MIAMI _ This is when you scrap book, when you pull together the moments, the memories that linger, the ones that mute the grief, ease the shock.
It is what Dwyane Wade did with his family on Sunday, as he explained, in a moment both personal and public, during an Instagram video posted hours after Kobe Bryant was killed along with his 13-year-daugher in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif.
"My family and I have been sharing Kobe stories," the retired icon Miami Heat guard said. "We have so many moments that he's given us. I'm so thankful for those moments. I'm thankful for those moments, man.
"He was one of my favorite players. I got to have a relationship, a friendship. Gonna miss the friendship."
For 13 seasons, from when Wade entered the NBA with the Miami Heat in 2003-04 until Bryant retired with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2015-16, the two chased each other on the court as well as the shadow of Michael Jordan, for that No. 2 spot in the league's lineage of shooting guards.
"I said it many times, when Kobe retired from the game of basketball, he left a hole in the game of basketball," Wade said amid his heartache. "He left a hole in my wanting to play.
"When I came in the league, I chased him. That's who I chased. I wanted to be respected by him. And once I reached that level, I knew I did something."
Through it all, there never was a single Wade-Bryant playoff game, the Heat up when the Lakers were down, and vice versa. At one point, Wade appropriated Shaquille O'Neal for a championship of his own, after Bryant had secured three Shaq-assisted titles.
The competition was real.
And personal.
Like March 21, 2011, when the Lakers lost 94-88 at AmericanAirlines Arena and Bryant, long after teammates had disappeared into the South Florida night, returned to the main court at AmericanAirlines Arena in the wake of an 8-of-21 shooting performance and shot over and over and over, for more than an hour, cleanup staff serenaded by swishes.
On a night he outscored Wade 24-20.
Or the Heat-Lakers game at Staple Centers in the wake of Wade breaking Bryant's nose during the 2012 All-Star Game a week earlier, when 33 Bryant points and a Lakers win followed.
Or when, on Nov. 9, 2015, Wade arrived for a late-night soak in the ice tub in the Heat's training room, an AmericanAirlines Arena area so off limits that a thumbprint controls access.
And there, already in the tub, sat Bryant, granted access by Pat Riley, permission Wade could not recall previously granted to an opposing player.
Bryant asked Wade if his children would be attending the next night's game. Wade said not on a school night. Bryant said to make an exception. Postgame family photos followed, in what proved to be Bryant's last visit as a Laker, albeit sidelined that night.
Later that season, the Heat and Wade would visit Staples Center for what turned into a two-point overtime loss, the final time the court would be shared with Bryant.
"I love him. He was a vicious competitor. He's vicious. He's mean," Bryant said afterward. "And we can have those type of battles and afterward and have a conversation and lace 'em up and go right back at it."
Now here was Wade on Sunday, amid unfathomable anguish, reaching for the largest of social-media audiences, recalling those moments and so much more. Sharing.
Because even in sorrow ... respect, even adulation.
"Kobe, thank you man," Wade said. "Thank you for all the memories. There were a lot of good ones. And these tears that we're crying, we're going to miss you. And it's not leaving today, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now. We'll forever, forever miss you man.
"You are a legend. You are our icon. You are a father. You are a husband. You're a son. You're a brother. You're a friend. Thank you for being my friend. I love you brother."
