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CALABASAS, Calif. \u2014 NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash on a steep hillside in dense morning fog in Southern California on Sunday, his sudden death at age 41 touching off an outpouring of grief for a star whose celebrity transcended basketball.<\/p>\n
The chopper went down in Calabasas, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Authorities said that nine people were aboard the helicopter and presumed dead. Bryant, an all-time basketball great who spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, was among the victims, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Bryant\u2019s 13-year-old daughter Gianna also was killed, a different person familiar with the case said.<\/p>\n
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Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva would not confirm the identities of the victims Sunday afternoon pending official word from the coroner.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod bless their souls,\u201d Villanueva said at a news conference.<\/p>\n
News of the charismatic superstar\u2019s death rocketed around the sports and entertainment worlds, with many taking to Twitter to register their shock, disbelief and anguish.<\/p>\n
\u201cWords can\u2019t describe the pain I am feeling. I loved Kobe \u2014 he was like a little brother to me,\u201d retired NBA great Michael Jordan said. \u201cWe used to talk often, and I will miss those conversations very much. He was a fierce competitor, one of the greats of the game and a creative force.\u201d<\/p>\n
NBA players were in tears during pregame warm-ups as crowds chanted \u201cKobe! Kobe!\u201d Tiger Woods was unaware of the news during his final round at Torrey Pines in San Diego when he started hearing the gallery yell \u201cDo it for Mamba,\u201d referring to Bryant by his nickname.<\/p>\n
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People were glued to their phones and TV screens all around the world as news of the crash spread and networks broke into programming with live coverage. A visibly shaken LeBron James wiped his eyes with tissues and walked away alone from the Lakers plane that had just landed in Southern California.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people gathered to mourn Bryant outside the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, where there is a statue of the retired Lakers legend. Mourners in number 24 jerseys mixed with those in fancy dress arriving at the downtown arena for Sunday evening\u2019s Grammy Awards.<\/p>\n
People carried flowers and chanted \u201cKobe!\u201d and \u201cMVP!\u201d under giant video screens showing Bryant\u2019s smiling face.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where we needed to be,\u201d said Naveen Cheerath, 31.<\/p>\n
Bryant retired in 2016 as the third-leading scorer in NBA history, finishing two decades with the Lakers as a prolific shot-maker with a sublime all-around game and a relentless competitive ethic. He held that spot in the league scoring ranks until Saturday night, when the Lakers\u2019 James passed him for third place during a game in Philadelphia, Bryant\u2019s hometown.<\/p>\n
\u201cContinuing to move the game forward (at)KingJames,\u201d Bryant wrote in his last tweet. \u201cMuch respect my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Bryant had one of the greatest careers in recent NBA history and became one of the game\u2019s most popular players as the face of the 16-time NBA champion Lakers franchise. He was the league MVP in 2008 and a two-time NBA scoring champion, and he earned 12 selections to the NBA\u2019s All-Defensive teams.<\/p>\n
He teamed with O\u2019Neal in a combustible partnership to lead the Lakers to consecutive NBA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no words to express the pain Im going through,\u201d O\u2019Neal tweeted. Sunday. \u201c(at)kobebryant I love u and u will be missed. \u2026 IM SICK RIGHT NOW.\u201d<\/p>\n
His Lakers tenure was marred by scandal, when in 2003, Bryant was accused of raping a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado resort. He said the two had consensual sex, and prosecutors later dropped the felony sexual assault charge at the request of the accuser. The woman later filed a civil suit against Bryant that was settled out of court.<\/p>\n
Bryant went on to win two more titles in 2009 and 2010, and retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final NBA game.<\/p>\n
After leaving the game, Bryant had more time to play coach to daughter Gianna, who had a budding basketball career of her own and, her father said, wanted to one day play in the WNBA. They were seen sitting courtside at a Brooklyn Nets game late last year, Bryant clearly passing along his wisdom to his daughter. He regularly showcased her talents on the court on social media.<\/p>\n
Bryant\u2019s death was felt particularly painfully in Los Angeles, where he was unquestionably the most popular athlete and one of the city\u2019s most beloved public figures. Hundreds of fans \u2014 many in Bryant jerseys and Lakers gear \u2014 spontaneously gathered at Staples Center and in the surrounding LA Live entertainment complex on Sunday, weeping and staring at video boards with Bryant\u2019s image.<\/p>\n
\u201cKobe Bryant was a giant who inspired, amazed, and thrilled people everywhere with his incomparable skill on the court \u2014 and awed us with his intellect and humility as a father, husband, creative genius, and ambassador for the game he loved. He will live forever in the heart of Los Angeles, and will be remembered through the ages as one of our greatest heroes,\u201d Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump tweeted condolences to Bryant\u2019s family, saying that \u201cdespite being one of the truly great basketball players of all time, (Bryant) was just getting started in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cause of the crash was unknown. Authorities earlier said five people were killed before raising the death toll to nine.<\/p>\n
Among those killed were John Altobelli, head coach of Southern California\u2019s Orange Coast College baseball team, his wife, Keri, and daughter, Alyssa, who played on the same team as Bryant\u2019s daughter, said his brother, Tony, who is the sports information director at the school.<\/p>\n
The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team of investigators to the site. The NTSB typically issues a preliminary report within about 10 days that will give a rough summary of what investigators have learned. A ruling on the cause can take a year or more.<\/p>\n
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Colin Storm was in his living room in Calabasas when he heard what sounded to him like a low-flying airplane or helicopter.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u00cft was very foggy so we couldn\u2019t see anything,\u201d he said. \u201cBut then we heard some sputtering, and then a boom.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fog cleared a bit, and Storm could see smoke rising from the hillside in front of his home.<\/p>\n
Firefighters hiked in with medical equipment and hoses, and medical personnel rappelled to the site from a helicopter, but found no survivors, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said.<\/p>\n
Firefighters worked to douse flames that spread through about a quarter acre (.10 hectares) of dry brush, Osby said.<\/p>\n
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the downed chopper was a Sikorsky S-76.<\/p>\n
Among other things, investigators will look at the pilot\u2019s history, the chopper\u2019s maintenance history, and the records of its owner and operator, NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe S-76 is a pretty expensive, sophisticated helicopter. \u2026 It\u2019s certainly a quality helicopter,\u201d said Justin Green, an aviation attorney in New York who flew helicopters in the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n
Green believes weather may have contributed to the crash. Pilots can become disoriented in bad weather, losing track of which direction is up. Green said a pilot flying an S-76 would be instrument-rated, meaning they could fly the helicopter without relying on visual cues from outside.<\/p>\n
Along with his work boosting women\u2019s sports, Bryant opened a production company and entered the entertainment field in retirement. He won an Academy Award in 2018 for his contributions to \u201cDear Basketball,\u201d an animated short about his relationship to the game. He also produced content for ESPN.<\/p>\n
Associated Press staffers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, David Koenig in Dallas, Mark J. Terrill and John Antczak in Calabasas, AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami, and Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Angeles and pro basketball, an outpouring of grief<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[13,28,346,2343],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-74553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-sports","tag-sports-group"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74553"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=74553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}