Kobe Bryant and Daughter Gianna Killed in a Helicopter Crash

[nurseryc]

This is on par with and as heartfelt world wide as the day Princess Diana died. So painful and I wish it wasn’t true.

[MoneyTalks41890]

As a 29 year old, Kobe Bryant is basketball. The loss for everyone involved is tragic.

[DonDoolie]

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[alienswon]

I think to me what made Kobe great was that he was the example that you could emulate your heroes (he emulating Jordan) and be like like/as good as them or if you worked hard enough.

[ThumbsUpBaby]

I just got done picking my drunk, crying friend up and dropping him off home. The bar he was in were filled with sobs and grief... In my lifetime, I have never felt Downtown LA and the rest of LA becoming this suffocating.

Edit:
Just to add... I had to stop by a coffee shop earlier. The worker was choking up as he was taking orders and many in the line followed suit and started tearing up. For many in the world, Kobe was a sports icon. And for many, he was an inspiration, favorite athlete, role model, etc... But for LA, he was much, much more than all those combined.

[Scott Hall]

Just had a flashback to when Cabbie interviewed Kobe on his helicopter. Kind of surreal listening
to the talk about Lebron. Kobe loved helicopters like Roy Halladay liked flying small planes.

Watch on YouTube

[Biased_Fan6425]

I'm at work and cant stop crying...

Beyond words...

[Biased_Fan6425]

It's just sad that we will not hear his HOF speech....

[ratul]

God, I kind don’t want to go to sleep. This is just so effing sad

[Robelito]

Tragic.. heartbreaking to think of the last moments trying to comfort his daughter.. My thoughts goes out to the rest of the family..

**** this hit me harder than MJ's death.

[Yuri36]

It's just sad that we will not hear his HOF speech....

Exceptionnal things usually happen to exceptional people, even the bad things sadly...

[Desiderium]

A part of me is still clinging onto waking up tomorrow and realizing this was all one big nightmare. It just can't be, Kobe was suppose to live forever...but now he's just gone.

[JellosJigglin]

To all the older posters,

Is this the worst sports night in history? I don’t know if anything takes the magnitude of this especially when you throw in Gigi. Such a horrible horrible night

I'm mid 30s and to me it is.

I dont remember Magic announcing HIV, but even that wasn't this. An instant violent death that involved kids too.

I cant imagine what could be worse than this. And thats just in general. Nevermind to everyone who Kobe was their favorite sports figure, like me and many others.

I'm almost 40, which feels weird to type. But I was there for Magic's HIV announcement and cried my eyes out. Magic is the reason I became an NBA and Laker fan. It hurt like hell. But it felt more like someone getting the death penalty, with the little we knew about HIV/AIDS at the time. But you had time to prepare for it. Having a Legend like Kobe taken from us so suddenly doesn't even compare to that. I was just a child then, and it's understandable for a kid to be emotional about a hero like Magic, being struck with illness. But this is different. I compared it to someone just flipping off a light switch and being left in the dark.

As a grown man I'm crying. Both as a Kobe fan and as a man who has watched his nieces/nephew grow older and understood a love that is unimaginable unless you've been through it. The fact his daughter was one of the lost just makes this so much more heartbreaking. I'd give 10 lifetimes if it meant saving one of my nieces. This is the worst loss I've experienced as a sports fan.

I always pictured Kobe and Shaq and Pau and others filming a documentary when they're fat with grey hair about their championships and experiences. I always pictured Kobe giving his HOF speech with other legends in attendance. I always pictured Gianna one day in the WNBA with "Bryant" on the back of her jersey. I'm just so broken right now. I haven't cried since 2012 when me and my fiancee broke up. This feels close to that. Kobe was such a big part of my life and I don't think people outside of Los Angeles truly ever understood how much he meant to us.

[Capn'O]

To all the older posters,

Is this the worst sports night in history? I don’t know if anything takes the magnitude of this especially when you throw in Gigi. Such a horrible horrible night

Roberto Clemente may have had a similar impact but that was before my time.

To me, Prince is what this compares to. Mileage may vary for others. It's massive.

[Spice Melange]

It's just sad that we will not hear his HOF speech....

I hope Kobe prepared his speech well ahead of time and has a written copy of it somewhere. Then maybe Vanessa can read it the day of the ceremonies. I think that would be as perfect of an ending as his last game.

[Morb]

RIP.

[BigShaq34]

This hurts man. Ive never felt emotional about a famous person's death till now.

Just a reminder of the cruel reality of death. Doesn't matter how rich or famous you are, everyone will go.

Kobe is the reason i started playing ball in the early 2000s. I literally grew up watching him.

Im shook bro. Devastated.

[benjamink15]

RIP Kobe ... When celebrities pass I usually say something like "They're humans, it happens"

This one feels different.

[Liam_Gallagher]

Watch on YouTube

Just in case anybody needed a better idea of who Kobe actually was. And he wasn't trying to be funny.

[RIP Kobe]

still can't believe it. emotions are all over the place

i'll be like "ok this is it, he's gone"

then a few minutes later

"wait.. he's not actually dead is he?"