Reports came pouring in early Sunday afternoon that Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash. There was a frenzy of disbelief on Twitter as fans, celebrities and athletes caught wind of the news and expressed their condolences about Bryant’s sudden unexpected passing.
According to the LA Times, the crash occurred on Jan. 26 shortly before 10 a.m. near Las Virgenes Road in California. Bryant was one of nine killed in the crash including his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.
Bryant played all 20 years of his professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers, during which time he was an 18-time All-Star and five-time NBA champion. He won an MVP in 2008 and was the NBA Finals MVP in 2009 and 2010. He finished his career with 33,643 points, 7,047 rebounds and 6,306 assists and is expected to be elected into the Hall of Fame in 2021.
Bryant is survived by his wife, Vanessa, and their three surviving children: Natalia (17 years old), Bianka (3 years old) and Capri Kobe Bryant who is less than a year old.
I was at home when I heard the news, around 8pm GMT. I’d just sat down on the sofa for a rest and opened the Instagram app to see a photo of Kobe Bryant and something like ‘RIP to the greatest’ from another NBA player. I was a bit confused, but didn’t want to make any assumptions to opened BBC News where the headline was ‘NBA Legend Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash’.
It’s the first time in my life that I’ve been saddened to the brink of tears on hearing of the death of somebody I never met.
When I was younger a family friend got me into basketball. It’s not that big in the UK. At the time Michael Jordan was at his prime and I loved watching Michael play. Then I remember seeing a young kid - who probably looked the same age as me at the time, ~13 - playing for the LA Lakers and that was it, from that moment on I was a Lakers and Kobe fan.
Since my mid-teens he’s been my idol. He was the greatest player ever to me, and really seems to be a good guy away from the game too.