Aaron McKie, Temple basketball, reflect on the loss of Kobe Bryant

Temple basketball coach Aaron McKie can’t quite put his finger on the first time he heard about Kobe Bryant. Growing up, both played in the legendary Sonny Hill League and Bryant even scrimmaged often against McKie and his teammates at Temple when he was just in junior high. He was always around.

But McKie will never forget the strength, talent, and competitiveness he first saw from Bryant. As a former teammate, opponent, and friend, McKie said he was “hanging in there” on Tuesday after the Owls’ practice when he addressed reporters about Bryant’s death.

“As a Philadelphian, we lost one of our greats,” McKie said. “I think about his wife, I think about his kids, I think about the others that were impacted in this tragic accident. I have kids as well and I’ve just been struggling with him the last couple days.”

McKie went on to play against Bryant in the NBA. Both sporting No. 8, McKie and Bryant matched up head-to-head repeatedly in the 2001 NBA Finals between the Lakers and their hometown 76ers. Bryant led Los Angeles to a 4-1 series victory. The two reunited in the NBA when McKie played his final two seasons with Bryant and the Lakers from 2005 to 2007.

Temple guard Nate Pierre-Louis wore No. 25 from sixth grade into high school for his AAU team, inspired by his desire to be one better than Bryant, who wore No. 24 from 2006 until the end of his career in 2016. As a kid, he tried to do everything like Bryant, copying his on-court attire, his work ethic, and even the way he chewed his gum.

“He’s my favorite player ever,” Pierre-Louis said. “I always wanted to sit down and have a conversation with him to find out how psychotic and how obsessed you have to be to succeed at that level. … If he could have given me his workout list, his regimen, I would have done it.”

McKie spoke Tuesday of his childhood idols, such as Julius Erving and Larry Bird. But for the group of 18-to-22-year-olds he coaches, the generation that yelled “Kobe” while shooting balled-up paper into a trash can, Bryant was the guy — a cultural icon whose on-court heroics served as recess-court theater at school the day after a game. He knows this loss hit home for them.

Temple is enduring a tough stretch in its season, having lost six of its last seven games. The Owls (10-9, 2-5 American Athletic Conference) will look to turn it around on the road against UConn (10-9, 1-5) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

But after dealing with a dose of real life over the weekend, McKie gathered his players in practice on Monday and attempted to put their feelings on a difficult season into perspective.

“I said, ‘Guys, we get a chance to come in and play basketball every day,’” McKie said. “‘And think about this: One of the guys you idolized, who has tried to give to the game in other ways, will not be here to do that. So honor that.' "