NBA Legend, Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, have passed away. Kobe was 41-years-old and his daughter was only 13.
Reports say the retired basketball player and his daughter were on a helicopter when it crashed in California the morning of Sunday, January 26th. A fire broke out and unfortunately they along with at least 5 other people have been confirmed dead. Reports have confirmed that Bryant's wife and Gianna's mother, Vanessa Bryant, was not on board the plane. They are survived by her and Bryant's 3 other daughters Natalia, Bianka and Capri, who was just born in June of 2019.
Bryant was a first-round NBA draft pick to the Lakers in 1996 and retired with the team in 2016. Bryant admitted that after he retired, he didn't watch much basketball until his 13-year old-daughter started showing interest in the sport. The two then watched it every night.
Check out a beautiful father-daughter moment between Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, when he was explaining the game to her below.
Reports say Bryant and his daughter were actually on their way to Gianna's travel basketball game when the helicopter crashed. Another player and their parents were also on board.
Bryant was truly one of the greatest players of all-time in the NBA. He made 18 All-Star teams, won 5 NBA championships, was named MVP of 2 NBA Finals and he was named the league MVP in 2008.
Less than 24 hours before his passing, LeBron James passed Bryant on the NBA's all-time scoring leaderboard. Bryant was proud of LeBron and took to Twitter to post the tweet below.
We send our deepest condolences to all of the families involved in this devastating crash. Everyone, including Bryant's loyal fans, are in our prayers.