Page 115 - Culture Mag

N.B.A. Star Kobe Bryant dies in California helicopter crash
The retired N.B.A. star, 41, and his daughter Gianna were among nine people in a helicopter
that crashed near Calabasas, Calif. A college baseball coach and his wife and daughter werealsokilled.
Bryant and his daughter were going to an academy where he coaches her team . Bryant was considered one of the best players in N.B.A. history. Drafted to the N.B.A. directly out of high school in 1996, Bryant was named an All-Star in 18 of his 20 seasons for the Lakers and helped lead the team to Kive championships.
His hypercompetitive nature led to occasional public disagreements with coaches and other players, but his commitment to winning was never questioned. The winner of the N.B.A.’s Most Valuable Player
Award for the 2007-8 season, and the N.B.A. Kinals M.V.P. in both 2009 and 2010, Bryant showed a rare commitment to success on both ends of the court, with a résumé
that included two scoring titles — and an 81-point game in 2006 that is the
second-highest single-game total in N.B.A. history — along with 12 appearances on the
league’s All-Defense team. He also thrived on the international stage,
where he won gold medals for U.S.A. Basketball in the 2008 and
2012 Olympics. In 2016, after various injuries, he proved to have one more highlight in him,
scoring 60 points in his Kinal game while leading the last-place
Lakers to a surprising win over the Utah Jazz.