Kobe Bryant, Dead at 41, Remembered by Barack Obama, Drake, Cardi B, Flea, Kanye, More
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The basketball legend was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday
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Kobe Bryant, the five-time NBA champion who defined decades of basketball as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California on Sunday morning, January 26, according to TMZ and ESPN. He was 41 years old. According to TMZ, Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant also died in the crash. Kobe is survived by his wife Vanessa Laine Bryant and their three daughters Natalia, Bianca, and Capri, who was born in June 2019.

Musicians across the world have reacted to the news of Bryant’s death. Find reactions from Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Frank Ocean, Kanye West, Drake, Cardi B, Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, 2 Chainz, A$AP Rocky, Killer Mike, Rick Ross, Gucci Mane, Vince Staples, Teyana Taylor, and others below.

Flea performed the National Anthem at Bryant’s final game in 2016. Upon Bryant’s retirement, tributes from across the music world flooded in. Kendrick Lamar offered a tribute video. Artists including Kanye West, JAY-Z, Justin Timberlake, Ice Cube, Lil Wayne, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, and more paid tribute.

Kobe Bryant was an 18-time NBA All-Star, a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, and the 2008 league MVP. His intensity, passion, and love for the game of basketball made him a cultural icon.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bryant was the son of former NBA player Joe Bryant. Kobe Bryant quickly became a star at Lower Merion High School, in the suburbs of Philly, finishing his high school career as the leading scorer in Southeastern Pennsylvania history, the Naismith High School Player of the Year, and a McDonald’s All American. He skipped college and went straight to the NBA, getting selected at No. 13 in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, who infamously traded away his rights to the Los Angeles Lakers. When he made his professional debut, on Sunday, November 3, 1996, against those same Hornets, Bryant became the youngest man ever to step play in an NBA game.

Right from the start of his Lakers career, Bryant became a cultural icon, winning the 1997 Slam Dunk contest and landing his first of many All-Star bids in his second season. He went on to win five championships with the Lakers: the iconic three-peat from 2000–2002 and then back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.

Bryant was referenced endlessly in music. Rappers, in particular, loved to allude to and namedrop Kobe, with Lil Wayne, Chief Keef, JAY-Z, Kanye West, among his biggest fans. Bryant even released a single of his own on Columbia Records in 1999 called “K.O.B.E.” And, at his final White House correspondents’ dinner in 2016, President Barack Obama left with a mic drop, putting his own spin on Bryant’s iconic words: “Mamba out.”

Despite the accolades and admiration, Kobe Bryant’s career was also marred by a felony sexual assault charge in Colorado in 2003. The case was dropped in 2004, and Bryant expressed his remorse. “I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident,” he said. “I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year. Although this year has been incredibly difficult for me personally, I can only imagine the pain she has had to endure.”

In Kobe Bryant’s final NBA game at STAPLES Center, in April 2016, he went out with greatness like only he could. In front of the the world’s biggest stars, his former teammates, and his wife and two daughters, Natalia and Gianna, all looking on in awe, he scored 60 points, the oldest player to ever do so.

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