Kobe Bryant: The record-breaking basketball legend dead at 41
Record breaking sporting giant Kobe Bryant has died leaving behind a legacy that spans basketball, film and entertainment.
The NBA legend was travelling with nine people in his private helicopter when it crashed in Calabasas, 40 miles north-west of Los Angeles, on Sunday morning, according to multiple reports.
His 13-year-old daughter Gianna was also killed.
“We received a call just before 10am this morning of an aircraft down in the Malibu area, right off of Las Vergenes, essentially Calabasas,” fire captain Tony Imbrenda told reporters at the scene. “Some folks were out here mountain biking this morning, they saw an aircraft in distress, they went down into the hillside. This was a helicopter, it’s been confirmed it was an S-76 Sikorsky helicopter and unfortunately there were no survivors.”
Who was Kobe Bryant
Bryant was one of the most celebrated basketball players in NBA history after completing a 20-year career with the LA Lakers. Retiring in 2016, he worked on a number of projects as a TV pundit, a filmmaker, an author and a philanthropist.
How old was Kobe Bryant
Bryant was born on 23 August 1978 and died at age 41 following a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California on 26 January 2020.
Was Kobe Bryant married? Did he have children?
Bryant married Vanessa Laine Bryant in 2001, having met and begun their relationship when he was 21 and she was 17. The couple had four children together – Natalia Diamante (17-years-old), Gianna Maria-Onore (13), Bianka Bella (3), and Capri Kobe, who was born seven months prior to his death.
What was Kobe Bryant’s net worth?
At the time of his retirement Bryant was the highest-paid athlete in the history of team sports, earning $770million over the course of hi career
What awards did Kobe Bryant win?
In his time as a professional basketball player, Bryant won five NBA Championships, was an 18-time All –Star, a 15-time member of the all star NBA team and a 12-time team member of the All-Defensive team. He was named the NBA’s MVP in 2008.
In 2018 he won an Oscar for best animated short following his work on ‘Dear Basketball’, which was based on a poem he wrote when he announced his retirement in 2015.
