Tributes to late basketball legend Kobe Bryant have been abound on social media since his shocking helicopter crash death on Sunday, which took the 41-year-old former Los Angeles Laker, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others in southern California.
Karl Anthony Towns, Wolves center / Twitter & Instagram:
The news of your passing not only numbed my body, but everyone’s around me. I grew up idolizing you and wanting to just have the chance to meet you. Never in my wildest dreams, did I think I would not only meet you but compete against you.I remember being at Day Park in Piscataway with @viksingh__ recreating every single one of your game winning shots, practicing your fadeaway jump shot and mimicking all your moves.I remember playing @nba2k with @viksingh__ on situation mode and just shooting game winning shots with #24. A huge part of my childhood and my being as a basketball player has left the world. The basketball world, society, and my world and it will all never be the same.Rest In Peace to Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi, and everyone else involved in this tragedy. My prayers are with your families, loved ones, and anyone that feels affected as I do.
Chris Johnson, USF men’s basketball coach:
Just floored by the news of Kobe, has 4 young daughters and a wife that are now without a Dad or husband. Fan of his or not this is gut wrenching.
Former USD and Texas Tech guard Matt Mooney retweeted a video of Bryant shooting free throws after he blew out an Achilles late in his career, with the words “I’m crying, bro. I really am.”
Former SDSU All-Summit League guard David Jenkins, Jr., simply tweeted, “R.I.P. GOAT,” with a black and white photo of Bryant and the years of his birth and death (1978-2020).
There is also this from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
Gophers coach Richard Pitino found out about the unexpected death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant on Sunday afternoon before his team played against Michigan State, but he told his players afterward.
Sophomore center Daniel Oturu, who made it known to teammates and coaches he idolized Bryant, seemed hardest hit by the news, Pitino said.
The former Los Angeles Lakers star tragically died in a helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter and seven others earlier Sunday. Oturu cried hearing about it following Sunday’s 70-52 loss to the Spartans at Williams Arena.
“Daniel Oturu is a humongous Kobe Bryant fan,” Pitino said. “He was devastated after the game. I mean, in tears. He was rocked by it.”
On Sunday night, Oturu posted on his Instagram account a selfie he took as a high school standout with Bryant at a Nike Camp in 2017. The Gophers 6-foot-10 star wrote on social media about what Bryant meant to him, which echoed so many other fans, athletes and basketball players locally and around the world.
“You were more than just my favorite player,” Oturu wrote. “You were my hero. My heart is so broken. Rest in Peace Kobe. I’ll never forget what you meant to me.”
Bryant’s greatness inspired Oturu to always work on improving his game.
After starting on the U’s NCAA tournament team as a freshman in 2018-19, Oturu’s hard work in the offseason turned him into one of the top big men in college basketball this year. He’s averaging a team-best 19.7 points and Big Ten-leading 11.3 rebounds for the Gophers through 19 games.
On a wall facing Oturu’s bed in his childhood home in Woodbury still hangs a poster of Bryant. Hanging in front of that picture are medals Oturu received in high school, including when his game-winning dunk led Cretin-Derham Hall to the Minnesota Class 4A state championship his senior year in 2018.
The same NBA superstar featured in posters in Oturu’s bedroom gave him and other campers advice about the game of basketball and life a few years ago at Bryant’s Nike Skills Academy in Los Angeles.