Mavericks honor Kobe Bryant before Tuesday night game

DALLAS - Fans at Tuesday night’s Dallas Mavericks game showed their respect to Kobe Bryant.

Many Mavs fans wore their purple and gold No. 24 jerseys to pay tribute to the NBA legend who was killed this past weekend in a helicopter crash.

The team also honored Bryant during their first game since Sunday’s crash.

“Our hearts go out to all of the lives lost, and the families impacted by this terrible tragedy. We send our thoughts and prayers to Vanessa and the family, the Lakers organization and Kobe Bryant fans everywhere,” the Mavericks announcer said during the game.

The team also held a moment of silence before the game as a video montage played Bryant highlights. His jersey numbers 8 and 24 were illuminated on the court.

After tipoff, the Mavericks and Suns followed the trend of many other NBA teams by taking intentional violations of 8 and 24 seconds.

Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki and team owner Mark Cuban attended the game.

“I grew up loving basketball and Kobe was always one of my heroes, man. I grew up watching him play for the Lakers all the time. I just loved watching him play. I loved everything he stood for. Mamba mentality, everything like that. It’s just awesome,” said Austin Bryant, a fan.

“It hurt. Childhood hero gone without any questions. So it hurt. It’s still hurting. Just trying to piece everything together,” said Jason Smith, another fan.

Phoenix went on to win the game 133 to 104.

Dallas plays in Houston on Friday.