Kobe Bryant Celebrated on his 2nd year death anniversary

Wednesday 26th January marked 2-year since the Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant died.

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Bryant and Nine other people, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, died in a helicopter crash as they were heading to a youth sports academy for a basketball game.
Lakers icon Jerry West reflected on Bryant’s passing terming him as a unique player of all time.
“[Kobe] was just one of those unique players that come along,” West said. “He had a big personality. He was very bright. He would be a bigger success off the court than on the court. He was taken away too young.”
Jerry West spent a lifetime becoming one of the most decorated figures in N.B.A. history as a player and an executive, but these days, his routine includes daily workouts, coronavirus testing, and a regular gin rummy game with some friends.
West, 83, is also a consultant with the Los Angeles Clippers and likes to stay current on today’s N.B.A. game, evaluating players just as he used to when he was a team executive.

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In the past two years, West has faced the deaths of two close friends in Elgin Baylor, a Hall of Fame player who became his mentor when the Lakers drafted West, and Kobe Bryant, whom West traded for as the general manager of the Lakers shortly after Bryant was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996. Baylor, 86, died of natural causes in March 2021, and Bryant, 41, was killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
Tributes poured in from around the sports world as they remembered the late 41-year-old NBA legend.
Last February, the NTSB concluded in its final report that the crash was likely caused by pilot error.
In an 86-page report, the NTSB determined that helicopter pilot Ara Zobayan flew under adverse weather conditions and became disoriented due to bad weather and likely chose to fly because he was transporting a high-profile client.
In September, Bryant’s wife Vanessa filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County that alleges photos from the crash site were passed around by county fire and sheriff’s department employees at bars and award galas.
Earlier this month, a federal judge denied the county’s motion to have the lawsuit thrown out, CNN reported.
The trial is set for Feb. 22.

Early 1996

Bryant worked out in Los Angeles, where he scrimmaged against former Lakers players Larry Drew and Michael Cooper and, according to then-Laker manager Jerry West, “marched over these people”.
The Lakers were looking to trade their starting center Vlade Divac for a player’s draft rights to free up salary-cap space to make an offer to free-agent center Shaquille O’Neal. Bill Branch, the Charlotte Hornets’ head scout at the time, said that the Hornets agreed to trade their No. 13 pick to the Lakers the day before the draft. Before the trade agreement, the Hornets never considered drafting Bryant. During the draft, the Lakers told the Hornets whom to select minutes before the pick was made. Bryant was the first guard drafted directly out of high school. After the draft, the trade was put in jeopardy when Divac threatened to retire rather than be traded from Los Angeles. However, on June 30, Divac relented on his threat, and the trade was made final on July 9, 1996, when the league’s off-season moratorium ended. Since Bryant was still 17 at the time, his parents had to cosign his contract with the Lakers until he was able to sign his own when he turned 18 before the season began. Bryant signed a three-year rookie contract totaling $3.5 million.