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| Gone too soon. Kobe Bryant and his daughter died in a helicopter crash. |
The 41-year old retired basketball star and media mogul death was confirmed by celebrity gossip agitator TMZ and TMZ Sports.
The gossip agitator reported that Bryant was traveling with four other people in his private helicopter when it crashed, killing everyone on board.
The cause of the crash will be under investigation by the NTSC and California State Highway Patrol.
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| Kobe with his wife Vanessa. |
Reports are that basketball great Kobe Bryant and three others have been killed in a helicopter crash in California. That is terrible news!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2020
Bryant is survived by wife Vanessa and his four daughters, Gianna, Natalia, Bianca and Capri.
It was confirmed that daughter Gianna, 13 passed away as well.
Bryant's career with the NBA started at age 18 after graduating from Lower Merion High School.
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| Kobe and Shaq weren't the best of friends during their stint with the Lakers. |
Kobe was born in Philadelphia to former NBA star Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant. He was the youngest of three children and only son. He was named after Kobe, a famous beef of Japan. He was known as Bean to his family. Bryant traveled with his family to Italy where he learned Italian at an early age. He was fond of Reggio Emilia, which he considered a hometown. He was fond of basketball. He wanted to be like his dad and join the NBA. He would end up moving back to the United States and play basketball in the summer league. He also wanted to play soccer and was a fan of A.C. Milan. When his dad retired from basketball in 1991, his family moved back to the states.
He earned national recognition at Lower merion in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. He was on the varsity team as a freshman. He was considered an All-American during his time. He turned Lower Merion into a basketball champions. He would be hearing calls from the major colleges.
He had opportunities to play for Michigan, North Carolina and Villanova. He said bypassed colleges and went straight into the NBA. He signed to the NBA at 17 years old with his parents co-signature.
When he turned 18, he was able to sign on his own and took a rookie contract of $3.5 million.
Bryant debuted in the Summer Pro League in Long Beach scoring 25 points in front of a standing-room crowd.
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| Kobe with his family at the ceremony of his jersey being retired. |
Standing at 6 feat and 6 inches tall Kobe was a shooting guard. He was called the most dangerous scorers in the league. He was honored to be a legend like "Jordan."
During his time with the Lakers, he had a biter rivalry with Shaquille O'Neal. The two were able to win three consecutive NBA championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The Three-Peat as they call it helped bring them into greatness. But it was a biter tenure between the two.
Shaq couldn't stand Bryant because of his "immaturity." The two would often clash on the court and criticize their playing styles. The two would later patch up their feud after O'Neal retired in 2011.
He was a shooting guard and 5x NBA champion. He was the NBA Most Valuable Player and 18x NBA All-Star. He has a legendary record of being an iconic basketball star.
He has scored 33,643 and has a shooting average of 25.0.
He has won two Gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Beijing (2008) and London (2012).
He also had a FIBA Americas Championship in 2007.
He also won an Academy Award for Best Animate Short Film for his film Dear Basketball.
He also had a rap single called, K.O.B.E. with Tyra Banks singing the hook of the song.
Bryant was an iconic face in the league.
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| His infamous mugshot after he was accused of sexual assault. |
He ended up getting caught up in a sex assault complaint from a 19-year old hotel employee at a ski resort in Colorado. He was at the The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Eagle County in advance of undergoing a knee surgery. The accuser said that Bryant raped her in his hotel room the night before he was supposed to have surgery. Bryant admitted he cheated on Vanessa but denied raping her.
The accusation placed damages on his "good guy" image. McDonald's and Nutella dropped him.
Sales for his jersey dropped and feminist groups started a burn.
When the trial was proceeding, the accuser refused to testify at the trial. The accuser did file a lawsuit against Kobe and they settled out of court.
Bryant did apologize to his wife, his children, his team and the accuser.
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| The Greatest of All Time. |
He was the fifth highest paid sports star in the world behind Floyd Mayweather, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James and Lionel Messi.
Kobe established his own name brand clothing and took investment in Bodyarmor SuperDrink.
He also was an ambassador for the After-School All-Stars.
He also wrote a book in 2018. His book The Mamba Mentality: How I Play, with photographs and afterword by Andrew D. Bernstein, an introduction by Phil Jackson, his mentor and former coach.
His number will eventually be retired and the Lakers will honor him upon their next game.
Me and LeReyna will keep up on the developments.
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