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Kobe Bryant, one of the all-time NBA greats — a legend even before he finally hung it up in 2016 — was reportedly killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
He was 41 years old.
TMZ reported that Bryant was one of at least four passengers in the private helicopter flying over Calabasas, Calif., when a fire broke out and caused the chopper to fall from the sky, killing everyone on board.
Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, was reportedly not among the victims.
There was an outpouring of shock across social media, where Bryant’s last message on Twitter TWTR, -2.07% were words of congratulations for LeBron James, who’d just taken Bryant’s place as No. 3 on the NBA scoring list:
More than a million messages of heartbreak and remembrance blew up on social media as word of Bryant’s death spread around the globe.
From the sports world:
From show business:
From the political arena:
And from overseas:
Bryant was a Los Angeles Laker for two decades, winning five championships and making 18 All-Star Games before his retirement in 2016.
