Kobe Bryant, daughter, others killed in California. helicopter crash
607 views
Kobe Bryant, 41, the legendary basketball star who spent 20 years with the Lakers, was killed when the helicopter he was traveling in crashed and burst into flames Sunday morning amid foggy conditions in the hills above Calabasas, sources told the Los Angeles Times.
His daughter Gianna, 13, was also on board and died along with seven others, authorities said. NBA officials confirmed that Bryant and his daughter were on the aircraft, and Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said nine people were on board — a pilot and eight passengers. He would not confirm who had died until all the next of kin are notified, he said.
Bryant’s death stunned Los Angeles and the sports world, which mourned one of basketball’s greatest players. Sources said the helicopter took off from Orange County, where Bryant lived.
The crash occurred shortly before 10 a.m. near Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street in Calabasas. Authorities received a 911 call of “a potential helicopter down and a brush fire” at 9:47 a.m., and firefighters arrived on the scene to find that the crash had ignited a quarter-acre brush fire in steep terrain, said L.A. County Fire Chief Daryl Osby. Responders included 56 fire personnel — firefighters, a helicopter with paramedics, hand crews — and sheriff’s deputies.
“Our firefighters hiked into the accident site with their medical equipment and hose lines to extinguish the stubborn fire as it included the brush fire … and the helicopter,” Osby said during a news conference Sunday afternoon. “The fire also included magnesium, which is very hard for firefighters to extinguish because magnesium reacts with oxygen and water.”
Firefighter-paramedics were hoisted into the crash zone early on to look for survivors, Osby said. All nine people on board had died, Villanueva said at the news conference. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, and the Los Angeles County coroner’s office is working on retrieving the bodies and identifying the victims.
Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli was among those who died in the crash, the college confirmed in a news statement. As a mentor he helped students earn scholarships to play at four-year colleges and treated players like family, the statement said.
“Coach Altobelli was a giant on our campus – a beloved teacher, coach, colleague and friend. This is a tremendous loss for our campus community,” OCC President Angelica Suarez said in a news statement.
The helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76B built in 1991, departed John Wayne Airport at 9:06 a.m. Sunday, according to publicly available flight records. The chopper passed over Boyle Heights, near Dodger Stadium, and circled over Glendale during the flight.
Bryant was born on Aug. 23, 1978, to former NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant and Pamela Cox in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Bryant lived in Italy for eight years while his father played in the Italian Professional Basketball League. He spoke Italian fluently.
He started playing basketball at a very early age while in Italy and, in fact, credited his development as a player to the training there. After moving back to the U.S. in 1991, Kobe joined the Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia and started turning heads as a basketball player.
In high school, he was also a member of a rap group CHEIZAW, named after the Chi Sah gang in the martial arts film “Kid with the Golden Arm.”
He led his school to four straight state championships and was especially impressive during his senior year in 1995, earning several awards.
At the age of 17, he was picked as the 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA draft in 1996, but was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a prior arrangement
He was impressive after primarily coming off the bench in his first two seasons with the Lakers. In 1998, he became the youngest All-Star starter in NBA history at the age of 19.
Bryant became one of the top shooting guards in the league after Phil Jackson took over the Lakers in 1999. His partnership with Shaquille O’Neal (R) powered the franchise to three consecutive NBA championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
He married Vanessa Laine in April 2001. The couple would have four daughters between 2003 and 2019.
Marketers had queued up to sign him from an early age. In 1996-97, he signed a six-year contract with Adidas, but switched over to Nike during the 2002-03 season. He had also been associated with Coca Cola and McDonald’s.
Bryant was embroiled in a controversy in 2003 when he was charged with sexual assault on a 19-year-old female hotel worker in Colorado. The case was dismissed in 2004 and Bryant later settled the lawsuit out of court.
In 2006, he scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors – the second-highest number of points scored by any player in an NBA game.
He became the youngest player (29 years, 122 days) to score 20,000 career points during the 2007 season. This record was broken by LeBron James (L) in 2013.
He was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2008. He also won the MVP award for Finals in 2009 and 2010.
He collected two more NBA titles in 2009 and 2010, leading his team to the championship.
Songs have also been written about him. In 2009, Lil Wayne released a track titled “Kobe Bryant,” and rapper Sho Baraka came out with “Kobe Bryant On’em” in 2010.
Outside of the NBA, Bryant earned glory at the Olympics. Representing Team USA, he won the gold medal in men’s basketball at both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics.
In 2011, he made his 13th NBA All-Star appearance and joined Bob Pettit as the only other player to win four All-Star Game MVP trophies.
At 34 years and 104 days, in 2012, he became the youngest player in league history to score 30,000 career points. This record was broken by LeBron James in 2018.
He has also won a number of public and fan awards, like being named in the list of “35 Greatest McDonald’s All-Americans” in 2012.
His wife Vanessa filed for divorce in 2011 citing irreconcilable differences, but the two decided against a separation two years later.
In November 2013, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Lakers worth $48.5 million.
Late in 2014, he surpassed Michael Jordan on the all-time NBA scorer’s list. He also became one of only four players in the league’s history to score 32,000 points. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Jordan are the other three.
Bryant retired from the NBA after the 2015-16 season, having spent a record-setting 20 years.
Though he was sidelined with injuries for much of the season, Bryant walked into the basketball court for the final time on April 13, 2016. He got a fairy-tale ending to his career, as he scored 60 points in his final game, helping the Lakers to a 101-96 victory against the Utah Jazz.
Off the court, in 2007, Bryant was an ambassador for the non-profit After-School All-Stars, which provides after-school programs to children in 13 U.S. cities. In 2009, he started his own charity in partnership with the Chinese government-backed Soong Ching Ling Foundation.
In December 2017, the Lakers paid tribute to Bryant as they retired his jersey numbers, No. 8 and No. 24.
At the 2018 Academy Awards, Bryant shared the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for “Dear Basketball” with Glen Keane. The film was based on a poem of the same name he had written in 2015.
In October 2018, Bryant published his book, “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” in which he shared his vast knowledge and understanding of basketball. The book’s name reflected on the nickname Bryant had created for himself – “Black Mamba.”
On Jan. 26, 2020, Bryant and his daughter Gianna, 13, (R) were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas. Bryant was 41. Tributes poured in from all corners of the world. Sportspersons, celebrities and politicians, including U.S. President Donald Trump and former U.S. President Barack Obama, mourned his death.
The National Transportation Safety Board database does not show any prior incidents or accidents for this aircraft. The helicopter is registered to the Fillmore-based Island Express Holding Corp., according to the California secretary of state’s business database. The helicopter’s manufacturer, Sikorsky, said in a statement Sunday that it is cooperating with the investigation.
Jerry Kocharian was standing outside the Church in the Canyon drinking coffee when he heard a helicopter that was flying unusually low and struggling.
“It [didn’t] sound right and it was real low. I saw it falling and spluttering. But it was hard to make out as it was so foggy,” Kocharian said. The helicopter vanished into a cloud of fog and then there was a boom.
“There was a big fireball,” he said. “No one could survive that.”
Across the country Sunday, public figures, former teammates and fans alike mourned the basketball star.
“Particularly when he was young, to be a part of his life and to watch his career grow, watch him grow, this is one of the most tragic days of my life,” said fellow Lakers legend Jerry West, 81.
West was the general manager for the Lakers in 1996 and maneuvered Bryant’s immediate trade to the Lakers when he was drafted.
“I know somewhere along the way I guess I’ll come to grips with it. But now I have all these different emotions regarding him. The things I watched him do on the basketball court, but more importantly … he was making a difference off the court. It’s so unexplainable. This is going to take a long time for me.”
“Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act,” former President Obama tweeted. “To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents. Michelle and I send love and prayers to Vanessa and the entire Bryant family on an unthinkable day.”
It was a sad and surreal scene inside Staples Center around noon Sunday, where a dress rehearsal for the Grammy Awards was taking place, as word of Bryant’s death swept through the arena. Crews worked quickly to move Bryant’s rafter jerseys side by side and masked the other retired jerseys with curtains. By 1 p.m., the switch had been made. No. 8 and No. 24 were side by side, illuminated by floodlights.
News of the crash dominated the rehearsal. Ariana Grande had just finished a lavish performance, and Billie Eilish was about to perform an acoustic song with her brother. But all eyes were on the jerseys at the other end of the floor, as staff and observers watched in disbelief.
Within half an hour of the news breaking, a Barnes & Noble in Orange had sold out of all photo books featuring the former NBA star.
“It’s kind of morose, but people just came in 10 or 15 minutes after we found out about it, “ said Armando Romero, a bookseller at the cash register. He said his general manager announced Bryant’s death to the employees over their wireless headsets. “We knew right away people would be coming.”
Minutes later, Romero said, he received phone calls from customers, asking to put Bryant-related books on hold.
At the Fullerton Mexican restaurant El Camino Real, the staff was “really sad,” said manager Rodolfo Garcia. Bryant patronized the restaurant for 20 years with his wife, a Fullerton native. If he couldn’t come in person, Bryant would have friends get big orders to take back to his Newport Coast home.
“He liked the carnitas and flan,” Garcia said, over the thud of a butcher breaking down carne asada for tacos. “He loved this place because people treated him like a normal person. Kobe would just stand in line, like anyone else. He’d tell us, ‘Don’t treat me like a star; I’m just a customer here.’ ” Bryant was born in Philadelphia. His father, Joe, played eight seasons in the 1970s and ’80s for the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers and, in his last stop, the Houston Rockets under then-coach Del Harris. A lighthearted, 6-foot-10 stringbean who went by his Philadelphia playground nickname, Jellybean, Joe Bryant played college ball at La Salle and married Pam Cox, the sister of a starting guard at Villanova. They named their first son Kobe, after the city in Japan.
Bryant excelled at Lower Merion High in Ardmore, Pa., near Philadelphia, winning numerous national awards as a senior before announcing his intention to skip college and enter the NBA draft. He was selected 13th overall by Charlotte in 1996, but the Lakers had already worked out a deal with the Hornets to acquire Bryant before his selection.
Bryant impressed Lakers general manager Jerry West during a pre-draft workout session in Los Angeles. Less than three weeks later, the Lakers traded starting center Vlade Divac to the Hornets in exchange for Bryant’s rights. Bryant, whose favorite team growing up was the Lakers, had to have his parents co-sign his NBA contract because he was 17 years old.
The 6-foot-6 guard made his pro debut in the 1996-97 season opener against Minnesota; at the time he was the youngest player to appear in an NBA game. He started in only a handful of games during his rookie season, coming off the bench in support of Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones. However, Harris played him more as the season progressed, allowing Bryant to showcase the skills that made him a top candidate for rookie of the year. Those skills were also on display when Bryant won the 1997 NBA slam dunk competition.
Bryant continued to improve during his sophomore season in the league, averaging 15.4 points per game. But his breakout came in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season when he started in all 50 games after the Lakers traded away Van Exel and Jones.
Bryant and leading scorer Shaquille O’Neal quickly morphed into one of the most lethal scoring and defensive combinations in the league. Together, with coach Phil Jackson guiding them, they led the Lakers to three consecutive championships (2000-02) as Bryant began to cement his place as the game’s top player.
“There’s no words to express the pain I’m going through with this tragedy of loosing my neice Gigi & my brother,” O’Neal tweeted Sunday. “I love u and u will be missed. My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW.”
Despite coming together to win some of the most closely fought playoff series in Lakers history, friction started to develop between Bryant and O’Neal. Tension between the two stars continued to build during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons as the Lakers failed to capitalize on their status as top contenders for the NBA title. Making matters worse, Bryant was arrested in July 2003 on allegations of sexual assault.
The charges were eventually dropped, but Bryant’s reputation took a hit and he settled a civil lawsuit with the accuser. In exchange for not testifying in the criminal case, the accuser negotiated an apology letter from Bryant that read, in part, “Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual … I now understand how she sincerely feels that she did not consent.”
After the Lakers lost to Detroit in the NBA Finals with a star-studded team that included Karl Malone and Gary Payton, O’Neal was traded to Miami and Jackson’s coaching contract was not renewed. As the team’s undisputed leader, Bryant signed a seven-year contract to remain with the team.
Bryant summed up the tensions between him and O’Neal after the Lakers won the NBA title in 2009: “We’re great as individuals, but … it’s probably the first dynamic duo that had two alpha males on one team. We managed to make it work for three championships.”
Bryant posted some of the best offensive numbers of his career over the next three seasons, but the team struggled, failing to make the playoffs in 2005 before suffering consecutive first-round defeats to Phoenix in 2006 and 2007. Jackson returned to the team for the 2005-06 season, and Bryant went on to lead the league in scoring that season with a career-best 35.4 average. He scored 40 points or more in 27 games and became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964 to finish with 45 points or more in four consecutive games.
His biggest single-game achievement came Jan. 22, 2006, against Toronto when he scored a career-high 81 points, the second most in NBA history. Earlier that season, on Dec. 20, 2005, he scored 62 points in 33 minutes through three quarters of a game against Dallas; he had outscored the entire Mavericks team, 62-61, entering the final quarter, in which Bryant did not play. Bryant continued to impress during the 2006-07 season, scoring 50 or more points in a team-record 10 games and averaging 31.6 points a game to capture his second NBA scoring title.
Laker legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was at that game, he said in a Twitter video Sunday. “It is something that I will always remember as one of the highlights of the things that I have learned and observed in sports.”
“He was an incredible athlete and a leader in a lot of ways. He inspired a whole generation of young athletes. He was one of the first ones to leave high school and come into the NBA and do so well, dominating the game and becoming one of the best scorers that the Los Angeles Lakers has ever seen,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
“He is the No. 1 player in the league, by far,” Washington guard Gilbert Arenas said in 2006. “With a player like him, he just wants that challenge. He’s just that fierce competitor. He doesn’t want to get out-showed. He’s the one who everybody’s afraid of.”
Bryant’s 2007-08 NBA MVP season got off to a tumultuous start after he reportedly demanded to be traded. He was reportedly unhappy with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and Jackson. “I would like to be traded,” Bryant said during a radio interview. “Tough as it is to come to that conclusion, there’s no other alternative. It’s rough, man, but I don’t see how you can rebuild that trust. I just don’t know how you can move forward in that type of situation.”
Bryant eventually backtracked on his trade demands and posted perhaps his best all-around season, leading a team re-energized by Pau Gasol’s arrival from Memphis in February 2008 to a first-place finish in the Western Conference. The Lakers embarked on a memorable playoff run before losing to Boston in the Finals. Later that year, Bryant went on to win a gold medal with the U.S. team at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
With Bryant pleased about the direction the team was heading, he guided the Lakers to back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. He was named the NBA Finals MVP both years as the team once again ascended to the top of the NBA.

Kobe Bryant And Daughter Gianna
Ongoing soreness in Bryant’s knee and ankle coupled with the team’s heavy reliance in him played a role in the Lakers’ championship run coming to an end in 2011. Bryant posted his lowest points per game totals since the 2003-04 season as he dealt with the aftereffects of offseason arthroscopic knee surgery. He went on to win his fourth NBA All-Star Game most-valuable-player award but fell short of his ultimate goal of winning a sixth NBA title. Bryant also became the youngest player in NBA history to amass 27,000 career points.
Bryant finished third in league scoring in 2011-12 despite dealing with ongoing knee and ankle issues. In January 2012, he scored at least 40 points in four consecutive games, which included a 48-point effort against the Phoenix Suns.
Following the team’s acquisition of Dwight Howard in August 2012, the Lakers were regarded as a favorite for the NBA title. However, friction between Bryant and Howard started to develop as the team struggled. Despite this, Bryant led the NBA in scoring for much of the first half of the season and surpassed Chamberlain for fourth all-time in league scoring. But Bryant’s season came to a disappointing end when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon against the Golden State Warriors on April 10. The injury and subsequent surgery prevented Bryant from playing in the early portion of the 2013-14 season.
Bryant, who signed a two-year, $48.5-million contract extension with the Lakers before the start of the 2013-14 season, did not return from injury until December. He played in only six games before suffering a lateral tibial plateau fracture in his left knee. The injury forced him to miss the remainder of the season as the Lakers limped to a 27-55 record, missing the playoffs for only the second time since Bryant joined the franchise.
He retired from the NBA but began a new career in Hollywood.
In 2018, he won an Oscar along with director Glen Keane for the animated short film “Dear Basketball.”
Just Saturday night, Laker LeBron James passed Bryant for third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Allen Kenitzer, an FAA spokesman, said his agency and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the helicopter crash.
“Kobe Bryant was a giant who inspired, amazed, and thrilled people everywhere with his incomparable skill on the court — and awed us with his intellect and humility as a father, husband, creative genius, and ambassador for the game he loved,” L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a news statement Sunday afternoon. “He will live forever in the heart of Los Angeles, and will be remembered through the ages as one of our greatest heroes.”
Los Angeles Times