By Agence France-Presse

NBA legend Kobe Bryant died on Sunday when a helicopter crashed and burst into flames in suburban Los Angeles.

AFP Sport looks at six other air tragedies which claimed the lives of sporting heroes:

1958: Manchester United

The plane carrying members of Manchester United’s ‘Busby Babes’ crashed in Germany as it returned from a European Cup match in Belgrade. Eight players died following the incident as well as three staff members.

Matty Busby’s side went on to win the trophy in 1968 and a passage under United’s Old Trafford stadium was named the ‘Munich Tunnel’ on the 50th anniversary of the accident.

1961: US Figure Skating

All 18 athletes in the US figure skating team lost their lives on their way to Prague for the World Championships as their aircraft crashed on approach to an airport in Brussels.

The competition was canceled and the whole squad and their coaches were inducted into the US Skating Hall of Fame in January 2011.

1972: Old Christians Rugby Club

The Uruguayan outfit lost 12 team members when the plane set for Santiago in Chile crashed in a remote part of the Andes mountain range.

After they ran out of food on the glacier, survivors resorted to eating the flesh from the dead bodies and they were found 71 days after the crash.

Books, films and documentaries have been made about the accident and hikers still visit the site at 3,570 meters to pay tribute.

2016: Chapecoense

A charter flight from Bolivia to Colombia carrying 77 people claimed the lives of 19 members of the Brazilian side’s squad traveling to the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final.

The title was awarded to the club following a request from their opponents Atletico Nacional.

Spanish club Barcelona organized a friendly against Chapecoense less than a year later to raise funds as one of the survivors Alan Ruschel played his first match since the incident.

2018: Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha

Leicester City owner Vichai was killed as the helicopter carrying him and four other people crashed outside the club’s King Power stadium hours after a league game.

Thousands of Foxes supporters took part in a walk in remembrance of the victims before their next match and the Thai billionaire’s son Aiyawatt took over control of the English side.

2019: Emiliano Sala

The Argentinian striker was traveling by plane from Nantes to Wales to finalize a move to then Premier League club  when his aircraft crashed in the English Channel.

There are still unresolved issues surrounding the player’s death, such as the payment of the 17 million euros ($18.85 million) fee agreed for his transfer.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Neymar dedicated his second goal in Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 win at Lille to basketball legend Kobe Bryant, whose death in a helicopter crash earlier on Sunday shocked the world, as his double shot the French champions 10 points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

The world’s most expensive player slotted home the 52nd-minute penalty and went over to television cameras by the side of the Stade Pierre Mauroy pitch to make the number 24 with his fingers in honor of Bryant’s shirt number.

“It’s deeply saddening for the world of sport and for all of us,” said Neymar to Canal+ after the win, which put PSG 10 points clear at the top of the league.

“Not just for basketball fans, but for everything he did for sport.”

He had already put his side ahead with a fine strike in the first half before putting the game out of reach and increasing the gap between them and second-placed Marseille.

His 12th league goal of the season tipped the balance in the Parisians’ favor after a positive start for the home side, who were unbeaten at home ahead of the match.

The Brazilian almost immediately slipped through Mbappe but the onrushing Mike Maignan stopped the France World Cup winner from clinching his 14th top-flight effort of the campaign.

Mbappe was stopped again by Maignan when he got his body in the way of a fierce close-range effort, but the away side were given a penalty soon after for a clear Gabriel handball just before the forward’s shot.

Neymar squeezed his spot-kick just beyond Maignan, who got his hand to the shot but looked on in horror as it made its way in off the post.

“We deserved to win, I think we played well,” said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel.

“We controlled the match and counter-attacks and this is not easy to do against a good team like Lille.”

Lille stay seventh after the defeat, two points away from the European places.

– Emotional day –

Neymar’s tribute came on what was already an emotional day in French football, with Nantes and Bordeaux also honouring their former striker Emiliano Sala, a year after his death in a plane crash.

The clubs remembered Argentine forward Sala before the Derby de l’Atlantique at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

Bordeaux won 1-0 courtesy of a late goal by Jimmy Briand as Nantes played most the second half with 10 men after the dismissal of Andrei Girotto.

The 28-year-old Sala was killed last January when the small plane taking him to join Cardiff City after being bought from Nantes for �15 million ($19.5 million) crashed off the Channel island of Guernsey.

Nantes wore a special white and pale blue shirt inspired by Argentina while Bordeaux’s kit featured an Argentine flag beneath the club crest flanked by the player’s initials.

Proceeds from the sales of the strips will go to the two Argentine clubs Sala played for in his youth.

A portrait of Sala was also displayed in the center circle during the warm-up and there was a minute’s applause ahead of kick-off.

Supporters laid flowers outside the ground and broke out into a song commemorating Sala in the ninth minute, representing the shirt number worn by the player which has since been retired by Nantes.

Sala left his homeland to join Bordeaux in 2012 and then played for Nantes between 2015 and 2019.

Earlier Karl Toko Ekambi scored on his Lyon debut Sunday in a 3-0 victory over bottom club Toulouse.

Cameroon striker Toko Ekambi, who joined on loan this week from Villarreal until the end of the season, sealed the win six minutes later as Lyon climbed up to fifth in Ligue 1.

Toko Ekambi came on as a first-half substitute after a scary incident involving France Under-21 forward Martin Terrier.

Terrier was stretchered off after fainting on the pitch, but Lyon said at half-time the player had regained consciousness.

Neymar celebrated his second goal in somber fashion following the death of Kobe Bryant

Supporters lay flowers outside Nantes’ stadium in memory of Argentine forward Emiliano Sala

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Reuters

Simona Halep had to be at her counter-punching best to fight off another determined second-set comeback bid from Elise Mertens on Monday as the Romanian world number three advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

Halep, a beaten finalist at Melbourne Park two years ago, moved on with a 6-4 6-4 victory that sets up a meeting with Estonia’s 28th-seed Anett Kontaveit in the last eight.

Halep had lost to Mertens in the Doha final last year when up a set and cruising in the second and the Romanian conceded nerves crept into her game as the momentum shifted on Monday.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Reuters

Super Bowl week got off to a subdued start as the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers arrived in Miami on Sunday still digesting the news that Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant had died in a helicopter crash.

What was supposed to be the kickoff to a week-long party turned somber as the NFL and players from both teams learned that Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in the crash.

“Man not Kobe … Prayers to his family and friends! #RIPMamba,” tweeted Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

San Francisco cornerback Richard Sherman, who will have the job of defending Mahomes in next Sunday’s Super Bowl, echoed the sentiment on Twitter: “Just don’t have the words…. #Kobe.”

The NFL joined North America’s other major sports leagues in offering condolences to the Bryant family while observing a moment of silence before the opening kickoff of the All-Star Game being played in Orlando.

“The National Football League extends its deepest condolences to the friends and families of all those who lost their lives in today’s accident, including NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna,” said the NFL in a statement.

“Kobe was an extraordinary athlete who thrilled and entertained sports fans around the world for a generation. our thoughts are with the Bryant family, Kobe’s fans, his teammates, the Lakers organization and the NBA.”

While a pall is likely to hang over the sporting world and Super Bowl preparations for some time the show will go on, though the light-hearted mood that usually accompanies Monday’s Super Bowl Opening Night when both teams dive into a media mosh pit is sure to be more muted.

Sorrow, however, will eventually give way to excitement as thousands of fans pour into Miami, which is hosting the Super Bowl for a record 11th time.

Miami, one of the world’s great party destinations, will be ready to welcome Chiefs fans who have waited a half-century for a return to the NFL championship game.

Kansas City are slight favorites to lift the Lombardi Trophy next Sunday, though several oddsmakers call the contest even.

Source: Manila Bulletin

PARIS (AFP) — Journalists from inside and outside the world of sport lined up to pay tribute to NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist Kobe Bryant after his death in a helicopter crash.

US Sports magazine Sports Illustrated ran with a single black and white photo of Bryant in profile and the headline: ”Kobe Bryant, 1978-2020”.

Below, it posted links to every cover that had featured the star.

”How does that happen? Kobe is stronger than any helicopter,” wrote Bill Plaschke in the Los Angeles Times, the newspaper of the city that adored Bryant, who won five NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers.

”He didn’t even need a helicopter. For 20 years he flew into greatness while carrying a breathless city with him.”

At the other end of the country, the New York Times website carried a lengthy profile of Bryant, hailing his ”extraordinary career” as well as mentioning 2003 rape accusations that were levelled against him.

Kobe Bryant ”personified the modern sports alpha,” wrote Jason Gray in a Wall Street Journal article headlined ”What Kobe Bryant Meant”.

”On the court, he was the alpha, really-for better, and, sometimes, worse, in greatness and defeat, demanding to put the whole game on his shoulders when it mattered most, and even when it didn’t matter much at all.”

The grief was just as strongly felt in Europe, particularly Italy, where Bryant spent part of his childhood and where his father played professional basketball. In Italy, the La Gazzetta dello Sport ran with the headline ”La Tragedia” — ”The Tragedy” — and paid tribute to Bryant’s ”fluent Italian”, picked up during his stay in the country.

La Gazzetta also posted a video of a young Bryant playing basketball in Pistoia in Tuscany.

The Corriere sports daily recalled Bryant’s love for Italy and its football — he was an avid AC Milan fan — quoting Roma legend Francesco Totti as saying he was ”honored to have known the American champion”.

In France, where Bryant also briefly lived when he was a teenager, L’Equipe dedicated nine pages to the star’s death, underneath a photo of Bryant posing against the Paris skyline.

”Basketball alone does not define me,” he told the French publication in 2017.

Marca, the most popular sports magazine in Spain talked of ”pain and glory” after the death of Bryant.

”Most players are either consumed by the marathon of the NBA or worn down by the grind of 82 games, plus playoffs, year upon year,” wrote Roy Ward in Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald.

”Kobe was one of the rare ones who transcended the grind. He worked himself until he could stand up to every road trip, every injury, every boo; every missed shot and every loss.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

Game Thursday
(Stadium 29, Nonthaburi)
7 p.m. — Mono Vampire vs Alab Pilipinas

San Miguel Alab Pilipinas paid dearly for its lackluster start and suffered a 102-89 loss to Thailand’s Mono Vampire Sunday night in the ASEAN Basketball League at the Caloocan Sports Complex.

Alab never got it going after the visitors from Thailand opened the game with a 17-6 lead, thus blowing a chance to regain the solo lead in the 10-team field after dropping to third place with a 6-4 record.

The result continued the tipsy-turvy January of Alab, which has a record of 2-3 this month. They face Mono anew this Thursday at Stadium 29 in Nonthaburi.

“That’s our challenge right now as a team, finding that level of consistency in our play,” said Alapag.

Team owner Charlie Dy later described the result as “disappointing,” before posting multiple online stories about the possibility of Justin Brownlee making a return stint with Alab.

Brownlee had expressed interest to suit up for the team he led to the ABL crown in 2018 after helping Barangay Ginebra San Miguel capture the PBA Governors’ Cup title recently.

Getting Brownlee could be the spark Alab needed, especially after one of its imports Nick King was reduced to six points on 2-of-17 shooting with five turnovers.

Alab’s other imports Prince Williams scored 23 points and Sam Deguara 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Jeremiah Gray was Alab’s top local scorer with 12 points.

Imports Mike Singletary and Mike Morrison, a former teammate of Rain or Shine star Gabe Norwood, scored 23 points apiece as Mono remained on top at 9-3.

The scores:

MONO VAMPIRE 102 — Morrison 23, Singletary 23, Lamb 18, Knowles 17, Morgan 7, Chantachon 6, Lish 6, Ananti 2, Boonserm 0.

ALAB PILIPINAS 89 — Williams 23, Deguara 18, Gray 12, Brickman 9, Heading 8, King 6, Rosser 5, Domingo 4, Vigil 2, Caracut 2.

Quarters: 26-20; 52-39; 73-65; 102-89.

Source: Manila Bulletin

 

By NICK GIONGCO

Sometime in the fall of 2011, Kobe Bryant came up to see Manny Pacquiao train at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood as his then Nike co-endorser was getting ready to face Juan Manuel Marquez for a third time.

They had met previously when Pacquiao served as flag-bearer for the Philippines during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Bryant starred for the US team that won gold.

During that particular visit to the Wild Card, Bryant sat on a padded bench and watched Pacquiao spar seven rounds and do the mitts for six before leaving.

Bryant, who perished with her 13-year-old daughter in a helicopter crash on Sunday, was obviously mesmerized seeing Pacquiao spend his day training.

“I wasn’t even sure how many punches he was throwing, I just heard them,” Bryant told SI.com after spending about an hour-and-a half at the famed sweat shop on Vine Street.

Bryant left the Wild Card at 3:30 pm before Pacquiao had finished his pad work but they bumped into each other again when Bryant and a bevy of other NBA stars went to Manila for a goodwill game.

Shortly after Bryant shocking death, Pacquiao, who is also 41 years old like the NBA all-time great, went to social media to express his condolences.

“The world lost a legend today but the impact and legacy he leaves behind will last forever,” wrote Pacquiao as the Philippines woke up to the news of Bryant’s passing.

Source: Manila Bulletin

Amid their intense training in preparation for the 2020 FIBA 3X3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the national team pool, together with Kiefer Ravena, took time off for a very special mission, Saturday.

Karl Dehesa, Alvin Pasaol, Dylan Ababou, Santi Santillan, Troy Rike, Ryan Monteclaro, Leo De Vera, and Dan Reducto became coaches for the day as Chooks-to-Go and Special Olympics Asia Pacific held the first leg of the “Kaya ‘Yan, Manok ng Bayan” Unified Basketball Clinic at The Upper Deck Court in Ortigas, Pasig.

The “Kaya ‘Yan, Manok ng Bayan” is Bounty Agro Ventures Incorporated’s commitment to the Special Olympics to conducting sports fests and training sessions for people with intellectual disabilities all over the Philippines, as well as a nationwide recruitment drive of PIDs to BAVI’s offices.

“Definitely this inspires all of us to push harder heading into the OQT. Our trainings are tough since we have been practicing twice-a-day for the last two months,” said Dehesa.

“Being here made us realize who we are fighting for and that’s them.”

“This program of Chooks-to-Go is something that is really special to me because we all know how hard it is for PIDs to break-in to our society. Having this is a huge step forward because not only is Boss Ronald [Mascariñas] giving them a program but also giving them a chance to be part of their workforce,” added campaign ambassador Ravena.

A total of 50 PIDs participated in the first leg of the camp that saw them learn the basics of 3×3 basketball.

To end the day, the participants were put to the test, competing in an exhibition game against the Chooks-to-Go All-Stars and, later on, a dance-off.

“Super important ito sa amin because nahihirapan kami makakuha ng support. Our mission is to provide year-long sports training for people with intellectual disabilities. Kahit may competition or wala, kailangan namin mag-training. Nahihirapan kaming gawin yun dahil lahat kami ay volunteer — including our coaches,” shared Special Olympics consultant Kaye Samson.

“So natutuwa kami that Bounty committed to giving us venues and coaches. To learn from professional athletes, ibang klaseng pagbabago ng buhay ang mabibigay sa kanila.”

BAVI president Mascariñas shared that this is just the start of this program. He vows to bring more athletes, teach more sports, and reach more provinces in the next legs of this program.

“This is just the start of a continuous program for BAVI and the Special Olympics. We plan on heading to the provinces and locate more people with intellectual disabilities to come out and gain confidence through sports,” said Mascariñas.

“But it’s not just our organization who is committed to this as all of our athletes have pledged to take part in this very special program that is close to our hearts.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

 

By Agence France-Presse

Kobe Bryant used a ferocious competitiveness and uncanny shooting touch to become an NBA icon, leaving behind a legacy that has influenced the newest generation of league talent and fans worldwide.

From his 81-point game, the second-best scoring performance in NBA history, to five NBA titles in 20 years of dazzling performances with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant delivered a relentless attitude that attracted a global following before his death Sunday at age 41 in a helicopter crash.

Bryant joined giant center Shaquille O’Neal to spark the Lakers to NBA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002, becoming at the age of 23 the youngest player to capture three titles.

A bitter feud with Bryant saw “Shaq” depart, with Bryant portrayed as never having had childish ways while O’Neal never outgrew them.

That left Bryant without the inside force needed to capture the crown until Spain’s Pau Gasol arrived, and the Lakers won titles in 2009 and 2010 with Bryant in command and later patching things up with O’Neal.

Bryant sparked the US Olympic team to gold medals at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics and became a global celebrity as much for his personality as his playmaking.

Bryant’s fierceness was legendary and led him to nickname himself the “Black Mamba” for his ability to strike quickly with deadly scoring accuracy.

There were spectacular nights, but nothing topped his 81-point effort against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006, a mark surpassed only by Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962.

Bryant scored 65 points in a 2007 win over Portland, then followed with 50 points against Minnesota, 60 at Memphis and 50 more against New Orleans — the third-longest run of 50-point games in NBA history behind two from Chamberlain.

Some say Bryant saved the best for last, scoring a league season-high of 60 points against Utah in his final NBA game in 2016, becoming the oldest player in league history to crack that milestone at age 37.

“I love everything about this game,” Bryant famously said. “For me, it’s not a part of life, it is life, and it’s a part of me.”

In all, Bryant finished with 33,643 points, 7,047 rebounds and 6,306 assists over 1,346 career NBA games. He was an 18-time NBA All-Star, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player, the NBA Finals 2009 and 2010 NBA MVP and matched a record as a four-time NBA All-Star Game MVP.

Kobe faced controversy
But it wasn’t a smooth path to stardom. In addition to nagging injuries that slowed his later seasons, Bryant faced a major rape controversy that delivered a body blow to his endorsements image.

Bryant, a father of four who married wife Vanessa in 2001, faced his darkest hour in 2003 when he was arrested in Colorado over a sexual assault allegation filed by a 19-year-old employee of a hotel where Bryant was staying ahead of knee surgery.

Bryant was accused of rape. He admitted to adultery but said he did not commit rape. In 2004, the case was dropped after the accuser refused to testify in a trial, and Bryant issued an apology saying he could understand how she might feel there was not consent.

A separate civil suit was settled under terms kept private.

In 2011, Bryant made an apology for using a gay slur to describe a referee and paid a $100,000 fine imposed by the NBA.

Knee and ankle injuries mounted as years began to take a toll on Bryant. He missed most of the 2013-14 season with a left knee injury and much of his penultimate campaign with a torn right rotator cuff, then announced his retirement by saying, “My body knows it’s time to say goodbye.”

After retiring, Bryant became a children’s book writer and wrote the movie “Dear Basketball” — last year’s Academy Award winner for Best Animated Short Film.

Basketball ‘is life’
Kobe Bean Bryant, the son of former NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was born in Philadelphia in 1978 while his father played for the NBA’s 76ers, the child named for the Japanese beef seen on a menu and his father’s nickname.

The elder Bryant played from 1984 to 1991 in Italy, giving young Kobe a global worldview as he grew up dreaming of following his dad into the NBA.

“When I was growing up in Italy, it opened up a whole new world to me and I thought anything was possible,” Kobe told AFP in 2009.

Bryant became one of the first NBA players to seek out a growing fan base in China, blogging for Chinese internet giant SINA in 2009.

“As a kid growing up, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have this big fan base halfway around the world in Beijing and Shanghai,” Bryant told AFP.

Read more: Kobe Bryant, 13-year-old daughter die in helicopter crash, Obituary: Kobe Bryant, widely considered one of basketball’s greatest, ‘Let’s go Kobe’: fans gather outside Staples Center, NBA plunged into mourning as Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

NBA star Kobe Bryant’s death triggered an outpouring of grief on Monday in China, where he was beloved by fans, with a hashtag of the news drawing more than a billion views.

Nine people were killed in a helicopter crash including Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter, Los Angeles officials confirmed on Sunday.

Basketball is arguably the most popular sport in China, and Bryant — a five-time NBA champion who blogged for Chinese internet giant SINA in 2009 — was among the first American stars to garner a large fan base in the country.

He remained popular in China after his retirement in 2016, frequently engaging via social media with Chinese fans.

Despite China’s preoccupation with a viral epidemic crisis, the hashtag “Kobe passed away” was viewed more than 1.2 billion times on popular Chinese social media platform Weibo, and sparked more than a million posts within hours of the news.

“Kobe is not a basketball star. He is my life coach,” said one post.

“This is fake, fake, I can’t believe it,” said another.

One user wrote that they wept upon hearing of the tragedy: “My whole youth is all about you! So sad!”

In Bryant’s final post on his Weibo account on Friday, he sent Lunar New Year greetings to his Chinese followers.

“I wish you happiness, health, and inner magic to achieve more success in the upcoming year of the mouse,” Bryant said.

The NBA came under fierce criticism and boycott threats in China last October after a Houston Rockets executive tweeted his support for demonstrations in Hong Kong against Beijing’s influence in the semi-autonomous city.

But that seems to have done little to dampen Chinese support for the league, especially with China’s own national team giving fans little to cheer.

Read more: Kobe Bryant, 13-year-old daughter die in helicopter crash, Obituary: Kobe Bryant, widely considered one of basketball’s greatest, ‘Let’s go Kobe’: fans gather outside Staples Center, NBA plunged into mourning as Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash

Source: Manila Bulletin