Former NBA player Kobe Bryant is dead, following a helicopter crash in Calabasas, CA. The Los Angeles Times reported that a helicopter...
Former NBA player Kobe Bryant is dead, following a helicopter crash in Calabasas, CA. The Los Angeles Times reported that a helicopter crashed into a hillside above the city of Calabasas and that multiple fatalities were reported earlier in the day — a report confirmed by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office. TMZ first confirmed Bryant was onboard and one of several passengers who were killed.
Bryant was 41. He is survived by his wife, Vanessa, and their four daughters.
The crash occurred just before 10 a.m. PT. A resulting brushfire made it difficult for emergency personnel to get to the craft. The exact number of deaths due to the crash is still unclear. Refinery29 reached out to Bryant’s representative for comment.
Bryant joined the NBA right out of high school in 1996. He held the record as the youngest NBA player to start a game in 1997 and for the second highest number of points scored in a game in NBA history in 2006. In his career, Bryant was a member of five NBA championship winning teams, won two Olympic gold medals, and was on the NBA All-Star team 17 times. Bryant passed a record held by Michael Jordan on the NBA’s all-time scoring list in 2014.
Bryant retired from basketball in 2016. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called him “one of the greatest players in the history of our game.”
His goodbye letter to the sport, “Dear Basketball,” became a short animated film for which Bryant won an Oscar in 2018.
Bryant’s life wasn’t without scandal. In 2003, he was charged with sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman who worked in a Colorado hotel. He denied the accusation and the case was eventually dropped when his accuser refused to testify against him in court.
This is a developing news story, additional information will be added as it becomes available.
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