January 26,
2020 is a tragic day for world sports. Five-time NBA champion and one of the
greatest players in basketball history, Kobe Bryant was tragically killed in a
helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. His 13-year-old daughter, Gianna,
who was one of the most talented basketball players her age, passed away with
him. In all, tragedy claimed the lives of nine people. Let's name all the
victims. John Altobelli, 56, head coach of the baseball team at Orange Coast
College in California, his wife Keri and their daughter Alyssa (who played on
the same team as Gianna). Another friend of Kobe's daughter, Peyton Chester,
13, and her mom Sarah. Also flying in the helicopter were the girls' coach,
Christina Mauser, 38, and pilot Ara Zobayan, 20.
They were on
their way to a junior tournament to be held at Bryant Academy. The NBA legend
used his personal helicopter quite often. The reason was trivial - to avoid
California traffic.
Kobe's helicopter was literally 30 yards short.
After Kobe Bryant's illustrious career ended, his life took on new colors. He wrote and published children's books, got involved in business (invested in startups, media, made nearly $200 million selling sports drink), won an Oscar for his short film "My Basketball" and, most importantly, focused on raising his four children. Only his second daughter, Gianna, became interested in basketball. To support her interest in her favorite game, Kobe became her team coach and prepared to make his daughter a future legend of the women's NBA.
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) January 26, 2020
Alas, fate
had other plans. One of the world's most reliable helicopters, the Sikorsky
S-76 (used by, among others, the British royal family), took off at 9:06 from
John Wayne Airport and 25 minutes later crashed into a hill at 290 kilometers
per hour. According to media reports, heavy fog hung over Los Angeles during
those hours. Several scheduled flights were delayed for this reason, and police
helicopters decided not to take to the skies temporarily.
Bryant and his traveling companions were not deterred. In addition, the pilot, Zobayan, had received permission to fly from the airport dispatcher (a recording of this conversation was preserved). The pilot was calm and up to some point clearly followed the instructions, but at some point communication was lost. When the helicopter descended to a height of about 600-700 meters, the dispatcher reported that he was losing it on his radar. Zobayan replied that he would now gain altitude and rise above the clouds. At this point tragedy struck.
Statistically,
plane crashes in the United States take about a year to investigate. This time
the case drags on. For 12 calendar months the press has received almost no
official data. Still, the tragic incident has some details.
For example,
ESPN was able to find out that Kobe's helicopter was literally 30 yards short
of getting out of the clouds. That would have resulted in a rescue. Perhaps in
a critical situation, the pilot made the wrong decision and instead of
continuing to climb, began a high-speed descent. Similar information comes from
the Bleacher Report, which refers to a report by the National Transportation
Safety Board. However, the report does not give a final conclusion about what
caused the accident, it ends with the statement "Zobayan may have misjudged
his position on the descent in low visibility conditions".
The same
ESPN revealed that Zobayan had already violated bad-weather flight rules in
2015. The pilot cooperated with the investigation and did not lose his license,
but five years later he repeated his mistake, with tragic consequences.
Five years for the victim photo
Kobe's widow, Vanessa Bryant, sued Island Express Helicopters, the company that operated the helicopter. Part of the blame has been placed on its deceased employee, Zobayan, who, according to Bryant's family attorneys, was negligent. Vanessa expects to receive "several hundred million dollars," The Blast writes.
The pilot's
attorneys insist on a different version. In their view, the blame lies entirely
with Bryant and the other passengers, who knew of the attendant risks and
volunteered to take them. We'll see whose side the court will be on. By the
way, relatives of the deceased Zobayan are asking for the trial to be moved
from Los Angeles because of Kobe's great popularity in the City of Angels. The
judges may be under pressure.
Vanessa also filed a
lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff because of the pictures of the
tragedy. The sheriff and his subordinates took pictures of the bodies on their
personal phones. They did not use these photos for the investigation, but
showed them to their friends and acquaintances. This came to light when one of
the deputies showed the photos from the crash site to a woman in a bar trying
to impress her. She reported it to the police.
This situation
was very actively discussed in the U.S. and led to changes in legislation in
the state of California. According to the new law in force since January 1,
2021, the first policemen and rescue workers arriving on the scene of a
disaster are prohibited from photographing the victims on their personal
gadgets, if it is not related to the interests of the investigation. You can
get up to five years in prison for such actions.
Kobe and pop culture.
Were it not
for the pandemic, Bryant's tragic death might have remained the main shocker of
2020. Every day there was, and continues to be, news about the bitter loss of
the Lakers legend (Kobe spent his entire 20-year career with the club).
Major stars have dedicated songs to him (Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne and even Anna Sedokova), had Kobe tattoos (LeBron James, Nick Kirios, Devin Booker), graffiti featuring the player and his daughter has appeared all over the world (the largest outside the United States in Bosnia), and Bryant's personal items have been auctioned off for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A street in
Los Angeles near the Staple Center, where Kobe spent most of his life, is named
after the player. And in Reggio Emilia, Italy, they decided not to be petty and
renamed a square after the basketball player. Kobe had lived in that city for
only a few years (1989-1991), when his dad Joe played for the local Reggiana.
Touching
videos dedicated to the legend have been released. For example, ESPN made a
beautiful video with Kobe and Gianna on Father's Day, featuring other NBA
players with children. The 90-second outfit maker decided to remind us how
Bryant taught us to be better. And Shaquille O'Neal shared archival videos of
the two supertops confronting each other in practice.
Representatives
from other sports also praised the legend. Tennis player Novak Djokovic honored
Kobe after winning the Australian Open by wearing a sweatshirt with game
numbers 8 and 24. Danish footballer Christian Ericsson took Inter's No. 24
(although it hasn't helped him at all so far), hockey player Alexander Ovechkin
came out to warm up wearing a jersey dedicated to Kobe (it was later sold at
auction for $9,000), boxer Roy Jones fought Mike Tyson wearing gloves with a
picture of a basketball player...
— NHL (@NHL) January 30, 2020
In the NBA,
Kobe was mentioned almost every day. Dallas owner Mark Cuban eliminated #24
from circulation (Kobe never played for the Mavericks), the Lakers wore
Bryant's uniform for a couple of games (and dedicated a championship trophy to
him), many clubs left two front row seats (in memory of Kobe and Gianna),
equipment manufacturers released a snakeskin-inspired ball... Events like this
could go on and on. But honestly - true Kobe fans expected more.
In 2020,
there was much discussion that Bryant's image should be the NBA logo. Right
now, it features another Lakers legend, Jerry West. But commissioner Adam
Silver didn't go along with the public's request, naming only the All-Star Game
MVP trophy after Bryant. Yes, it was a logical decision (Black Mamba won the
award a record four times), but fans have a feeling he deserved more
recognition.
