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Basketball legend and former Los Angeles Lakers star, Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on Sunday morning.
According to TMZ, Bryant, 41, was traveling with four other people – including Gianna- in his private helicopter when it crashed, killing everyone on board.
Officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to reports of the crash near Las Virgenes Rd and Willow Glen St in Calabasas at around 10am after a fire broke out.
Sources told TMZ the chopper was on its way to the Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks for basketball practice when the crash occurred, near the home of Kourtney Kardashian.
The crash took place in Calabasas, a city of about 25,000 people in the Santa Monica Mountains about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Art Marrujo, a dispatch supervisor with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said firefighters quickly doused the blaze.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Bryant retired in 2016 as a five-time NBA champion, 11-time All-NBA first-team selection, 2008 MVP, two-time Finals MVP, 18-time All-Star and four-time All-Star MVP who spent his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
After the 2015-16 season, Bryant was the third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 33,643 points, but on Saturday in Philadelphia, Lakers star LeBron James scored 29 points and passed Bryant on the scoring list.