Lakers at Wizards 12/3/14

Kobe Bean Bryant

NBA Basketball Player, Philanthropist, Business Mogul

( August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020)

He was a professional basketball player. As a shooting guard, Bryant entered the National Basketball Association (NBA) directly from high school, and played his entire 20-season professional career in the league with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant won many accolades: five NBA championships, 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), two-time NBA Finals MVP winner. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, ranks fourth on the league’s all-time regular season scoring and all-time postseason scoring lists.

Kobe Bryant married 19-year-old Vanessa Laine in April 2001. The couple became parents to four daughters: Natalia Diamante (b. 2003), Gianna Maria-Onore (b. 2006, d. 2020), Bianka (b. 2016) and Capri (b. 2019).

Kobe came from a upper class family environment where he was always surrounded by celebrities and new habitat settings. He was born in Philadelphia. the youngest of three children and only son of former NBA player Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant. He was also the maternal nephew of NBA player John “Chubby” Cox.

Bryant died at the young age 41, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. At 9:45 a.m., the helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain in Calabasas, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and began burning. Bryant, his daughter, and the other seven occupants were killed. Media reports indicated that the helicopter crashed in the hills above Calabasas in heavy fog. Witnesses reported hearing a helicopter struggling before crashing.

The cause of the crash is still unknown, as the helicopter was not equipped with a black box. The Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and the FBI have launched investigations into the crash.On January 28, Bryant’s identity was officially confirmed using fingerprints. The following day, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner stated that the official cause of death for him and the eight others on the helicopter was blunt force trauma.

On February 7, Bryant and his daughter were buried in a private funeral in Pacific View Memorial Park in the Corona del Mar neighborhood of Newport Beach, California. Their graves were unmarked to protect their privacy A public memorial service was held on February 24 at Staples Center, the Lakers’ home arena in downtown Los Angeles.

His legacy and work will live on by his wife Vanessa and his daughters Natalia Diamante , Bianka and Capri.

To me this is One of the most horrifying way to die since AALIYAH plane crash. May they both and the other passengers on the plane rest in the arms of GOD and rest in peace and love.