Kobe Bryant kiled with 8 others in helicopter crash. The legendary basketball star Kobe Bryant died on January 26 at the age of 41. He was one of nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles, California. Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna was also among those killed. Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers for 20 years. His death shocked Los Angeles and the sports world.
The helicopter took off near Bryant's home in Orange County, California. The crash occurred just before 10 a.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Allen Kenitzer works for a government agency that manages air transportation. He said his agency and others were investigating the helicopter crash.
Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father Joe Bryant was also an NBA player. Bryant was named "Kobe" after the city in Japan.
Bryant excelled at Lower Merion High in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. When he was a senior in high school, he won many national awards for basketball. However, he decided to skip college and play professional basketball in the NBA. In 1996, Bryant started his career with the Lakers, his favorite team. Bryant was just 17 years old at the time, so his parents had to sign his NBA contract because he wasn't a legal adult yet.
In 1996, Bryant played his first NBA game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. At the time, he was the youngest player ever to appear in an NBA game. He started in only a handful of games during his first season. He got more playing time as the season progressed, allowing him to show off his skills.
Image 2. Kobe Bryant walks out to center court during his jersey retirement ceremony at halftime of a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center on December 18, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Harry How/Getty Images
However, Bryant's real breakout came in the 1998-1999 season. That season, he started in every single game.
Bryant and Lakers player Shaquille O'Neal helped lead the Lakers to three back-to-back NBA championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. However, the pair did not get along. Bryant said he and O'Neal were great as individuals, but did not work so well together on the same team.
In the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons, the Lakers missed their shot at another NBA title. Making matters worse, Bryant was arrested in July 2003 after being accused of sexual assault.
The charges were eventually dropped, but Bryant's reputation took a hit.
In the 2005-2006 season, Bryant achieved a career-best average of 35.4 points per game. In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high of 81 points in one game, the second-highest in NBA history. Though Bryant was doing well, the team struggled to make the finals.
Washington Wizards player Gilbert Arenas once described Bryant as the NBA's top player. He said Bryant was a fierce competitor who was feared by other NBA players.
Bryant was named the NBA's MVP in the 2007-2008 season. The Lakers nearly won the national championship in 2008. Later that year, Bryant won a gold medal with the U.S. team at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
Image 3. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade of the United States compete against Argentina during a men's semifinal basketball game at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium on Day 14 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
In 2009 and 2010, Bryant led the Lakers to back-to-back NBA titles. He was named the NBA Finals MVP both years as the team once again climbed to the top of the NBA.
The Lakers' championship run came to an end in 2011. Bryant was suffering from different injuries that later caused him to miss much of the 2013 and 2014 seasons. In 2014, the Lakers missed the playoffs for only the second time since Bryant joined the team.
Bryant fell short of his goal to win a sixth NBA title. However, he did become the youngest player in NBA history to score 27,000 points during his career.
Bryant retired from the NBA in 2016, but began a new career in Hollywood.
In 2018, he won an Oscar along with director Glen Keane for the animated short film "Dear Basketball." The night before Bryant died, he watched as Laker LeBron James took Bryant's third place spot on the NBA's all-time scoring list. James had scored 33,655 points in his career. Bryant's previous record was 33,643 points.
Bryant is survived by his wife, Vanessa, and three other daughters, Natalia, Bianka and Capri.
Also on board the helicopter were baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri and their basketball-playing daughter Alyssa. Sarah Chester and her daughter, Payton were killed. Christina Mauser was a basketball coach at Bryant's Mamba Academy. She and pilot Ara Zobayan were also killed in the crash.