The basketball community is mourning former NBA player and Michigan State Spartan Adreian Payne, who was shot and killed Monday morning in Florida.
Warriors star Draymond Green, a former Spartans teammate with Payne for two seasons, is “crushed” over the loss of the 31-year-old, Golden State coach Steve Kerr said.
“They were the best of friends,” Kerr said Monday. “We’re thinking of them today. Feeling a lot of grief.”
Green tweeted four broken heart emojis after the news broke of Payne’s death.
Michigan State legend and Michigan native Magic Johnson tweeted that he and wife Cookie were “heartbroken” by the news.
“Our prayers and thoughts are with his family and Spartan Nation!,” Johnson wrote. “Adreian will be sorely missed.”
NBA stars and fellow Michigan State alumni — Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies), Miles Bridges (Suns), and Gary Harris — tweeted their condolences.
“RIP AP,” Jackson tweeted with a crying face and prayer hand emojis.
Bridges wrote, “Rest up AP,” with a broken heart emoji.
Harris tweeted a heart emoji, writing, “AP5.” Bulls All-Star Zach Lavine added, “Damn man… rest up AP,” in a tweet, adding prayer hand emojis.
Payne was shot in a townhome community in the Econ Landing neighborhood at 1:30 a.m. in Florida, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office confirmed. He was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead.
The suspected shooter, Lawrence Dority, 29, remained on the scene and cooperated with authorities. Dority was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder.
Payne was selected with the No. 15 pick by the Hawks in the 2014 NBA Draft, before short stints playing for the the Timberwolves and Magic.
Following his NBA departure after the 2017-18 season, Payne played internationally in Greece, China and Lithuania. All of his foreign teams tweeted condolences after the news of his death.