Paul George, Clippers Players Honor Kobe Bryant at Staples Center

The Los Angeles Clippers paid tribute to Kobe Bryant on Thursday night ahead of their matchup with the Sacramento Kings in the first game played at the Staples Center since the helicopter crash Sunday that killed Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others. 

According to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, the Clippers "wore warm-up shirts with a 'KB24' logo on the front and his Nos. 8 and 24 on the back during pregame," while the coaching staff wore Kobe's signature Nike shoes and donned purple ties. 

"The best way if you want to honor Kobe, and we talked about this even on Sunday, is to go win," Rivers said before Thursday's game. "Not just win tonight, but win it. So that's our journey. It was already our journey, and then this happens, and I think our guys understand if you really want to salute him, he made a lot of sacrifices to be a winner, Kobe did."

The Staples Center marquee also read "REST IN PEACE KOBE AND GIGI," and the Clippers played a pregame tribute video to Bryant and the victims of the helicopter crash narrated by Paul George.

Along with the Bryants, Sarah and Payton Chester; John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli; Christina Mauser; and Ara Zobayan also died in the crash.

In the video tribute played before the game, George called the Staples Center "the house that Kobe Bryant built" and said the formers Lakers superstar was "as synonymous with Southern California as the sunshine."

He added that Bryant "arrived in L.A. a prodigy, grew into a phenomenon, and retired a local institution and a national icon."

A number of Clippers spoke about Bryant and what he meant to them earlier Thursday.

"It's sad every day," Kawhi Leonard told Jovan Buha of The Athletic. "You know, you kind of feel like life isn't real once you start seeing these little monuments or the pictures that people are putting up with his face and the year he was born and the year he died. It doesn't seem real. It just seems like you're in a movie or something. And you know, you just want to wake up."

George added that Bryant was his "Michael Jordan" and favorite player growing up.

"Growing up as a SoCal kid he was what everybody, every kid wanted to be here. I started playing basketball because of Kobe. I attacked the game the way he played both ends. I took so many things away from him, and he made a big impression on me as a kid, just about how to go about playing the game," he said.