looks so sluggish in their build-up play.

It's January, and in terms of where the club want to be in terms of performance, Juve are still a work in progress. I guess it's understandable given their recent history and the handbrake turn that was Sarri's appointment. But this Jekyll/Hyde thing -- and let's face it, it's been more Hyde than Jekyll lately -- ought to be a concern and can't be papered over by results.

Klopp is entitled to play Liverpool youth in FA Cup replay

Liverpool drew 2-2 away to Shrewsbury in the FA Cup, which means they get to enjoy a fourth-round replay next week. It's pretty evident where Jurgen Klopp's priorities lie. He played Neco Williams, Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Yasser Larouci (average age: 17; total Premier League starts: 0; total Premier League minutes this season: 16) together with three guys returning from injury: Joel Matip (no starts since October), Fabinho (no starts since Novemger) and Dejan Lovren (no starts since December).

- Liverpool ratings: Jones 7/10, Lovren 4/10

If that was Liverpool's B-team, the side we'll see for the replay will be the C-team since he has already indicated he'll play a lineup similar to the one he fielded in the League Cup quarterfinal vs. Aston Villa in December, when the real Liverpool were away for the Club World Cup. Why? Because he had already made plans for a winter break and had even been instructed by the Premier League not to schedule any friendlies in that time period.

Klopp is entirely entitled to do as he wishes. Playing a full season at the level (and with the style) Liverpool do is taxing and requires planning. His actions already show that he values other competitions more than the League Cup and the FA Cup. It's his call, and if he chooses this path it's because he has his club's blessing. I see no problem with this whatsoever, and, in fact, maybe it will get the Football Association to actually think about things like fixture congestion.

Zidane quietly making Real stronger

There has always been a bit of snark about Zinedine Zidane's three Champions League titles. It was a nice feat and all, but he did it with Cristiano Ronaldo and a host of Galacticos. And in only one of his campaigns did he actually challenge properly for the title (2016-17, when he won it.). Well, he's proving those guys wrong.

Obviously Ronaldo is long gone. But Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard, two guys who were supposed to pick up the slack in his absence, haven't started a game in weeks. And yet, here they are: three wins on the trot and, after Sunday's 1-0 away to Valladolid, three points clear at the top. This is more of a resilient, week in, week out, grinder of a team, at least until the front men return, and Zidane is a big part of making it work. It's a side of him many failed to recognise existed.

Man United lucky, in a sense, at Tranmere

There's only so much you can learn from Manchester United's 6-0 away win to Tranmere Rovers, a League 1 side that have bigger fish to fry (they're fighting to avoid relegation) and had come through a draining 120 minutes of football to beat Watford three days earlier. United did what they were supposed to do and perhaps the most significant takeaway is that there is no question the players believe in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and aren't about to down tools or anything like that.

- Ogden: Victory does little to calm anger around Man United
- Man United ratings: Maguire 8/10, Lingard 7/10 in big win

The other thing that was, frankly, shocking was the state of the pitch. It's the sort of pitch players get hurt on. Obviously Tranmere's resources are limited, but you wonder if we're not getting close to the day when a club like United finds it cheaper to pay to have the opposition's pitch relaid than run the risk of seeing one of their stars injured.

Haaland takes headlines again for Dortmund

Once again, Erling Braut Haaland came off the bench. Once again, he scored, this time limiting himself to two goals after last-week's hat-trick. Once again, Borussia Dortmund scored five times, with Cologne their victims this week.

Haaland obviously is overshadowing everything else these days. Five goal in 61 minutes on the pitch -- including a gem like his second, where he showed the acceleration of a much smaller man and the presence of mind of a much older man -- tell their own story, especially when paired with the 28 goals in 22 appearances at Salzburg before his move.

More importantly from Borussia Dortmund's perspective, they took the game over from the start, stamped their authority early and didn't relent. They're up to fourth in the table.

The test, Haaland aside, remains whether Dortmund can defend and not concede silly goals. This week, unlike last week, they passed with flying colors. But the jury is still out.

Neymar, PSG peaking at right time?

We've been accustomed in recent years to a certain pattern with Paris Saint-Germain. They race out to a massive lead in Ligue 1, they impress in the Champions League group stages, Neymar gets injured and they limp out of Europe with a chip on their shoulder.

Knock on wood, but Neymar is fit and scored both goals in their 2-0 win at Lille, an opponent who hadn't lost at home since March. They also seem focused and determined, rather than flashy and flaky like in recent seasons. They don't feel like a side in their comfort zone and that bodes well for the Champions League.

Bayern are back in Bundesliga title race

Bayern Munich's 5-0 pummelling of Schalke was far from routine. They may have been a basket case last season, but David Wagner had given them a sense of purpose and they were on an emotional high after the win over Borussia Monchengladbach. That said, the way Bayern dismantled them on the pitch shows the gap that exists when the Bavarians kick into gear.

Leon Goretzka was outstanding, Thiago Alcantara was back to his best and Alphonso Davies is growing into his new left-back role to the point that Hansi Flick may have a decision to make when Lucas Hernandez returns.

Inter let more points slip in Serie A

Inter dropped two points for the third straight game and again, they squandered a lead. It happened away to Cagliari, finishing 1-1, and it left Antonio Conte furious and Lautaro Martinez sent off (and facing a potential extra game ban, which would rule him out of the Milan derby). It feels like a deja vu and the fact that (ex-Inter midfielder) Radja Nainggolan's goal was deflected doesn't change the fact that they struggled once again at managing a lead.

Conte is engaging in some Premier League retail therapy -- Victor Moses and Ashley Young are already on board, Christian Eriksen's arrival is imminent and Olivier Giroud might yet join them -- but the real issue again seems to be off-the-ball and in midfield. If you don't have players who can play with the intensity you demand in the middle of the park for 90 minutes, maybe it's time to tweak the way you play?

Don't panic about Leipzig

There's no reason to freak out over RB Leipzig's 2-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt. Yes, the nine-game unbeaten streak (and the string of consecutive games scoring three or more goals) is over and Bayern have crept to within a point of first place, with 'Gladbach just two behind.

But this was a defeat in which they conceded a worldie and a garbage-time counterattacking goal. They still created oodles of chances at the other end and kept Frankfurt far away for most of the game. Oh, and they've just added Dani Olmo, one of the most coveted forwards out there, with the €45m ($50m) fee making him the most expensive transfer this window. I stand to be proved wrong, but I still make them favourites to win the Bundesliga.

Lazio's streak ends (and it's not a bad thing)

Lazio's streak of consecutive Serie A victories ends at 11, following their 1-1 draw in the Rome derby. At some point, they were bound to regress to the mean, especially since during that streak, their results were better than their performances on more than one occasion. That they even got a point against Roma has more to do with an absolute Pau Lopez shocker (check it out on YouTube, it's worth it) than anything else.

This takes nothing away from Lazio's season and the job Simone Inzaghi is doing. And had they sneaked a win here, they might have even gone on to break Inter's mark of consecutive Serie A wins. As for Roma, they remain true to Paulo Fonseca's approach who showed, again, that he's not just a good manager, he's a gutsy one as well, leaving out long-time Rome derby veterans like Alessandro Florenzi and Aleksandar Kolarov.

Spurs have their Eriksen replacement already

Tottenham and Southampton drew 1-1 in their FA Cup fourth round meeting, which means they're going to a replay nobody wanted. If there is a silver lining for Jose Mourinho, it's Giovani Lo Celso. The Argentine was slowed by injuries after arriving on loan from Betis this past summer but with Eriksen on his way to Inter, Lo Celso showed he can do many of the things the Dane offered in his prime. That's why Spurs are making his deal permanent, stumping up the circa $35 million it will take to buy him outright in January (and saving themselves some $7m over what it would have cost in the summer).

Lo Celso is 23, he already has big club experience at Paris Saint-Germain, he can fill several roles and he's not a primadonna. What's not to like?

A word of praise for Atalanta

They just keep doing it. Atalanta's 7-0 away whupping of Torino leaves them fourth in Serie A, and only Manchester City have scored more in Europe's Big Five leagues. Josip Ilicic bagged a hat-trick, including an absurd, goal of the season contender (never mind that the keeper wasn't paying attention, not even Godzilla was stopping that) to seal another impressive weekend.

A reminder: they're doing this purely thanks to a supreme team effort. The closest thing they have to a superstar is Alejandro "Papu" Gomez, the rest are kids, role players or retreads. And their wage bill is only the 12th highest in Serie A. Oh, and to show this isn't a freak result, they did it last season too. There's plenty to learn there...

Racial abuse in Spain

Atlhletic Bilbao forward Inaki Williams was quite audibly racially abused by a portion of the crowd away to Espanyol on Saturday. It's not the first time it has happened to him and, predictably, the authorities have said what you expect them to say: it won't be tolerated, they'll identify those responsible and pursue to the full extent possible under the law and so on.

Williams did what he was supposed to do. He alerted his captain who spoke to the referee though oddly, it didn't make it into his match report. While they're at it, the Spanish football authorities might want to look into that too, along with why the protocol wasn't applied.

England 400 (Crawley 66, Root, 59, Pope 56, Nortje 5-110) and 248 (Root 58, Hendricks 5-64) beat South Africa 183 (de Kock 76, Wood 5-46) and 274 (van der Dussen 98, Wood 4-54) by 191 runs

Nine wickets for the match to Mark Wood propelled England to an emphatic 191-run victory and 3-1 series triumph against South Africa inside four days at the Wanderers.

Wood's conquering of adversity - and England's for that matter - on this tour gives them huge cause for optimism, but the hosts' view of what lies ahead remains obscured by mountains every bit as imposing as their 466-run target for victory in this match.

While England could enjoy the return of one of their key strike weapons to his best and the emergence of several youngsters with decade-long careers beckoning, South Africa's rebuilding prospects have been hit by structural turmoil, issues with depth and low confidence, which has to be near rock-bottom after losing two consecutive home series for the first time in 70 years.

Wood, playing back-to-back Tests for the first time since 2017, claimed a rare double by contributing 53 runs and nine wickets to play a pivotal role in the result and be named Man of the Match in an incredibly popular choice given his battle to even be playing here.

Wood added 4 for 54 to his first-innings 5 for 46 - the second five-wicket haul of his Test career - as England comfortably accounted for the home side in the end, despite some resistance in the form of Rassie van der Dussen, who fell two runs shy of his maiden Test century and put on a 92-run stand with Faf du Plessis for the third wicket.

As straightforward as England's win ultimately was, the Test was not without tension with du Plessis becoming involved in an altercation with several England players, which included him making physical contact with Jos Buttler that could land him in hot water with the match referee. That was after the retiring Vernon Philander was fined 15% of his match fee as his verbal conflict with Buttler spilled into a second chapter.

With uncertainty remaining over du Plessis' Test future and Philander playing his final international match, South Africa stand to lose experience with only the greenest of green shoots appearing.

While van der Dussen's display with the bat, reaching his third half-century of the series in just his fourth Test, Beuran Hendricks' five-for on debut and Anrich Nortje's five-wicket haul in England's first innings should all have given South Africa hope - and they may yet prove to - the overwhelming feeling was that there is just so much work to be done.

In contrast, England were led by the likes of Man of the Series Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Stuart Broad offering a nurturing core to youngsters Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley and Dom Bess, the latter missing from this side which boasted a five-pronged pace attack. And with James Anderson, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns to return from injury, the depth is there that South Africa seem to be lacking.

It was Archer's absence, only settled on during the warm-ups in the first morning in Johannesburg when he aggravated an elbow injury, that brought Wood to the fore.

Despite concerns over his ability to back-up after Port Elizabeth, his first match in six months, Wood produced in consecutive innings at the Wanderers, too.

South Africa openers Pieter Malan and Dean Elgar started strongly enough, negotiating the first hour without worry. It was Chris Woakes who made the breakthrough after drinks when he tempted Malan to send an outswinger to Stokes at second slip. Elgar was out in similarly soft fashion, spooning a return catch to Stokes.

Du Plessis and van der Dussen then came together, sparking South African hopes of reaching a fifth day, but it wasn't all smooth sailing for the pair with van der Dussen withstanding a testing spell from Woakes and du Plessis getting into that heated exchange after he was struck by a ball thrown in from the outfield.

Du Plessis fell first for 35 to a Stokes delivery that kept low and ricocheted on to his stumps off the toe of his bat. Having been hit on the chest by a Wood bouncer, van der Dussen was dispatched two runs short of his hundred a short time later when his attempted drive popped up to Broad, who was stationed for the catch at short extra cover.

Broad sent down a gem to the recalled Temba Bavuma, who gloved the ball to Buttler behind the stumps and walked despite the umpire looking unmoved. Once Broad had Dwaine Pretorius caught cheaply hooking to deep backward square, Wood was back in the game.

Wood had Philander out, strangled down the leg side for an anticlimactic end to his final Test, drew an all-too-typical smash from Quinton de Kock who found the safe hands of Woakes at mid-off and then another leg-side strangle dismissed last man Nortje after Hendricks had been run out.

England's struggles with illness at the start of the series, when a virus affected most of their touring party, and the 107-run loss in the first Test seemed so long ago as they looked towards their tour of Sri Lanka in March with the luxury options of resting players, further exposing the newer ones and picking their squad to suit the conditions. South Africa, meanwhile, must surely be asking, "Where do we go from here?"

South Africa have become the first team to be docked World Test Championship (WTC) points for a slow over-rate after were fined 60 percent of their match fee after falling short of their target in the fourth Test of their series against England at the Wanderers.

After leaving frontline spinner Keshav Maharaj out of their side, South Africa did not bowl a single over of spin in the Test, leaving them three overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration.

ALSO READ: What's new? WTC playing conditions

In line with Article 2.22 of the ICC's code of conduct, players are fined 20 percent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the time allocated to them, and in accordance with Article 16.11.2 of the WTC's playing conditions, a side is penalised two points for every over they are short.

Faf du Plessis, South Africa's captain, pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, meaning there was no need for a formal hearing following the levelling of the charge by the match officials.

South Africa sit seventh out of nine teams in the inaugural WTC, with 24 points after seven matches.

Chris Silverwood, England's head coach, has praised his young squad for finishing a rollercoaster Test winter on a high, but insisted that the gains made during a come-from-behind series win in South Africa are only the first step in a "two-year project" that culminates with the next tour of Australia in 2021-22.

Victory in Johannesburg capped a dramatic upsurge in form for England's Test team, which endured a 1-0 series defeat in New Zealand before Christmas before touching rock-bottom in the Boxing Day Test at Centurion, where an illness-ravaged squad were beaten by 107 runs to fall behind in their four-Test series in South Africa.

But from that moment on, and as the Benoni sickness bug was gradually shaken out of their systems, Joe Root's men found their poise with three wins in a row at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and the Wanderers, where Mark Wood excelled with nine wickets in a fast and furious Player-of-the-Match performance.

"It's been quite a journey since we arrived in South Africa," Silverwood told Sky Sports. "Obviously to go from the build-up to the first Test, and the result of that first Test, to get to where we are now, is really pleasing.

"[The illness in the squad] was tough but you can't use it as an excuse," he added. "The one thing it did do, was it pulled us together as a unit. We had a good chat in the dressing room after the first Test, and you could see the determination on the guys' faces. So I wasn't surprised when they came out and played as well as they did, but I'm obviously very proud of them."

Given that Silverwood had also flown home early from New Zealand due to a family bereavement, he might have been entitled to wonder what he had signed up for, after taking over from Trevor Bayliss at the end of the English season. But, he insisted, the groundwork that England laid on those flat decks in Mount Maunganui and Hamilton was integral to England's subsequent success.

"We started something in New Zealand, and you can see the blueprint that we said we wanted," he said. "Big first-innings runs, and we were also learning to take 20 wickets with the Kookaburra ball. So to see it come to fruition - to see some of the youngsters come through and put their hands up, and for the older guys to do the same - is obviously really pleasing."

The success of England's core of new players was the clear stand-out feature of the series. Dom Sibley's century at Cape Town helped turn the series, while his opening partnership with Zak Crawley went from strength to strength; Ollie Pope and Dom Bess played integral roles in the Port Elizabeth win, while Sam Curran chipped in with key runs and wickets throughout.

But Silverwood was particularly pleased with how England's variety of batting styles helped to ensure regular 400-plus totals.

"To get a batting order that has the ability to get big first-innings runs, you need to create a variation in how they are going to play," he said. "So you can see the one, two, three we've got [Sibley, Crawley and Joe Denly] go about things in their way, which is completely different to how Rooty, [Ben] Stokes, Pope and [Jos] Buttler will go about their business.

ALSO READ: Wood's nine-wicket haul seals England's 3-1 series win

"I think there's a nice mix of skills in there, which allows us to have a top seven to build big totals, and equally we've seen how the lower order can then be entertaining as well. You saw Woody and Broady here [with an 82-run stand for the tenth wicket]. If you build the platform, anything can happen."

Wood's raw pace was England's big find in the final two Tests. He managed to play back-to-back matches for the first time since 2017, and gave the impression that a new, extended run-up has taken some of the strain out of an action that previously seemed to invite regular injury setbacks.

Silverwood, however, said that England would continue to monitor his fitness on a game-by-game basis, to help ensure that he is able to give his best efforts on the field more regularly. He even hinted that Wood and Jofra Archer, currently labouring with an elbow injury, might be used on a rotational basis in future Test outings.

"We will make to make decisions based on what's best for him," Silverwood said of Wood. "We will look at how he trains as well, making sure he's not wasting all his best deliveries in the nets. Whatever he does, he does it 100 percent. So can we tailor his training to make sure that his best effort goes out on the pitch for us, and equally when he needs to rest, we'll know we've got a backup with Jofra and others to come in."

"It's a great headache to have for Rooty as captain and me as head coach," Silverwood added. "In an ideal situation, we'd like to have two or three fast bowlers kicking around but we don't have to play them every game. In this Test, Woody comes in and makes an impact, but another day, we can give him a day off because we've got Jofra coming in now."

With England's next tour of Australia looming in just under two years' time, Silverwood earmarked Jamie Overton and Olly Stone as the types of 90mph back-up with which England will be looking to augment their squad, and compete with the established names, such as James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes.

"We've got these guys to nurture and bring through in a two-year project, for when we get out there [to Australia]," Silverwood said. "But also we've got to look after the guys we've got.

"As we've also seen in this series, your Andersons, your Broads, your Woakeses. I wouldn't want to dismiss them lightly. Chris has trained so hard all trip. He got his opportunity here and showed once again he's a class act."

Pakistan's 2-0 series victory over Bangladesh at home - their first series win in T20Is in more than a year - has given them some "breathing space," according to head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq.

"Obviously you play for the win and for it, you keep on trying all the time," Misbah said. "This victory was important for us to get breathing space and now you obviously have to see where you are lacking and which area you can strengthen yourself. Otherwise being under pressure, you are always running after many things and sometimes it's really hard to catch up. So, it's good for me, for the team, for all youngsters that we are relaxed and got a little confidence-booster. Now we can focus better going forward."

Under Misbah, Pakistan had suffered a 3-0 whitewash against a second-string Sri Lanka side at home and then they lost 2-0 in Australia, the scene of the T20 World Cup later this year. However, upon returning home, Pakistan thumped Bangladesh 2-0 to retain their No.1 ranking in the shortest format, after the third T20I had been washed out.

Despite losing the toss in both completed games, Pakistan thrived and Misbah credited his bowlers for the success. In the first T20I, they restricted Bangladesh to 141 for 5 and then in the second, they kept them to an even lower total - 136 for 6.

"The most important thing for us was to win," Misbah said. "Because when you lose back-to-back series and even before we had a poor run losing T20 games, so it was really important for our confidence to win. Obviously, credit should be given to our bowling - the way our young bowlers never gave Bangladesh a chance to sneak in to get into a position to pose any threat.

"So, overall it's a good performance and for Pakistan cricket it's good. For World Cup, we still have plenty of time - the PSL and then more international games, so we will have more challenges and difficult situations coming up to get ourselves prepared."

Since Misbah has taken over as coach-cum-selector, Pakistan's squad has seen plenty of chopping and changing. After he had included a number of fresh faces for the Australia tour, Misbah fell back on the experience of the 39-year old Mohammad Hafeez and 37-year old Shoaib Malik for the home series against Bangladesh. The two seniors vindicated their returns with match-winning half-centuries.

"Whenever both seniors weren't there in the team… questions were asked of me," Misbah said."I never really talked about ending someone's career or why we are not considering them. But, sometimes you do look around and check your resources and do experiment to see where you stand.

"So, after two series we have realised that we cannot go to all out with youngsters and we need experience. So, obviously Babar [Azam] did back them and, as expected, their experience did work for us. So, the doors are never shut. So, if any player who is fit, performing and required, he should definitely be considered. If their form is helping your team, then I don't see any problem in picking them."

Joe Root believes England have found a template that can help them win the 2021-22 Ashes in Australia. While delighted by the 3-1 victory over South Africa, Root was also encouraged that his team had found a method that could serve them well in future challenges.

In particular, England's captain was thrilled by the prospect of taking two fast bowlers to Australia and the progress his side had made in adopting to a new approach to Test cricket. Jofra Archer and Mark Wood both claimed five-wicket hauls during the series to help the England attack bowl South Africa out twice in all four Tests - something they have historically struggled to do with the Kookaburra ball - while England's batsmen, embracing a more cautious approach, posted totals of 400 or more in successive innings for the first time since March 2013. They also recorded three individual centuries, while South Africa's batsmen didn't make any.

"We've got a great template to work around and it's nice to see it falling into place," Root said. "We put things in place this winter about the way we want to play. It has taken time and it will continue to take time for us to stay consistent and adapt to different conditions but we are learning quickly.

"It would have made a big difference to have Jofra and Woody in Australia last time, I do believe that. It's something you feel that you need in those conditions.

"One of our big learnings as a team is that we have taken 20 wickets in every game. That is something we have struggled with in the past when abroad with a Kookaburra ball.

"There's still a huge amount of Test cricket to be played before the Ashes. But this does give us confidence and it also gives us knowledge about how to perform on wickets that might be similar."

Most of all, though, Root was proud of how his side reacted to the adversity they experienced in the opening weeks of the tour and the manner in which young players had come into the side and "taken their chance". England lost four players who could reasonably be described as first choice - James Anderson, Jack Leach, Rory Burns and Archer - to illness and injury for most of the tour, while their performance in the first Test was hindered by the sickness bug that swept through the camp. But Dom Sibley and Ollie Pope scored maiden Test centuries, while Dom Bess claimed a maiden five-wicket haul. All three are aged 24 or younger.

"It has been a huge effort by the players, the support staff and the management," Root said. "We have had to dig deep collectively. It would have been very easy for us to go off the rails after that first game but we stuck tight together. Even losing Burnsy and Jimmy we made sure it was not going to change how we went about things and it gave opportunities for young guys to take their chance.

"I'm really pleased not only that the young guys have stood up on this tour, but that the senior players have created an environment that allows that to happen. Young guys are coming into a very good environment and succeeding. The senior players are providing that environment and delivering as well. I am really proud of everyone.

"The last afternoon in Cape Town was probably the turning point of the series. For us to finish off that game was fabulous. We caught very well and we took our opportunities with time running out through just sheer hard work and determination. I think that gave us a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence.

"A big part of our three teams is our three pillars: courage, respect and unity. We have shown those in abundance throughout this trip and it has made a massive difference to our performances on the field."

Despite his joy, Root accepted England had a long way to go before they could considered themselves the finished article.

"We've done extremely well in the last three games but in the last three years we've not been consistent enough," Root said. "We're very open about that.

"We go to Sri Lanka next and then we have three big games at home against West Indies. So it's a great opportunity to string a number of good performances together. We've got to keep looking to get better and keep developing."

CLEVELAND -- The Browns reached an agreement Monday with Eagles vice president of football operations Andrew Berry to be their general manager and executive vice president of football operations, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Berry signed a five-year deal.

The Browns are expected to hold a news conference next week to introduce him.

Berry, 32, becomes the youngest general manager in the NFL. He returns to the Browns after working for them from 2016 to '18 as vice president of player personnel.

Cleveland also interviewed Minnesota Vikings assistant general manager George Paton, who took himself out of the running last week after a second meeting at Browns headquarters, and met with New England Patriots director of college scouting Monti Ossenfort.

Berry, chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta and new head coach Kevin Stefanski are all expected to report to Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam as equals. Berry (Harvard), DePodesta (Harvard) and Stefanski (Penn) are all Ivy League alums.

Berry replaces John Dorsey, who was fired on Dec. 31 after two seasons on the job. Dorsey hired head coach Freddie Kitchens, who was fired after only one year and a 6-10 record in 2019.

Berry graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's in computer science. He also played football at Harvard, starting all four years at cornerback and earning All-Ivy League honors three times.

Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant died on Sunday at age 41. Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, a source confirmed to ESPN.

Bryant entered the NBA straight out of high school in 1996, going on to win five championships and one regular-season MVP. Across the world, players, coaches and fans mourned Bryant's death, with multiple teams opening their games on Sunday with back-to-back 24-second violations.

Find all of ESPN's coverage on Bryant, the Lakers and reaction around the NBA here.

Kobe Bryant never stopped trying to inspire

Kobe approached his post-basketball life with the same Mamba Mentality he displayed as a player: an audacious, unyielding will to motivate the next generation. -- Ramona Shelburne

Remembering Kobe Bryant: Relentless, curious and infinitely complicated

The Lakers legend was a man with limitless possibilities. -- Jackie MacMullan

Kobe's life and career in photos

Remembering the impactful moments of Kobe's NBA career and beyond.

Latest news

• Chronicling the career and life of Kobe Bryant

• Helicopter carrying Kobe made climbing turn before rapid dive

• Tiger Woods calls Kobe's death 'one of the most shocking, tragic days'

• The NBA world mourns Kobe's death

• Teams take 24-second shot clock violations in Kobe Bryant's honor

Remembering Kobe

In-game tributes

From the archive: ESPN writers on Kobe

• Mamba out: Kobe Bryant was just getting started

• The story of Kobe's greatest game

• The unlikely people who led Kobe to embrace his obsession

• How Kobe's legacy forced the Lakers to retire two numbers

• The decade-old Kobe sneaker today's NBA players can't stop wearing

I wanted to go last. To let everyone else write their stories on Kobe Bryant as he approached retirement and then top them all.

It was an audacious gamble. But that was my pitch to him in the winter of 2016. I thought the audacity would appeal to him. He'd admire the confidence, the swagger, maybe even chuckle at the arrogance.

Nope.

He said he'd do a story with me about his life, but not out of vanity -- mine or his.

"I'm not interested in self-serving pieces," he said bluntly. "It has to be something where an athlete reads it and is inspired by something, learns something and pushes themselves."

That was what he cared about as his basketball career came to an end: passing on what he had learned, what it really took to be Kobe Bryant. Not to be understood, because that was impossible with a soul as ruthless and relentless as his, but to inspire.

It's all I can think about now as I grieve his death from a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, Sunday morning that killed him and eight others, including his daughter Gianna.

"I enjoy passing things on," he told me in 2016. "Some people want to take it with them to the grave. Like 'Lord of the Rings.' The world is filled with a lot of Smeagols [who] can't let go of the damn ring."

Kobe Bryant let go of the damn ring when he retired. He ceded basketball and its stage to future generations. But he never stopped trying to inspire.

He wrote books, screenplays, podcasts, short stories, poems. The words poured out of him. I remember telling him once to take a rest, enjoy his retirement a little. Slow down.

No way, he said, laughing.

ESPN Daily podcast: Kobe Bryant's life and legacy

He reached out to athletes across all sports. He cold-called writers like J.K. Rowling, wanting to talk storytelling. Business leaders, actors, musicians, directors. And he didn't just call them. He called them every day, sometimes three times a day. Hounded them. Just trying to understand what made them great and absorb whatever knowledge or inspiration they would give to him.

In a way, it was audacious of him to think he could glean enough in a few calls with these masters of the universe to master their crafts himself one day.

There's that word again. Audacious.

That was Kobe.

He didn't just have an iron will or unyielding confidence in himself. He believed he could bend the universe to his will.

And damn it, he often did.

That's what he meant when he would tell people to "live mythically" or write on someone's sneakers "Be Legendary."

That's the core of what he called the Mamba Mentality. And it's what will survive him in death.

There are images that capture that mentality. The two free throws he took after tearing his left Achilles tendon in 2013. The jaw jutting out defiantly after a big shot. The fist pump. We'll watch those images again and again now.

But you can't capture a spirit like Kobe's. And you sure as hell can't replace it.

Which is why his loss has been felt so deeply around the world.

What we have now, what we have left, are all the ways he reached back out to us.

There's a whole generation of athletes, writers, musicians, artists, actors, businesspeople and fans who felt like they were just a text or a tweet away from him. And when he saw something special in someone who reached out to him, he tried to answer.

"People who I know are passionate about what they do," he explained. "I just like seeing them do great things. That's what I enjoy."

Sometimes it was just a line or an emoji. But it seemed he could tell when someone needed to hear from him and what they needed to hear.

When I was pregnant with my son a few years ago, Kobe made a point of reaching out to see how it was going. He made me promise to let him know when the baby was on his way, and 38 hours into a difficult labor that ended in an emergency C-section, I got this text from him:

"You are bringing God's greatest blessings into the world. You have been blessed to give birth, a gift some cannot have. Women are walking miracles."

I was in a very rough place. Exhausted. Scared. I had a ton of support with me at the hospital and via calls and texts from friends and family. And yet that message hit me deeply.

Focus on the blessing, not the pain or the fear.

As the world grieves his loss, we'll hear hundreds, maybe thousands, of stories from people Kobe touched like that. People who knew him a little, or a lot. People he didn't know at all but simply reached out to because he thought he could help or inspire them.

Los Angeles Sparks star Candace Parker heard from Kobe before Game 5 of the 2016 WNBA Finals. She'd won at every level except the WNBA, and her failure to do so was becoming a defining characteristic.

Kobe called and asked her, "What are you afraid of?" Parker recalled. "You're either going to lose scared, or you're going to win. It's that simple."

Parker played one of the best games of her life in that Game 5 as the Sparks beat the Minnesota Lynx to win the championship.

She reflected on that call Sunday night. I told her that I would've reached out to him after something as awful and monumental as this.

"We know what he would say," Parker said. "It was just better when he said it."

The thing is, I don't know what he would say about this tragedy.

About his death, his daughter's death, the deaths of seven other people who boarded that helicopter in Orange County and headed to the Mamba Sports Academy in Newbury Park.

This was a man who lived dangerously, sublimating his fears into some deep, dark place, then reconstituting them into a relentless drive. He rode motorcycles and helicopters and pushed his body beyond normal human limits of pain tolerance, fatigue and endurance.

He wasn't fearless. He had fears like everyone else. He just learned how to will himself past fear. Or maybe just how to scoff at it.

"To a certain extent, every day I was vulnerable," he told me once. "You're always dealing with fear, with something in your imagination. Something that you think can happen.

"But you just say, 'I don't know if I can do that. But I'll give it a try.'"

I don't know what he thought about death or an afterlife. I never asked him that. But I know he contemplated it deeply.

During his recovery from his torn Achilles tendon, he became obsessed with the legend of Achilles, the warrior from Greek mythology who chose a short life that would be remembered for eternity over a long life of little consequence.

Kobe wasn't given that choice by the gods, that we know of.

But he lived his life like it could end at any moment. Passionately, purposefully, painfully.

"You have to understand the fact that we're human," he said. "We all say s--- that we shouldn't say, we all do things we shouldn't do. We all are angels, we are all devils.

"How are you going to understand that, other than to understand the fact that we're all of those things?"

When we did that last story together, on his basketball death, I told him I was going to push him: on uncomfortable things like the fractured relationship with his parents, his 2003 sexual assault case in Colorado, being called "uncoachable" by Phil Jackson and selfish by teammates, rivals and business partners.

On what it really took to lead the life he led, the personal and professional mistakes he made in pursuit of basketball immortality.

He didn't flinch.

At points it felt like he was egging me on. Push harder, further. Make him uncomfortable. Our interviews were competitive and combative. Like a game of one-on-one.

I told him I wasn't buying that he was OK going out on a 17-win Lakers team. The Kobe Bryant I'd covered all these years would be raging at all this losing, not waving like some guy on a Rose Parade float as he said goodbye to fans across the NBA.

He never conceded the point.

"It's simple," he wrote late on the night of Feb. 6, 2016. "I adjust to the reality of the situation. Accept it. Be aware of the rage and accept it while focusing on having the mind for this challenge which entails patience, teaching and understanding. Different challenges call for different approaches.

"This isn't a death to me so much as it is an evolution, a transformation, or as Joseph Campbell would say, 'the new normal.'"

We talked often that year about Joseph Campbell and "The Hero's Journey." Kobe had read it cover to cover. Studied it deeply as both the author of his own legend throughout his 20-year career and the future author of what he hoped would be a second career as a legendary storyteller.

I told him I wasn't buying his lack of nostalgia or nerves as his final game approached. He wouldn't concede that point either.

"I wasn't at home stewing and thinking and mulling over the game," he shrugged. "I was already working towards the future. Then it was about doing it one last time, as best as I can."

The morning after he played his last game, an audacious, legendary 60-point performance no one who witnessed it live will ever forget, he got up early and went to church.

"I think after 20 years, I think it's important to give thanks for having such a blessed life," he said. "I wanted to make sure I went and paid my respects and just said 'Thank you.'"

I thought about that on Sunday as I went to the hillside where Kobe's helicopter crashed. Thousands of fans had driven out to bear witness, to grieve, to celebrate his life and legacy. Or maybe just to see with their own eyes what still seems so unbelievable.

Memorials sprung up outside of the Mamba Sports Academy, to where the helicopter had been heading. Outside of Staples Center, where he'd played his final game and had both of his jerseys retired. Outside the Lakers training facility. Buildings across the country were lit up in purple and gold lights.

On the day basketball's greatest storyteller died, the people he inspired were left trying to write his ending.