[BenjiRoss]

As per news reports, Kobe Bryant and his daughter were among those killed in a helicopter crash on 26th January at California.
News updates on this link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/s...yant-dead.html

The retired Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., on Sunday.

Aftermath of the crash site:

https://youtu.be/6xLZd6u31xA

Quite shocked to hear of this personally even though I'm not an ardent NBA follower.
Ps: There are already a few fake videos being circulated as the Kobe Bryant crash. Please do not spread or share them without checking.
Mods please merge this with the old NBA thread if more appropriate.

[condor]

Shocking. Just cant believe it.

I moved to the Bay area in 2000, and Kobe had moved into the big-league. There used to be so much excitement, esp with the games against the Kings in the Western Conf.

Memories of friends sitting around the TV on Sunday rooting for teams. The way they used to rush to finish all work before the match starts, and then glued to the sofa till the games were over. It used to be such fun !


41 is too young to go :(

[GTO]

Very sad. God bless this over-achiever's soul.

Some information on the chopper for those unfamiliar:

Bryant favored the S-76B, Deetz said, which he compared to “a Cadillac, a limousine — it’s limo-esque.” The model is preferred by celebrities and known as comfortable and safe, he said. Its sister model, the S-76A, “is more like a work truck,” he said.

More here

[Hayek]

Really sad. Loss of a great sportsman, made doubly poignant by the death of his immensely talented 13 year old daughter and of course the other passengers.

Always thought that helicopters are unsafe only in India. But it seems like they are unsafe even in the US

[BlackMamba24]

Being an ardent basketball fan since childhood it’s a deep shock to entire basketball family. Has followed basketball since I began to play in my teens and still follow it like a child. A huge huge Kobe fan. Just saddened by the news.
RIP Legend. #Mamba Mentality#

[Miyata]

Very sad. Used to follow quite a few of the games he would play in. RIP.

According to this international helicopter safety foundation website, the US sees about 20 or so fatal helicopter accidents per year (over the last few years).

[neil.jericho]

Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has retired the number 24 on his team, in honor of Kobe.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Hayek

But it seems like they are unsafe even in the US

There was dense fog; so much so, that LAPD grounded their helicopters that morning since the minimum weather conditions for flying were not met.

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...-investigation

[The Rationalist]

The weather was bad and I don’t know how the copter was allowed to fly. As per reports the pilot had contacted control tower indicating trouble. Even though not a basketball fan, I used to watch Kobe’s exploits. Shows how fickle one’s life is after all. Hope the involved families gather courage to go through the ordeal.

[NPV]

Sad and Shocking to hear that Kobe is no more - he was a great athlete and basket ball player.

I wasn't a big fan/follower of basketball, especially the leagues outside India. All that changed in the late 90's and early 2000's. I was in the US during that period and started following NBA, those days LA Lakers had a great team with the likes of Kobe and Shaq O' Neal playing for them and I got hooked to watching the games during those seasons.
RIP Kobe, May God help the family recover from this shock and huge loss.

[GTO]

Very touching, very classy tributes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM8hcNb5ptQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwekVtzlZjU

[Thilak29]

Strangely, someone predicted this fatal outcome back in 2012.

https://twitter.com/dotNoso/status/268466325842694144

[//M]

Extremely tragic news !

Very heart warming and beautiful tributes across the globe.

Here's one from Ambience Mall in New Delhi, saw this in an Instagram post.

[BenjiRoss]

As expected the helicopter operating company Island Express Helicopters has been sued by Kobe Bryants wife for an undisclosed amount for operating inspite of dangerous weather.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51618161

[RM Motorsports]

TheFlightChannel recreates what exactly went wrong with flight N72EX carrying Kobe and why it crashed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCLNJLjitSs