CHECK ON CONDITIONS OUT OF YORK
COUNTY COMING UP
AT 5:30.
.
MVP, MVP, MVP.
THIS MORNING REMEMBERING THE
LIFE OF NBA LEGEND
KOBE BRYANT THE FIVE TIME
CHAMPIONND MVP WAS AMONG
NINE PEOPLE WHO DIED IN A
HELICOPTER CRASH YESTERDAY
MORNING IN CALIFORNIA.
FANS HAVE PACKED JUST OUTSIDE
OF STAPLES CENTER IN
L.A.
TO REMEMBER KOBE'S LEGACY WITH
THE LAKERS.
LOTS OF PEOPLE OUT THERE AND
FLOWERS AND MEMORIALS
GATHERED.
SO MANY PEOPLE EXPRESSING THEIR
CONDOLENCES.
WE GOT AN UPDATE ON THE CRASH
INVESTIGATION.
BRYANT COACHED HIS 13-YEAR-OLD
DAUGHTER'S
BASKETBALL TEAM AND WERE
TRAVELING BY HELICOPTER TO
ONE OF HER GAMES.
SEVEN OTHER PEOPLE WERE ON
BOARD.
THERE WERE NO SURVIVORS.
THE CHOPPER CRASHED ROUGHLY 30
MILES OUTSIDE OF
DOWNTOWN L.A.
METEOROLOGISTS SAY THERE WAS
EXTREMELY LOW
VISIBILITY AND THE HELICOPTER
WAS GOING ABOUT
200 MILES PER HOUR DISCENDED
RAPIDLY 4,000 FEET A
MINUTE.
INVESTIGATORS HAVE NOT SAID
WHAT CAUSED THE CRASH
BUT A TEAM IS THERE RIGHT NOW
LOOKING INTO THE
PILOT'S HISTORY, MAINTENANCE
RECORDS AND INFORMATION
ON THE HELICOPTER'S OWNER AND
OPERATOR.
THE FBI IS ALSO THERE TO HELP
COLLECT EVIDENCE.
IN A NEWS CONFERENCE LAST NIGHT
THE CORONER SAYS
IT WILL TAKE DAYS TO RECOVER
THE VICTIMS.
.
WE OFFER OUR CONDOLENCES TO
THE FAMILY AT THIS
POINT AND REASSURE EVERYBODY
WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING
WE CAN TO CONFIRM
IDENTIFICATIONS AND GIVE
CLOSURE
TO THE FAMILIES INVOLVED.
.
NOW NOT MANY PEOPLE REMEMBER
THAT KOBE IS FOREVER
LINKED TO THE QUEEN CITY.
.
WITH THE 13TH PICK IN THE
1996 NBA DRAFT, THE
CHARLOTTE HORNETS SELECT KOBE
BRYANT FROM LOWER
MARION HIGH SCHOOL IN
PENNSYLVANIA.
KOBE BRYANT NEVER PLAYED IN
A GAME IN A CHARLOTTE
HORNETS UNIFORM TRADED TO THE
LAKERS SHORTLY AFTER
BEING DRAFTED BY CHARLOTTE BUT
HE MODELED HIS GAME
AFTER HORNETS OWNER MICHAEL
JORDAN.
THE STATEMENT READS IN PART I'M
IN SHOCK OVER THE
TRAGIC NEWS OF KOBE AND
GIANNA'S PASSING.
WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE THE PAIN
I'M FEELING.
HE WAS LIKE A LITTLE BROTHER TO
ME.
I'LL MISS OUR CONVERSATIONS
VERY MUCH.
ANTHONY IS LIVE OUTSIDE OF THE
SPECTRUM CENTER
THIS MORNING.
HIS DEATH UNDERSTANDABLY HAS
HAD A RIPPLE EFFECT
THROUGHOUT THE NBA COMMUNITY.
CERTAINLY HERE IN CHARLOTTE
AS WELL.
I WANT TO SHOW YOU AN IMAGE
RIGHT BEHIND ME OF
KOBE BRYANT THAT HANGS OVER THE
STREET HERE THAT
BEARS HIS NAME AND LIFE SPAN.
1978-2020.
IN SUPPORT FOR THE FIVE TIME
CHAMPION AND MVP
CONTINUES TO POUR IN THIS
MORNING.
THE BOSTON CELTICS AND NEW
ORLEANS PELICANS
EXCHANGED 24 SECOND SHOT CLOCK
VIOLATIONS TO HONOR
THE MOST FAMOUS 24 IN NBA
HISTORY.
KEMBA WALKER MET KOBE BRYANT
BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL
AND HIS VERY PRESENCE HAD A
PROFOUND IMPACT ON HIM.
.
THAT WAS THE BIGGEST THEN
FOR ME WAS HIS WORK
ETHIC AND HIS MENTALITY OF
ABOUT THE GAME.
THAT'S WHAT'S INSPIRED ME THE
MOST.
THE PERSON.
.
PLAYERS FROM BOTH TEAMS
WROTE MESSAGES ABOUT
BRYANT ON HEIR SHOES.
FORMER DUKE BASKETBALL ROOKIE
FOR THE PELICANS
ZION WILLIAMSON SAYS HE
STRUGGLED TO KEEP HIS
EMOTIONS IN CHECK.
I COULDN'T FOCUS AT FIRST
WHEN I FIRST HEARD THE
NEWS.
IT WAS TOUGH GETTING OUT THERE
AT FIRST.
MAN, I SEND MY PRAYERS TO THE
FAMILY.
SORRY IT HAPPENED LIKE THIS.
CHARLOTTE HORNETS PRESIDENT
MITCH SERVED AS GM
FOR THE LAKERS FOR BRYANT'S
LAST TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS
AND RELEASED A STATEMENT SAYING
HE WAS A ONCE IN A
GENERATION PLAYER FOREVER
REMEMBERED FOR HIS
COMPETITIVE NATURE AND WILL TO
WIN.
THEY THREW AWAY THE MOLD WHEN
KOBE BRYANT WAS
BORN.
THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER
LIKE HIM.
MATT HARRIS WILL BE HERE LATER
TODAY TO CHAT WITH
PLAYERS ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT
KOBE BRYANT HAD ON
THEIR LIVES.
OF COURSE WATCH THAT REPORT
STARTING ON EYEWITNESS
NEWS AT 5:00 P.M.
JOHN?
JUST SO SAD HOW A RIPPLE