To LA, he will always be more than a basketball player
By Shahan Ahmed ••
Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images
File Image: Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers passes the ball against the Utah Jazz at STAPLES Center on April 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
For more than 20 years, Kobe Bean Bryant was Los Angeles.
Whether you loved him or hated him, everyone respected him.
That four-letter first name was unavoidable for more than two decades, whether it was on the blacktops in Venice or in a high-rise office when a piece of trash was shot into a trash can.
He won an Oscar, five NBA titles, an MVP, two NBA Finals MVPs, Olympic gold medals and countless other honors that made him seem like he could not be a mere mortal, but a helicopter crash Sunday provided the harshest reminder that he was in fact of this world. He was one of us.
He was LA.
And so, on Sunday, LA mourned.
Fans of Kobe Bryant spoke to KNBC about their feelings following the reports of his death. Hear what some of them had to say as they gathered near the spot where Bryant’s helicopter crashed on Sunday morning.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
As much joy as he brought the City of Angels with five NBA titles--and those were joyous times--his untimely death at the age of 41 brought even greater sadness.
This wasn't the death of a movie star. He was a part of LA.
Every other night for seven to nine months per year for two decades, Bryant and the Lakers would enter living rooms across Southern California and become part of the family. Whether he was wearing no. 8 or no. 24, purple or gold, he was Los Angeles.
Not everyone had to be his biggest fan, but it would impossible to dispute his greatness. And that greatness did not simply last 48 minutes while the ball was in play.
After his Achilles tendon tore and he was no longer able to conjure his magical, maniacal winning ways, Bryant opened up to the media and regularly answered questions in Spanish. He spoke with more depth and even joked around.
Worth noting, he grew up in Italy speaking Italian, but he had a special mind, so adding a language wasn't much of a task for this unique genius.
Then, there was the video of him playing Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," which he allegedly learned to play by ear. A teammate recorded him because he took over the hotel piano. He was special.
Jerry West, the Lakers general manager when Bryant entered the league in 1996, crystallized the genius of the man the city lost on Sunday.
West said of Bryant during the 2015-16 farewell tour, "If you had a chance to watch and just a chance to watch him do things on his own, you'd say to yourself, 'Well, this is a savant,' but he happened to be a basketball player."
To LA, he will always be more than a basketball player: Rest in peace, Mamba.
NBCLA
The pylons at LAX are glowing in Lakers colors on a somber morning in Los Angeles Monday Jan. 27, 2020, a day after the death of Kobe Bryant.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 26: A fans mourns the death of retired NBA star Kobe Bryant outside the Staples Center prior to the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Bryant, 41, died today in a helicopter crash in near Calabasas, California. (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)
People gather around a makeshift memorial for former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant after learning of his death at LA Live plaza in front of Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2020. – NBA legend Kobe Bryant died January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles, celebrity website TMZ reported, saying five people are confirmed dead in the incident. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
A makeshift memorial for former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant is pictured after learning of his death at LA Live plaza in front of Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2020. – NBA legend Kobe Bryant died January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles, celebrity website TMZ reported, saying five people are confirmed dead in the incident. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
People gather around a makeshift memorial for former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant after learning of his death at LA Live plaza in front of Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2020. – NBA legend Kobe Bryant died January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles, celebrity website TMZ reported, saying five people are confirmed dead in the incident. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
People gather around a makeshift memorial for former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant after learning of his death at LA Live plaza in front of Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2020. – NBA legend Kobe Bryant died January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles, celebrity website TMZ reported, saying five people are confirmed dead in the incident. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 26: Los Angeles Lakers fan Victor Chavez, 30, of Los Angeles, mourns the death of retired NBA star Kobe Bryant outside the Staples Center prior to the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Bryant, 41, died today in a helicopter crash in near Calabasas, California (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)
People gather around a makeshift memorial for former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant after learning of his death at LA Live plaza in front of Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2020. – NBA legend Kobe Bryant died January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles, celebrity website TMZ reported, saying five people are confirmed dead in the incident. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
People gather around a makeshift memorial for former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant after learning of his death at LA Live plaza in front of Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2020. – NBA legend Kobe Bryant died January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles, celebrity website TMZ reported, saying five people are confirmed dead in the incident. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
People gather around a makeshift memorial for former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant after learning of his death at LA Live plaza in front of Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2020. – NBA legend Kobe Bryant died January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles, celebrity website TMZ reported, saying five people are confirmed dead in the incident. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 26: Flowers and tributes are left at a makeshift memorial for former NBA player Kobe Bryant outside the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Bryant, 41, died today in a helicopter crash in near Calabasas, California. (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)
People gather around a makeshift memorial for former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant after learning of his death at LA Live plaza in front of Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 26, 2020. – NBA legend Kobe Bryant died January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles, celebrity website TMZ reported, saying five people are confirmed dead in the incident. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 26: Los Angeles Lakers fans mourn the death of retired NBA star Kobe Bryant outside the Staples Center prior to the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Bryant, 41, died today in a helicopter crash in near Calabasas, California. (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 26: A woman holds a sign to remember retired NBA star Kobe Bryant outside the Staples Center prior to the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Bryant, 41, died today in a helicopter crash in near Calabasas, California. (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 26: A general view outside of the Staples Center where a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant has been setup by fans who have gathered to honor the basketball star after news broke of his death on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. NBA champion and a two-time Olympic gold medalist Kobe Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash earlier today in Calabasas, California. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 26: (L-R) Los Angeles Lakers fans Lilian Gamez, Gabriel Gamez and Angelica Rodriguez mourn the death of retired NBA star Kobe Bryant outside the Staples Center prior to the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Bryant, 41, died today in a helicopter crash in near Calabasas, California. (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 26: Former NBA player Kobe Bryant is remembered outside the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Bryant, 41, died today in a helicopter crash in near Calabasas, California. (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)
People gather to pay tribute to former NBA and Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant on January 26, 2020 following his death in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles. – Nine people were killed in the helicopter crash which claimed the life of NBA star Kobe Bryant and his 13 year old daughter, Los Angeles officials confirmed on Sunday. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said eight passengers and the pilot of the aircraft died in the accident. The helicopter crashed in foggy weather in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas. Authorities said firefighters received a call shortly at 9:47 am about the crash, which caused a brush fire on a hillside. (Photo by Chris Delmas / AFP) (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)
