PITTSBURGH — NBA legend Kobe Bryant died Sunday at the age of 41, along with his 13-year-old daughter and seven other people, in a helicopter crash in California.
Bryant entered the NBA in 1996 straight of out of Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia. He spent all of his 20-year playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five NBA titles before retiring in 2016.
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While in high school, ahead of being drafted into the NBA, Bryant was in Pittsburgh in 1996 for the McDonald’s All-American Game at the Civic Arena.
RIP Kobe Bryant, a remarkable athlete who transcended his sport and an icon for every generation. I interviewed Kobe in 1996, when he was 17 years old and in Pittsburgh for the McDonald’s All-American game. Prayers for the Bryant family and all the lives lost in today’s tragedy pic.twitter.com/idYSwi69uA
— Alby Oxenreiter (@albyox) January 27, 2020
Head coach of the Pitt men’s basketball team said Monday, “It’s like a superhero died.”
“He willed himself so many times through his basketball career playing through injuries. It’s just so hard to believe this has happened,” Capel said.
Upon learning of Kobe’s tragic death, current and former Pittsburgh athletes began paying tribute to the star athlete and sharing their condolences:
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