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-Obits-
Kobe Bryant and daughter among 9 killed in helicopter crash near LA
2020-01-27
(CNN) -- It's hard to believe NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, whose prodigious talent and fiery, win-at-all-costs spirit made him one of the most famous and decorated athletes in history, is gone.

He was the rare celebrity who didn't need a last name. Oprah. LeBron. Beyonce. Kobe. Everyone knew who you were talking about.

Still youthful at 41, Bryant -- who died in a helicopter crash Sunday in California -- looked like he could suit up and drop 30 points on a rival NBA team. It doesn't seem that long ago that he was scoring 60 points in his final NBA game, soaking up the cheers of Los Angeles Lakers fans who worshiped him for two decades as one of the city's favorite sons.

After his 20-year NBA career -- all with the Lakers -- Bryant is all but assured of being a first-ballot inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later this year.

"He was a fierce competitor, one of the greats of the game and a creative force," said fellow NBA icon Michael Jordan.

An 18-time All-Star, Bryant was known for his remarkable scoring ability -- his turnaround jumper was nearly unstoppable -- and his championship pedigree. He teamed with fellow All-Star Shaquille O'Neal to win three consecutive NBA titles from 2000 to 2002 and later won two more rings, in 2009 and 2010.

Known as the Black Mamba -- a nickname he gave himself -- Bryant twice led the NBA in scoring and won the league's Most Valuable Player award in 2008.

Bryant's daughter Gianna, 13, was with her father on the helicopter and was also killed in the crash, a source with knowledge of the situation told CNN.

"There's no words to express the pain Im going through with this tragedy of loosing my neice Gigi & my brother @kobebryant I love u and u will be missed," said O'Neal on Twitter. "My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. IM SICK RIGHT NOW."

O'Neal later went on to write in a separate post: "Kobe was so much more than an athlete, he was a family man. That was what we had most in common. We love our families. Whenever we got together I would hug his children like they were my own and he would embrace my kids like they were his. His baby girl Gigi was born on the same day as my youngest daughter Me'Arah.

"R.I.P"
Posted by:Besoeker

#22  Hah, take that, rollover!
Posted by: Cheresing Pheasing4916   2020-01-27 23:59  

#21  You're missing the bigger picture there, Lex. It's about the the long arc of human progress! The liberation and uplifting of an oppressed people. Their march toward dignity and self-realisation. All that stuff.

Black people are more self-reliant;
To the order of things, more compliant.
Well... not us ourselves --
for who studies or delves? --
But our carnival giants like Bryant.

Or any corruptocrat's client. Or prime time crime rhymers. Self-destructing moonwalking crooners so freaky that it'd almost be a relief if they were just normal pedos... that we call by their first names. Woke politicians from O-where. Heroes!
Posted by: Cheresing Pheasing4916   2020-01-27 23:59  

#20  [Daily Mail] [Ara Zobayan] was a licensed commercial helicopter pilot of 12 years, certified flight instructor of two years and a ground instructor of 11 years, according to federal aviation records.
Posted by: KBK   2020-01-27 23:58  

#19  Why do we give a fook about this over-muscled moron?

What is wrong with our society that we lavish such remorse, so much acre, upon an oversized sexual predator and dunce famous for putting a round ball into a round hole while wearing shiny underwear?
Posted by: Lex   2020-01-27 23:20  

#18  Lord garth--4000 feet/minute is easily achieved if you're going 150 miles/hour on a shallow O(15degree) descent. Daily Mail went into some detail about the SVFR request. It implied that the some scheduling advantages to not flying instrument.
Posted by: James   2020-01-27 23:05  

#17  Seems like a case of vanity and self importance getting trumped by reality. The fog and ground didn't care who he was. And 8 other people paid the price.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2020-01-27 19:03  

#16  Sounds like he was on a vfr or special vfr clearance. Flying on instruments in a helicopter is a lot more critical than flying IFR in fixed wing. 49 Pan can tell you about that.

From my distant view, it was probably flying visual flight conditions into instrument flight conditions. Lots of people have done it, in both fixed and rotary wing. Not a healthy choice. Very tragic.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2020-01-27 19:02  

#15  I don't think she was underage but she was really, really young

nineteen
Posted by: Lex   2020-01-27 16:13  

#14  Ole Black Mamba was found in a lot of different biomes.

I seem to remember Olympian Basketballers Gone Wild in Europe, and some white kid in Colorado - I don't think she was underage but she was really, really young. It was reported he made up with his family, but his wife was sporting a diamond the size of an acorn.

Those A-List Deadpool commenters may not want to lick too deep with the tongue bath.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2020-01-27 15:29  

#13  He was the rare celebrity who didn't need a last name. Oprah. LeBron. Beyonce. Kobe. Everyone knew who you were talking about.

Trump.
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-01-27 13:35  

#12  The LAPD claims that it had grounded its Air Support Division because of reports of heavy fog in the region that morning.

Always check the weather forecast before you set sail...or take off.

A limo would have been cheaper and less dangerous but a lot slower. In Los Angeles, ground transportation is slow and traffic conditions are unpredictable. A trip from John Wayne Airport in Orange County to Thousand Oaks under ideal conditions might take an hour. But ideal conditions are rare. Most likely it'd be more like two hours or even more. You just never know. Horrendous traffic jams can happen any time and anywhere for what might seem to be trivial reasons. We pay higher gas taxes, higher taxes in general, than any other state in the nation but, especially when it comes to freeways, we don't get our money's worth.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2020-01-27 13:09  

#11  I read on another report (Fox LA) that the helicopter was traveling at about 150 mph and descending at 4000' per minute when it crashed.

That descent rate is essentially a free fall. Maybe the number was wrong.
Posted by: lord garth   2020-01-27 13:05  

#10  sorry about his innocent daughter and other passengers.

But karma for Mr. "Strong Hands"
Posted by: Lex   2020-01-27 13:00  

#9  He was cleared up to 2500 feet AGL, but was flying at 1400. He was told he was too low for that transit. And yes, the S-76 has GPS. He was flying Special VFR however he was way outside VFR conditions. Pilot error all the way.
Posted by: Lampedusa Gray6956   2020-01-27 12:52  

#8  I'm no helicopter pilot but don't they come equipped with altimeters and GPS? Was the pilot not paying attention? Even in the fog, he should have known where he was.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2020-01-27 12:44  

#7  Milk of human kindness, he was.

And his hands were strong:

When asked about bruises on the accuser's neck, Bryant admitted to "strangling" her during the encounter, stating that he held her "from the back" "around her neck", that strangling during sex was his "thing" and that he had a pattern of strangling a different sex partner (not his wife) during their recurring sexual encounters.

When asked how hard he was holding onto her neck, Bryant stated, "My hands are strong. I don't know."
Posted by: Lex   2020-01-27 09:55  

#6  Lodge and Spa at Cordillera 19 year old employees are finally safe.
Posted by: Woodrow   2020-01-27 09:46  

#5  https://www.zerohedge.com/political/wapo-cnn-reporters-spark-massive-backlash-kobe-was-rapist-tweets
Posted by: Clem   2020-01-27 08:41  

#4  The Lib-tards are eating fighting amongst themselves again:
Posted by: Clem   2020-01-27 08:41  

#3  /\ Yes, the media is absolutely swamped with Kobe news. A horrific and tragic loss of life, but such a media frenzy.

Unrelated, but I learned from an airline friend yesterday that Delta will likely end up paying $1.5m to each of the school kids and faculty that were on the playground when that jet dumped fuel and RTB in L.A. last week.
Posted by: Besoeker   2020-01-27 07:39  

#2  And now our Princess Di moment. It's not about him, it's about us.
Posted by: P2kontheroad   2020-01-27 07:21  

#1  LA Times - Dense fog impaired visibility at time of crash that killed Kobe Bryant

The chopper appeared to slam into the hillside and burst into flames. Several experts have said the weather will probably be a key part of the initial investigation.

The crash occurred as dense fog blanketed the area of the crash.
Posted by: Besoeker   2020-01-27 02:08  

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