TMZ Reporting That Kobe Bryant Has Died in a Helicopter Crash
January 26th, 2020 at 2:40 PM ^
Yes, several other news outlets are also reporting it now. Sad. A wife & 4 kids. Prayers for that family.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:18 PM ^
Jesus Christ. RIP Kobe and everyone else.
Edit: Deleted info regarding the other victims. Don't trust am950.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:21 PM ^
This, if true, makes it much much worse.
My prayers for his other family members, especially his wife and the mother of those kids.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:34 PM ^
This is not confirmed. A lot of rumors floating around and this was just one of them. As of 3:30pm EST only Kobe is confirmed as 1 of the 5.
Edit: Someone below just posted this:
Sources have confirmed that neither #Bryant’s wife or children were on board of the helicopter that crashed.
— Alexis Wainwright (@AWainwrightTV)
January 26th, 2020 at 3:34 PM ^
Most reports saying kids weren’t with him. Some ABC announcer decided to say they were “possibly” with him and his irresponsibility is making the rounds.
Its possible they were but unknown as of yet.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:49 PM ^
TMZ reporting 1 daughter was on board...
January 26th, 2020 at 3:56 PM ^
Yes. :(
January 26th, 2020 at 4:08 PM ^
This one cuts too deep.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:56 PM ^
They're now reporting that his daughter Gigi died as well. Wow?
January 26th, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
Yea I’m seeing Kobe, his daughter, his daughters friend/team mate, and one of her parents. On their way to a travel basketball game
January 27th, 2020 at 1:53 AM ^
Kobe was bigger than just LA...but the man the City of LA is a total wreck. Everyone in total disbelief, but nice to see Kobe jerseys and Lakers shirts out everywhere tonight. RIP Mamba. ???
January 26th, 2020 at 2:41 PM ^
Fuck.
January 26th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^
No no no no no
January 26th, 2020 at 2:45 PM ^
This can’t be real
January 26th, 2020 at 2:45 PM ^
Was TMZ hacked and it's fake news, or is it real?
January 26th, 2020 at 2:47 PM ^
A local ABC affiliate has confirmed the news.
January 26th, 2020 at 2:48 PM ^
Nooooo. Man...if this is true...
January 26th, 2020 at 2:51 PM ^
I honestly can't even comprehend it. It's Kobe, I don't want to believe it.
January 26th, 2020 at 2:52 PM ^
One has nothing to do with the other, but crazy that this happened the day after LeBron passed him on the all time scoring list.
Kobe is a contemporary of mine and was just such a joy to watch play. He was a truly special player and we are better as sports fans for having had a chance to enjoy his tremendous talent on the court.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:06 PM ^
Kobe is dead??? That is both shocking and tragic. To die the day after Lebron passed him on the all-time scoring list, that's...whoa.
Whoa.
January 26th, 2020 at 2:55 PM ^
The day after Lebron passed him for 3rd? Fucking tragic...I don't even know what else to say.
January 26th, 2020 at 2:58 PM ^
No words. Stunned
January 26th, 2020 at 2:58 PM ^
Whoa. Yikes. I don't see it on ESPN. CNN reports the crash killed 5 but doesn't mention Kobe. I guess it's what we would call "developing" at this point. TMZ is probably first because they don't need family or police confirmation before they run with something, they'll do it with the first source.
EDIT: ESPN just put it up on their website citing an unnamed source and Pro Bowl announcers just read it on-air.
RIP Black Mamba. Apt nickname. Most competitive, cold-blooded, deadly assassin I've ever seen on a court, or at least on that level with MJ.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:02 PM ^
ESPN/Woj is confirming.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:06 PM ^
TMZ is probably first because they don't need family or police confirmation before they run with something
ESPN ain't some paragon of journalistic integrity either these days.
Miles to Michigan. Just sayin'.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:00 PM ^
RIP
It just doesn't seem real as I just typed those three letters in regards to Kobe Bryant...
January 26th, 2020 at 3:00 PM ^
RIP Kobe. Always liked him despite being a Pistons fan.
Feel terrible for his family and friends.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:03 PM ^
Woj confirming for ESPN. It’s real. Damn, only 41. I’m speechless. https://mobile.twitter.com/wojespn/status/1221521133608079368
January 26th, 2020 at 3:07 PM ^
Man, that sucks. RIP Kobe. Far too young.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:07 PM ^
Fuck... horrible, horrible news. Wasn’t a huge Kobe fan but fuck, it’s Kobe! Fucking heartbroken!
edit: ABC News is reporting his daughters were also onboard. This is beyond horrible.
edit2: Thankfully, it looks like the ABC News report of his daughters being onboard were not true.
January 26th, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
TMZ reports his oldest daughter Gianna was in the helicopter and died too
January 26th, 2020 at 3:08 PM ^
Tragic. RIP Kobe.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^
Eerie that it happened the day after LeBron broke his record.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:11 PM ^
Shocking news. Doesn’t even compute.
And a year older than I am. Has kids the same age as mine.
Life is a vapor. Boast not thyself of tomorrow.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:15 PM ^
Holy shit. Only a year older than me. Some reports saying his kids were on the helicopter? So sad.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:19 PM ^
I really hope not. Speaking as a father, I guarantee that Kobe would consider that worse than dying himself.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:25 PM ^
January 26th, 2020 at 3:19 PM ^
Tragic. He left behind a wife and 4 kids. One of his kids was just born in July 2019. RIP Kobe.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:19 PM ^
Hopefully I misunderstood the ABC News guy, but I’m pretty sure he said the 4 kids were on board as well, which would be brutal.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:37 PM ^
Some on air boob decided to say “kids possibly on board” with zero confirmation or sources. He’s literally the only one “reporting” the “possibility”
January 26th, 2020 at 3:21 PM ^
If you came of age in the early 2000s, Kobe was everything. He was way bigger than Jordan. I have so many memories flooding back of being a kid, growing up in a cloistered Midwest suburb, staying up late to watch him score 81. Talking about it with my friends at school. Trying to impersonate his fade away jumper on the playground. He was such a central part of a sports-loving kid's life. It's impossible to grasp that he's gone just like that.
RIP
January 26th, 2020 at 3:21 PM ^
1. Damn.
2. To hell with TMZ. Leeches, the lot of them.
January 27th, 2020 at 12:09 PM ^
What did TMZ do wrong?
January 26th, 2020 at 3:23 PM ^
Jesus do I hope the kids weren't on board. Awful.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:23 PM ^
Just a tragedy. I've read reporting his family wasn't on the helicopter with him, but if they were with him it's an even bigger tragedy.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:27 PM ^
January 26th, 2020 at 3:33 PM ^
My favorite sports video game was Kobe Bryant in NBA courtside in like 98. He was only 10 years older than me but as a kid he was already larger than life. I think what resonated with so many young basketball players was that Kobe was the epitome of hard work. While of course he was blessed athletically, he wasn’t an out of this world athletic freak. Kids thought they could be Kobe one day.
Ask anyone who grew up in the 90’s and early 2000’s what they yelled as they took a fade-away. It always was “Kobe!”
Celebrity deaths don’t normally get to me too much but this one is.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:48 PM ^
RIP Kobe. Every day is a gift, appreciate it.
My favorite Kobe memory was the 2008 Olympics Final, victory over Spain. A game literally played in the middle of the night (on the East Coast). I was back in Detroit for the weekend, watching at 4 AM on the porch of my childhood home on a sultry August overnight, heat lightning off in the distance.
Kobe took over late in a classic basketball game where everyone played remarkably well and there were all-stars over the place. It was a game that USA Basketball HAD to win, for redemption for 2004 and to re-assert itself at the top of the World Basketball pyramid. And Kobe was the alpha dog at the end to get that win.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:50 PM ^
I like that team, and I think higher of a lot of guys that were on it because of how they approached those Olympics. And the moment where they all ran across the court to recognize Doug Collins, who was on the Munich team? Incredible.
January 26th, 2020 at 3:53 PM ^
Oh no.