By Agence France-Presse

Kobe Bryant combined rare shooting skills, a tireless work ethic, fierce competitiveness, mental toughness and creativity to become one of the NBA’s greatest players, according to his fellow basketball legends.

Bryant, who died on Sunday aged 41 in a helicopter crash, was recalled as an iconic figure on and off the court who inspired younger players and delighted fans worldwide, embracing a global audience that adored him.

“He was a fierce competitor, one of the greats of the game and a creative force,” said six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan. “I loved Kobe — he was like a little brother to me.”

On purely basketball terms, Bryant was simply among the elite guards in NBA history, a maestro with dazzling drives to the hoop and the courage to take 3-point shots with the game on the line and the skill to sink them.

“I have no fear whatsoever,” Bryant said of his clutch-moment hunger. “If I take the last shot and miss, so what?”

It’s a bravado that he backed up more often than not with spectacular plays, making teammates better and rivals dig deep for their very best.

“There will never be a greater warrior in our sport,” said Mike Krzyzewski, who coached Bryant on US Olympic gold medal teams in 2008 and 2012. “He was in constant pursuit of doing something special.

“We have tragically lost one of the greatest sports figures of our time.”

Bryant won five NBA titles in seven trips to the final. 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.

Bryant finished with 33,643 points, 7,047 rebounds and 6,306 assists over 1,346 career NBA games, making history from first game to last.

As a rookie in 1996, Bryant was then the NBA’s youngest-ever player, days after his 18th birthday. At 37 in 2016, Bryant scored 60 points in his final NBA game, the oldest player to crack the milestone.

“Kobe was a chosen one, special in many ways to many people. He went beyond the veil,” said Phil Jackson, who coached Jordan and Bryant to a combined 11 NBA titles.

 ‘Top two all-time’
Outside the Boston Celtics 1960s dynasty, the only guard to win more titles than Bryant was Jordan.

Bill Russell, an 11-time NBA champion and star of the Celtics dynasty, called Bryant: “One of the best basketball minds in the history of the game.”

It was grit mixed with heart and genius that made the self-styled “Mamba” the envy of fellow superstars.

“One of the all-time greatest players in basketball,” said Lakers guard LeBron James, a three-time NBA champion who passed Bryant for third on the all-time NBA scoring list only hours before Bryant’s death.

Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and James have scored more career points than Bryant, who began playing basketball at age three and adored the “Showtime” 1980s Lakers of Magic Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar.

Johnson said he was “heartbroken” and called Bryant “the greatest Laker of all time” while Abdul-Jabbar called him a “magnificent athlete who inspired a whole generation of basketball players.”

One of those was 19-year-old rookie Zion Williamson, a phenom who played his first NBA game just four days before Bryant’s death.

“I think he’s top two all-time,” Williamson said of Bryant.

Legendary achievements
Stolen with his passing was his possible impact on the sport as an elder statesman, having championed women’s basketball before fathering four daughters and established careers as a children’s book writer and an Oscar-winning filmmaker.

“Kobe was not only an icon in the sports arena, he was a man of the world and touched so many lives,” said Celtics legend Larry Bird.

Bryant showed endurance as well as playmaking skills, fighting off injuries throughout his career, notably going to the free throw line with a torn Achilles tendon in 2013.

Only a handful of players in NBA history have played more seasons than Bryant’s 20, none of them strictly taking the punishment of playing them purely as a guard and only Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki managing the feat with a single team as Bryant did.

“For 20 seasons, Kobe showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with an absolute devotion to winning,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.

“He was one of the most extraordinary players in the history of our game with accomplishments that are legendary.”

Bryant’s inspiration for future generations and his achievements are destined to remain immortal in the basketball realm.

“Basketball is better today because of Kobe,” Krzyzewski said. “And he deserves eternal appreciation for that.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

 

By Agence France-Presse

Federal investigators on Monday sifted through the wreckage of the helicopter crash that killed basketball legend Kobe Bryant and eight other people, hoping to find clues to what caused the accident that stunned the world.

Bryant, 41, was traveling Sunday with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers and crew when the Sikorsky S-76 slammed into a rugged hillside in thick fog in Calabasas, northwest of LA. There were no survivors.

A five-time NBA champion for his only team, the LA Lakers, and a double Olympic gold medalist, Bryant is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players in history.

He was traveling on his private helicopter from Orange County, where he lived, to his Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are leading the investigation into the crash.

Kurt Keetz, a pilot who said he flew Bryant from 2014 to 2016, told the Los Angeles Times he suspects the crash was most likely caused by bad weather rather than engine trouble.

“The likelihood of a catastrophic twin-engine failure on that aircraft — it just doesn’t happen,” he said.

The fog was heavy enough on Sunday that the Los Angeles Police Department grounded its helicopters until the afternoon, spokesman Josh Rubeinstein told AFP.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department also had no helicopters flying Sunday morning, Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters.

The Washington Post, citing air traffic control audio recordings, reported however that Bryant’s pilot had received clearance to fly.

Witnesses told local media the helicopter appeared to be flying very low and seemed to struggle before it slammed into a hillside.

Dozens of firefighters and paramedics battled across hilly terrain to reach the flaming wreckage but found no survivors.

 ‘LA feels empty’ 
Villanueva said the recovery effort would probably take days because the steep terrain at the crash site made it a “logistical nightmare.”

Apart from Bryant and his daughter Gianna, the other passengers on the flight included baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri and their daughter Alyssa, who played basketball at the same club as Gianna.

Christina Mauser, an assistant coach of the Mamba girls’ basketball team, was also killed along with Sarah and Payton Chester, a mother and daughter.

News of the crash reverberated across the globe and hundreds gathered at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, where Bryant wowed fans for 20 years, placing flowers, candles and messages for their fallen hero.

“It’s unbelievable that he is gone,” said Esmeralda Cisneros. “Everyone feels empty. California and LA feel empty without him.

Tributes have also flooded in from former US presidents, pop stars and athletes from different sports, a sign of how the man known as the “Black Mamba” had transcended basketball.

“Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act,” Barack Obama tweeted.

The NBA announced that it had postponed Tuesday’s Lakers game against the Los Angeles Clipper in the wake of the tragedy.

“The decision was made out of respect for the Lakers organization, which is deeply grieving the tragic loss of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people in a helicopter crash on Sunday,” a statement said.

Bryant’s career began in 1996, straight out of high school. On top of his NBA championship wins, he helped the US squad of all-stars to Olympic titles in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.

Fairytale farewell
Bryant bowed out of the NBA in 2016, scoring 60 points in a fairytale farewell appearance at the Staples Center.

The son of former NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, the Lakers legend was born in Philadelphia while his father played for the 76ers.

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.

He would eventually join the ranks of professionals at the age of 17, jumping directly into the NBA, only the sixth player to make such a leap.

At 18, Bryant became, at the time, the youngest player or starter in an NBA game and the youngest winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

With Bryant alongside Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers captured three straight NBA crowns from 2000-2002, returning the team to glory days unseen since 1988.

Bryant’s career was almost derailed in 2003 when he was arrested in Colorado over a sexual assault complaint filed by a 19-year-old hotel employee where Bryant was staying ahead of knee surgery.

He admitted to adultery but denied an accusation of rape and the case was dropped in 2004 after the accuser refused to testify.

A separate civil suit was settled under terms kept private.

After his playing career, Bryant branched out into the entertainment industry.

In 2018, he won an Oscar for his animated short film “Dear Basketball”, a love letter to the sport which brought him fame and fortune. The film was made available for free on Monday on Vimeo and the dearbasketball.com website.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

The Los Angeles Lakers will have more time to mourn the death of Kobe Bryant before returning to the court after the NBA on Monday postponed Tuesday’s scheduled game Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Staples Center matchup, which had been set to be the first NBA game on the Lakers’ home court since Lakers legend Bryant died in a helicopter crash Sunday, will be rescheduled at a later date.

“The decision was made out of respect for the Lakers organization, which is deeply grieving the tragic loss,” the NBA said in announcing the postponement.

The next scheduled Lakers game is on Friday at Staples Center against Portland.

Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people were killed in the crash in the suburban Los Angeles hills near Calabasas, California.

An outpouring of grief from fans and athletes worldwide has included those in Los Angeles who have gathered outside the arena and left items in tribute to Bryant, considered by many the most outstanding athlete from any Los Angeles sports team.

The Lakers own the second-best record in the NBA at 36-10, the best mark in the Western Conference.

Lakers star LeBron James overtook Bryant for third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list in a loss Saturday at Philadelphia only hours before the fatal crash.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Kobe Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna, who died alongside her father in the helicopter crash that claimed the life of the NBA legend, had shown signs that she could further her father’s glittering basketball legacy.

Her proud father once said the second-born of the Los Angeles Lakers star’s four daughters with wife Vanessa was “something else” on the basketball court.

Bryant’s eldest daughter, 17-year-old Natalia, prefers volleyball, Bianka is only three and Capri was only born last year.

So the 41-year-old NBA great’s basketball hopes were invested in Gianna.

“It’s a trip to see her move and the expressions she makes. It’s a trip how genetics work,” Bryant told US chat show host Jimmy Kimmel in 2018.

“The best thing that happens is when we go out and fans would come up to me and she’ll be standing next to me… and they’ll be like, ‘You’ve gotta have a boy, you and V. gotta have a boy.

“You gotta have somebody to carry on your tradition, the legacy. She (Gianna) is like, ‘I got this’. I’m like, ‘that’s right’,” he went on. “Yes, you do, you got this.”

Gianna’s passion for basketball meant she was often pictured sitting alongside her father at games, watching his beloved Lakers at the Staples Center or the WNBA team Los Angeles Sparks.

She often worked out with her father in the gymnasium of the family’s villa in Newport Beach and he took pride in coaching her high school team when his schedule permitted.

Gianna was on the helicopter that crashed because she was travelling to a tournament in the Los Angeles suburbs to play for her team, called the Mamba Team, after one of her father’s nicknames.

One of her teammates was also on board the helicopter and was also among the dead.

Gianna’s future had already been mapped out — her heart was set on going to Connecticut, the most prestigious women’s basketball program in the US.

And of course, she had introductions that other young girls players could only dream of — her father’s former agent Rob Pelinka introduced her to basketball stars and coaches.

Derek Fisher, a Lakers teammate of her father and now coach of the WNBA Sparks, had noticed that Kobe’s steely will to win had rubbed off on Gianna.

“They have the similar demeanor and personality,” Fisher said.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Jonas Terrado

The local basketball scene was left heartbroken Monday after waking up to the news of basketball legend Kobe Bryant’s death.

Bryant left a lasting impression among Filipino hoop fans after leaving no dull moment during his seven trips to Manila in 1998, 2007, 2009, twice in 2011, 2013 and 2016.

All visits showed Bryant’s ability of being charismatic, a trait which adored him to many basketball followers in this part of the globe.

While all visits were nothing short of memorable, many still recall the time when Bryant got a chance to showcase his talents on full display in front of a packed crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in July 2011.

He was part of a group of NBA cagers who faced a PBA selection and the original Gilas Pilipinas in a two-day event dubbed as the Ultimate All-Star Weekend.

“His handful of trips to the Philippines has made him one of the most beloved NBA players among Filipino fans and we all remember these moments fondly, especially the Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend where he amazed us with his authentic personality,” said Manny V. Pangilinan, whose company bankrolled and organized the two-day exhibition.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coach Tim Cone was able to see Bryant in 1998 when the then-19-year-old made his first trip to the Philippines.

Bryant was on hand for Game 6 of the 1998 Commissioner’s Cup between Cone’s Alaska Milkmen and the San Miguel Beermen at the Big Dome where he later showcased his dunking skills during halftime.

Cone and the Milkmen would later win the game and the title, 85-74.

While Cone no longer had vivid memories of seeing Bryant, he was quick to reflect on his greatness.

“I watched endless videos of Kobe as I studied the Triangle. Transcendent talent,” said Cone, who is known for implementing the Triangle Offense which Bryant had mastered during his time under coach Phil Jackson.

Cone also felt that many were robbed of the possibilities Bryant can do in his post-basketball life.

“We will all miss what he would have done in the second part of his life,” he said. “It would have been spectacular like the first part.”

A banner commemorating Bryant’s last visit in 2016 still hangs in the rafters of the Big Dome, a tribute to the Los Angeles Lakers legend’s impact on this hoops-crazy nation.

The Big Dome later allowed fans to pay tribute to Bryant at the green gate lobby, drawing hundreds of fans who brought flowers, candles and memorabilia. (With a report from Waylon Galvez)

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Tiger Woods was on the course and in contention when news began to spread that his former training partner Kobe Bryant had died.

The mood at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in Southern California Sunday quickly turned somber according to Rich Lerner, who was commenting for US television.

“Eerily quiet on the grounds of Torrey Pines,” he said. “People had their heads down, looking at their cellphones trying to come to grips with the terrible reality.

“This place was absolutely shaken.”

Yet caddy Joey LaCava managed to keep the news from Tiger Woods, who knew Bryant and whose career for a long time ran parallel with the Laker great.

“I was trying to win the golf tournament,” Woods said immediately after the round. “Joey realized that I was locked in on that and didn’t want to distract me with that type of news.”

“People were yelling, ‘Do it for Mamba.’ Now I understand,” Woods said, referring to Bryant’s nickname. “People yell things all the time, so I was just plodding along, doing my own thing.”

“I grew up a diehard Laker fan. He was part of the most historic franchise in the NBA. Ultimate toughness. Ultimate competitor.”

Before relocating to Florida, Woods lived not far from Bryant just outside Los Angeles.

“I had a house in Newport (Beach). We’d work out together and hang a little bit but when I sold that house I didn’t really see him that often every now and again he’d reach out and I’d reach out to him.”

“I was always getting up early, he’d get up early and we’d work out. He missed being competitive,” said Woods, speaking to media “eight or nine minutes” after learning the news.

– ‘We’re very similar’ –

“We really connected on the mental side the prep how much it takes to be prepared. I don’t have to react like he does in my sport. We can take our time, but you still have to pay attention to the details — that’s what he did probably better than any other player in NBA history.

“He paid attention to details, to those little things.

“That’s where he and I really connected. We’re very similar.”

Woods, who is 44, turned professional in August 1996. Bryant, who was 41, was drafted June that year in by the Charlotte before being traded to the Lakers and made his NBA debut in November that year.

“He came in the league and I turned pro more or less the same time. We had our 20-year run together.”

“It’s unbelievable, the reality that he’s no longer here,” said Woods.

Caddy Je LaCava did not tell Tiger Woods the news about Kobe Bryant

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Nick Kyrgios said he was “shattered” by defeat to Rafael Nadal but added he’s “made progress as a human” after a promising Australian Open campaign ended in the fourth round on Monday.

The often combustible Australian has cut a calmer figure at his home Grand Slam tournament, even in the cauldron of his 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4) loss on Rod Laver Arena.

“I’m shattered to have lost tonight. Obviously these are the matches that I want to win the most. But overall this (Australian) summer has been fun,” Kyrgios said.

The basketball-mad 24-year-old was deeply affected by the death of Kobe Bryant, and he arrived on court wearing a Lakers shirt in tribute to the American great.

But he said the “horrendous” news had given him motivation for his match against Nadal, the world number one and 19-time Grand Slam winner.

“I feel like I’ve made progress as a human. A tennis player, I don’t really care about as much,” he said.

Melbourne, Australia | AFP | Monday 1/27/2020 – 21:43 UTC+8 | 313 words

Nick Kyrgios said he was “shattered” by defeat to Rafael Nadal but added he’s “made progress as a human” after a promising Australian Open campaign ended in the fourth round on Monday.

The often combustible Australian has cut a calmer figure at his home Grand Slam tournament, even in the cauldron of his 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4) loss on Rod Laver Arena.

“I’m shattered to have lost tonight. Obviously these are the matches that I want to win the most. But overall this (Australian) summer has been fun,” Kyrgios said.

The basketball-mad 24-year-old was deeply affected by the death of Kobe Bryant, and he arrived on court wearing a Lakers shirt in tribute to the American great.

But he said the “horrendous” news had given him motivation for his match against Nadal, the world number one and 19-time Grand Slam winner.

“I feel like I’ve made progress as a human. A tennis player, I don’t really care about as much,” he said.

“I want to keep going in this direction, for sure… the trouble for me is being able to actually just produce the same attitude over and over again.

“I mean, hopefully I can keep doing it. I’m just taking it day by day, trying to be positive, just bring positive vibes.”

Kyrgios gained new respect for spearheading fundraising efforts for Australia’s deadly bushfires, a crisis which he said had given him a new perspective.

He was handed a suspended 16-week ban in September after a string of indiscretions and on-court meltdowns.

Kyrgios, who has said he prefers basketball to tennis, said of Bryant: “I don’t think they make them like him anymore. He was different, the way he trained, the way he did things, the way he played.

“He was special. Just sad. When I think about (how) my life is literally basketball, it’s heavy. It’s tough.”

 

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

NBA legend Kobe Bryant will be mourned for a week in Italy where he spent much of his childhood, the Italian basketball federation (FIP) said on Monday.

A minute’s silence will be observed before games before each age category to honor Kobe, who FIP president Giovanni Petrucci said “has been and will always be linked to Italy”.

“It’s a small but heartfelt and deserved gesture to honor the life and memory of Kobe Bryant, an absolute champion who always had Italy in his heart,” Petrucci said.

Kobe, 41, lost his life in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles on Sunday, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people.

Bryant lived in Italy between the ages of six and 13 when his father, Joe Bryant, a professional basketballer, played for several teams.

The family first lived in the central city of Rieti. They later moved to Reggio Calabria in the south of Italy, Pistoia in Tuscany and Reggio Emilia in the north.

His former team, NPC Rieti, posted a childhood photo of Kobe along with the tribute: “You made us dream, feel and above all fall in love. It was in Rieti that you first started to make your little opponents cry. We’re proud to have been the first to see you tread the courts. We’ll never forget you, Kobe.”

Kobe often described Reggio Emilia as “a special place” where “I became what I am”.

“Forever one of us,” local basketball team Pallacanestro Reggiana posted, alongside pictures of him as part of its youth team.

“Kobe Bryant grew up here and he was a Reggiano for all of us. He left us today. A basketball legend that our whole city will remember forever with affection and gratitude. Ciao Kobe,” the mayor of Reggio Emilia, Luca Vecchi wrote on Facebook.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Reuters

World number one Rafa Nadal lost his first set of the tournament but rode out a spirited challenge from Nick Kyrgios to move into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the 12th time with a 6-3 3-6 7-6 (6) 7-6(4) victory on Monday.

Australian Kyrgios was a match for the 19-times Grand Slam champion in the second and for most of the third set but the muscle-bound Spaniard always looked like the most likely winner once he got his nose back in front.

Kyrgios broke back when Nadal was serving for the match in the fourth set to reignite the contest and bring the partisan Rod Laver Arena crowd back into the equation.

The top seed gritted his teeth and went again in the tiebreak, however, moving through to a last-eight meeting with Austrian Dominic Thiem when Kyrgios netted a forehand after three hours and 38 minutes.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Germany’s Alexander Zverev ended the hot streak of his close friend Andrey Rublev of Russia to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time on Monday.

The seventh seed broke once in each set for a clinical 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win in just 1hr 37mins to go into a match-up with Stan Wawrinka, the powerful Swiss who beat Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.

Zverev retains his 100 percent record over Rublev, who came into the match on a 15-match winning run including titles in Doha and Adelaide earlier this month.

After a long embrace at the net, Zverev, 22, said: “I’ve known him since we were 10 years old. I just reminded him how far we got together.

“A lot of young kids would dream about playing the fourth round of a Grand Slam against one of his closest friends. I just told him we’re going to play a lot of great matches.”

It was a one-sided win for Zverev, who faced no break points as he reached his first quarter-final in five visits to Melbourne — equalling his best Grand Slam result, achieved last year at Roland Garros.

Source: Manila Bulletin