One of the greatest basketball players and master scorers of all time Kobe Bryant was on the plane that crashed on Sunday in Calabasas, California. Bryant was 41.
There were 9 people on board and there are no survivors.
Sadly, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna also died in the crash.
The father and daughter were travelling to an AAU basketball game when the helicopter crashed.
The NBA family is devastated by the passing of Kobe and his daughter Gianna, as well as the whole world.
The NBA commissioner Adam Silver sent their condolences to his wife Vanessa and their family, as well as the Lakers organization and the whole sports world.
Kobe Bryant, the One-of-a-Kind Mamba
The Calabasas city of around 25,000 citizens is located in the Santa Monica Mountains, around 30 miles northwest of downtown LA.
Kobe retired 4 years ago as a 5-time NBA champion, 11-time All-NBA first-team selection, 2008 MVP, two-time Finals MVP, 18-times All-Star, and four-time All Star MVP.
He spent a 20-year career with the LA Lakers and won golden medals with USA Basketball at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the London Olympics in 2012.
However, his career wasn’t without controversy- he was accused of sexual assault in Colorado back in 2003; however, the prosecutors dropped the case after the accuser refused to testify.
Active Life after Retirement
Even though he retired, he was active in numerous other projects.
Namely, in 2018, he won an Oscar for his animated short film Dear Basketball and opened up the Mamba Sports Academy facility for training and assisting athletes in their improvement and overseeing sports fantasy children’s books.
He once said that you got to do what you love to do and he loved telling stories and inspiring children or giving them the needed tools to help them.
With his teammate Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers had one of the greatest times in the late 90s and early 2000s and won three consecutive championships with Phil Jackson as coach.
But, the Bryant and O’Neal relationship wasn’t always smooth so the Lakers eventually traded O’Neal.
Late in his career, Bryant was slowed down by injuries, including a torn Achilles, and never reached the finals after 2010.
The Stellar Bryant- Best Basketball Player of His Generation
This extraordinary basketball player will be remembered for his outstanding game on the court, but also for his inspiration of people worldwide to pick up a basketball.
He was nicknamed the Black Mamba– he gave himself this nickname after he watched the Kill Bill movie in which the snake, known for its aggressiveness and agility, was used as a code name for an assassin.
He thought this was quite awesome and a real description of what he wanted his basketball game to be.
Bryant, the Loving Husband & Father & Friend & an Idol
In 2001, Bryant married Vanessa Laine and had four daughters, Natalia, Gianna, Bianka, and Capri.
Michael Jordan wrote ‘l LOVED Kobe-he was like a brother to me’ whereas former US president Barack Obama called him ‘a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act’.
His former rival teammate Shaq said that ‘there’s no words to express the pain I’m going through now with this tragic and sad moment of losing my friend, my brother, my partner in winning championships, my dude and my homie’.
A mural tribute appeared at LA commemorating his final game.
Sources:
