https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/worl...n-helicopter-crash/ar-BBZlIkL?ocid=spartanntp
United States basketball legend Kobe Bryant has died in a helicopter crash in California, the city of Calabasas has confirmed.
The 41-year-old Los Angeles Lakers guard and five-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion was travelling with four other people in his private helicopter when it crashed in Calabasas, California, about 65 kilometres north-west of Los Angeles.
"It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of Kobe Bryant and four others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas. The aircraft went down in a remote field off Las Virgenes around 10:00 this morning. Nobody on the ground was hurt," the City of Calabasas said on Twitter.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff said on Twitter that five people died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, and that there were no survivors. It did not identify the victims, however, various US media reports say Bryant's 13-year-old daughter was on board.
First responders put out the flames of the crash site, the sheriff's department said, posting a picture of a fire truck and smoke emerging from the brush in a ravine.
Bryant was known to use a helicopter for travel during his days as a star player for the Los Angeles Lakers, when he commuted to games in a Sikorsky S-76 chopper, celebrity news website TMZ said.
The US Federal Aviation Administration identified the crashed helicopter as a Sikorsky S-76, saying in a statement that the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate.
Bryant won five NBA championship rings with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was an 18-time NBA All-Star who wore the numbers 8 and 24 during his 20-year career with the team.
He won the Most Valuable Player award once in his career with the Lakers, before retiring in 2016 as the third-leading scorer in NBA history.
He held that spot in the league scoring ranks until Saturday night, when the Lakers' LeBron James passed him for third place during a game in Philadelphia, Bryant's hometown.
"Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames," Bryant wrote in his last tweet.
"Much respect my brother."
Bryant had one of the greatest careers in recent NBA history and became one of the game's most popular players as the face of the 16-time NBA champion Lakers franchise.
Bryant was known for his a sublime all-around game and a relentless competitive ethic.
He was a two-time NBA scoring champion, and he earned 12 selections to the NBA's All-Defensive teams.
He teamed with Shaquille O'Neal in a combustible partnership to lead the Lakers to the NBA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. He later teamed with Pau Gasol to win two more titles in 2009 and 2010.
Bryant and his wife Vanessa have four daughters: Gianna, Natalia, Bianca and Capri, who was born in June 2019.
Early tip-off NBA games went ahead as scheduled despite the news.
At the Raptors-Spurs game in San Antonio, both teams agreed to take 24-second violations from the tip-off — holding the ball for the allotted time and allowing a turnover — in honour of Bryant's number 24.
Throughout the game, the crowd chanted Byrant's first name.