Basketball legend Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash along with his teenage daughter yesterday sparked an outpouring of grief across the world.
In Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) tweeted that her “thoughts go out to Bryant’s family & the families of all those who lost loved ones today.”
“Kobe inspired a generation of young Taiwanese basketball players, & his legacy will live on through those who loved him,” she wrote.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard made his fifth visit to Taiwan in June 2016, when he was an instructor at a training camp for young basketball players.
Bryant, 41, was traveling on Sunday with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other passengers and crew when their helicopter slammed into a rugged hillside in thick fog in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles. There were no survivors.
A five-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Bryant is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players in history.
Photo: AFP
He was an iconic figure who became one of the faces of his sport during a glittering two-decade career with the Lakers.
All-time basketball great Michael Jordan said Bryant was “like a little brother” to him.
“Words can’t describe the pain I’m feeling,” the former Chicago Bulls star said. “We used to talk often and I will miss those conversations very much.”
Dozens of firefighters and paramedics battled across hilly terrain to reach the flaming wreckage of the Sikorsky S-76, but found no survivors, officials said.
Fans and mourners descended on the area, but police warned people to stay away.
“As you can imagine, it’s a logistical nightmare in a sense, because the crash site itself is not easily accessible,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters.
The National Transportation Safety Board said an 18-strong team of investigators would be sent to California to probe the crash.
Tributes to Bryant 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,” former US president Barack Obama tweeted.
“Laker Nation, the game of basketball & our city, will never be the same without Kobe,” former Lakers star Magic Johnson tweeted.
US football star Tom Brady wrote simply: “We miss you already Kobe.”
At the Australian Open, Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios wore a Lakers jersey before he took on Rafael Nadal.
At the Staples Center in Los Angeles, crowds of shocked fans gathered to pay tribute as the venue which witnessed many of Bryant’s career highlights hosted the music industry’s Grammy Awards.
Hundreds, many wearing purple and gold Lakers shirts, placed flowers and candles at a makeshift memorial for their hero.
“This dude is everything to me man. It makes no sense,” distraught Lakers fan Bobby Jimenez said.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan and CNA
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