Kobe Bryant, who was largely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players in history, has died in a helicopter crash according to reports.
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The 41-year-old NBA star’s 13-year-old daughter, who was travelling with Bryant, is also said to have died in the crash according to TMZ.
TMZ initially reported the news, and said Bryant was on board the helicopter along with nine others when it crashed at 10am local time near Calabasas in California.
There are no reported survivors.
“We received a call just before 10am this morning of an aircraft down in the Malibu area, right off of Las Vergenes, essentially Calabasas,” said Tony Imbrenda of the Los Angeles County fire department.
“Some folks were out here mountain biking this morning, they saw an aircraft in distress, they went down into the hillside. This was a helicopter, it’s been confirmed it was an S-76 Sikorsky helicopter and unfortunately there were no survivors.”
Bryant was travelling to the Mamba Sports Academy with his daughter for her basketball game. Gianna was expected to play in the game and Bryant was expected to coach.
“Individuals that saw the aircraft said it was coming down at a fairly significant rate of speed and impacted the ground on the hillside,” Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Tony Imbrenda told reporters.
Bryant played his entire, 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. He won five championships with the team and was named an All-Star on 18 occasions. He retired in 2016 as the NBA’s third-highest all-time scorer. He also won gold medals with Team USA at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Bryant was also accomplished off the court. In 2018 he won an Oscar for best animated short for a film called Dear Basketball, based on a poem he wrote about his retirement from the game.
He also made headlines in 2003 after he was arrested and accused of raping a teenager in at a hotel in Colorado. Bryant denied the allegations, saying the encounter had been consensual. The case was dropped after the alleged victim refused to testify at trial.
The NBA also released a statement, saying it was “devastated” by Byrant’s death.
“Words cannot express his impact on our Players, the NBA and the game of basketball,” the league said.
“This is a monumental loss for the entire basketball community and our hearts are quite simply broken.
“We send love and prayers out to his wife Vanessa and the entire family.”
Bryant is survived by his wife of 19 years, Vanessa. Together, they have four daughters; Gianna, Natalia and Bianca and their newborn Capri, born June 2019.
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