Podcast: On grief, and it being okay to cry

The Los Angeles Lakers — and their fans — are still mourning the tragic losses of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the seven other people who died with them when their helicopter crashed over the weekend, and amid all that, TNT produced one of the most astonishing hours of studio television that’s ever aired: They let Shaquille O’Neal, Jerry West and other analysts that knew Bryant on TV to cry and grieve along with the rest of us.

Hosts Alex Regla and Harrison Faigen spent the majority of the show discussing the stories they told, some new, and some just taking on a new level of poignancy, including West’s retelling of Kobe’s famous pre-draft workout, and his plea in trying to convince him to not join the Clippers — even after West had left the Lakers.

It’s clear West loved Bryant like a son, and Shaq shared a funny story about how far that love for Bryant and his game extended.

Harrison and Alex also talked about LeBron James’ touching social media post about Bryant, and the admirable manner in which the Lakers have handled an impossibly difficult and sad situation for the entire organization. Finally, they wrapped up the show by talking about Alex’s favorite Kobe story.

You can listen to the entire episode below, and for more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen, and Alex at @AlexmRegla.