Sports legend and daughter aged 13 die in helicopter crash
Fireball horror: Basketball superstars Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna
BASKETBALL legend Kobe Bryant died yesterday aged 41 when his helicopter crashed near Los Angeles.
One of his four daughters, 13-year-old Gianna, was also killed, along with six other passengers and the pilot.
Bryant, who spent his entire career with the LA Lakers, was one of basketball’s wealthiest and most famous players.
His celebrity friends included rapper Jay- Z and footballer David Beckham, whom he met when the former England captain moved to the US in 2007 to play for LA Galaxy.
Bryant’s helicopter crashed in flames in hills near Calabasas, California, about 20 miles from Los Angeles just before 10am. The cause was being investigated last night. Witnesses reported hearing the Sikorsky S- 76’ s engine sputtering.
The 6ft 6in player, who is thought to have earned nearly £600million during his 20-year career, regularly flew by helicopter to games but it is unclear where yesterday’s flight departed from or where it was travelling to. He is survived by his wife Vanessa, whom he married in 2001, and their daughters Natalia and Bianca and baby Capri – born last June.
The couple nearly split in 2011, when Mrs Bryant filed for divorce, but they announced in early 2013 that they had been reconciled.
America was plunged into shock and disbelief yesterday when news emerged of the crash.
Former US president Barack Obama said the deaths were ‘unthinkable’. ‘Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act,’ Mr Obama tweeted.
‘To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents.’
Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt posted a tribute which said: ‘Still can’t believe’ alongside a photo of him and Bryant at the London 2012 games. Actor Idris Elba tweeted: ‘Kobe is G. Will always be remembered @kobebryant A Sad day.’
Bryant and Beckham became friends when the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star spent five years with LA Galaxy towards the end of his career.
Beckham took his eldest son, Brooklyn, to see Bryant’s final NBA game for the LA Lakers in April 2016. Jay-Z and actor Jack Nicholson were also in the crowd for the farewell.
Bryant, whose father was also an NBA player, was a legend of modern basketball. He was born
‘Legend on the court’
in Philadelphia in 1978 and named Kobe after his parents saw the name, a form of prized Japanese beef, on a menu. He was given the middle name Bean after his father’s nickname, Jellybean. He was drafted from high school by the Lakers in 1996.
A shooting guard, he was the fourth highest points scorer in NBA history. He won five NBA championships, was top scorer twice and was named the competition’s Most Valuable Player in 2008.
Bryant was the highest paid player in the NBA for his final six seasons. His team retired both of his numbers, 8 and 24, when he gave up playing – the only player in Lakers history to be honoured that way. He twice won gold medals at the Olympics, winning the basketball competition with the US team in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012.
Outside of sport Bryant also won an Oscar in 2018 for his animated short film Dear Basketball. The five-minute film is based on the letter that Bryant published in November 2015 to announce his retirement from basketball.
He started his own production company, Kobe Studios, after retiring and sought out advice from Oprah Winfrey.
In 2003 Bryant had faced a rape allegation. A 19-year- old hotel employee in Colorado claimed he had assaulted her.
Bryant admitted having an adulterous encounter with the woman but denied any crime, saying the sex was consensual. The case was dropped the following year and a subsequent civil suit was settled out of court.