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Los
Angeles
unites
in grief
for
adopted
son Kobe
Bryant
By
BETH
HARRIS
apnews.com
LOS
ANGELES
- The
chants
rose in
the
plaza
across
from
Staples
Center.
“Kobe!”
and
“MVP!
MVP!”
They
came
from
hundreds
of fans
gathered
to mourn
the
death of
Kobe
Bryant.
Candles
burned
alongside
hand-lettered
messages
scrawled
on signs
and the
pavement.
Bunches
of
flowers
piled
up, some
with
purple-and-gold
balloons
attached.
Men,
women
and
children
of every
ethnicity
milled
around,
drawn to
the
heart of
downtown
Los
Angeles
where
they had
once
celebrated
five NBA
championships
won by
Bryant
and the
Lakers.
This
time,
they
were
united
in shock
and
sadness
hours
after
Bryant,
his
daughter
Gianna
and
seven
others
were
killed
in a
helicopter
crash
northwest
of the
city on
Sunday.
Like
many
Angelenos,
Bryant
was a
transplant.
Born in
Philadelphia,
he spent
some of
his
earliest
years in
Italy,
where he
learned
the
language
while
his
father
played
pro
basketball.
He later
returned
to the
Philadelphia
area and
starred
at
suburban
Lower
Merion
High,
becoming
the top
prep
player
in the
country.
But
he was
most
closely
identified
with LA,
where
the
city’s
adopted
son
thrilled
fans
with his
All-Star
moves
for the
Lakers
over 20
seasons.
Bryant
came to
the NBA
straight
out of
high
school,
a quiet
kid of
17 whose
parents
had to
co-sign
his
contract
until he
was able
to sign
his own
when he
turned
18. He
was so
young
the
Lakers
training
staff
needed
permission
from his
mother
to treat
him with
medication.
At
the
time,
few in
Los
Angeles
thought
anyone
would
assume
Magic
Johnson’s
mantle,
he of
the
“Showtime”
Lakers
and
incandescent
smile.
In
fact,
Bryant
was
always
more
Michael
Jordan
than
Johnson.
Bryant’s
killer
instinct,
tireless
work
ethic
and
intolerance
for
giving
anything
less
than the
best in
practice
and
games
most
closely
hewed to
the
attitude
of his
idol
Jordan.
Still,
Bryant’s
audacity
appealed
to
laid-back
Angelenos.
At
times,
it
clashed
with
Shaquille
O’Neal,
who
shared
an
uneasy
spotlight
with
Bryant
while
winning
three
NBA
championships
from
2000 to
2002.
It
wasn’t
until
O’Neal
was
traded
away in
2004
that
Bryant
took
over as
the
Lakers’
cornerstone,
and
Johnson
endorsed
him as a
worthy
successor.
Bryant
became
his
era’s
Jordan
to his
fellow
players,
while
segueing
into a
beloved
icon,
embraced
across
his
adopted
city.
“He
grew up
there,”
Golden
State
Warriors
general
manager
Bob
Myers
said.
“He grew
up and
matured
and
changed
and
evolved.
I’m sure
they
felt
like
they
grew up
with
him.”
Away
from the
court,
Bryant
briefly
fell
from
grace in
2003
after
being
accused
of
sexual
assault
at a
Colorado
hotel.
He lost
sponsors
and fans
and his
reputation
was
tarnished.
The case
was
eventually
dropped,
and
Bryant
and his
accuser
settled
her
civil
suit
against
him.
There
were
other
personal
problems.
Bryant’s
wife,
Vanessa,
filed
for
divorce
in 2011,
but they
reconciled
a year
later.
There
were
disagreements
with his
parents,
too.
They
initially
opposed
his
marriage
and
didn’t
attend
the
wedding.
Bryant’s
mother
tried to
auction
memorabilia
of his
in 2013,
and he
successfully
challenged
her.
Those
stumbles
only
served
to
humanize
Bryant
among
his
fans. If
they
could
have
relationship
and
family
problems,
so could
he.
Some
of
Bryant’s
most
storied
moments
occurred
inside
Staples,
where he
scored
81
points
on Jan.
22,
2006,
second-most
in NBA
history.
He led
the
Lakers
to two
more NBA
titles,
parading
the
trophy
past
thousands
of
rapturous
fans in
the
streets.
Full
Coverage:
Kobe
Bryant
Bryant
was in
the news
less
than 24
hours
before
his
sudden
death.
Current
Laker
LeBron
James
overtook
him as
the
NBA’s
third
all-time
leading
scorer
during a
road
game in
Philadelphia.
Once
famously
competitive,
Bryant
had
grown
comfortable
in the
elder
statesman’s
role,
and his
last
tweet
congratulated
James on
the
achievement.
Long
before
he
retired,
Bryant
and his
wife
started
a
foundation
with the
goal of
helping
families
and
children.
Bryant
said he
was
prompted
to act
after
seeing
homeless
people
in the
streets
outside
the
arena on
his way
home to
Orange
County
from
games.
“He
wasn’t
just an
athlete,”
fan
Jason
Ackerman
said
outside
Staples.
“He gave
the city
hope.”
Ackerman
said he
was
saddened
about
not
being
able to
see what
else
Bryant
would
have
done,
whether
it was
in film,
charity
or
owning a
local
sports
team.
Bryant
further
blurred
the
lines
between
sports
and
entertainment
after
injuries
hastened
the end
of his
playing
days in
2016. He
immediately
switched
his
laserlike
focus to
his love
of
storytelling
in film,
books
and
online.
“He
was so
intense
about
business,”
Philadelphia
76ers
co-owner
Michael
Rubin
said.
“He
would
ask 50
different
questions
in a day
about
how
could he
win in
business.”
It
didn’t
take
long for
Bryant
to make
an
impact
in
Hollywood.
He won
an Oscar
for best
animated
short
two
years
ago as a
producer
of “Dear
Basketball,”
based on
a poem
Bryant
wrote
before
he
retired
from the
court.
He
launched
Granity
Studios,
a
multimedia
company
that
creates
content
for
young
adults.
He had
begun a
publishing
career
as well.
Last
year was
the
debut of
his
young
adult
book
series
that
mixed
fantasy
and
sports.
“Kobe’s
death is
especially
wrenching
knowing
what he
was
capable
of and
what he
might
have
accomplished
in his
post-NBA
life,”
said Arn
Tellem,
Bryant’s
former
longtime
agent.
“He was
already
well on
his
way.”
Steven
and
Diana
Brugge
joined
the
throng
outside
Staples
in their
matching
Bryant
jerseys.
“He
was the
soul of
LA,”
Steven
Brugge
said.
“He
meant so
much to
this
city,
and not
just
because
he won
championships.”
Brugge
admired
the way
Bryant
carried
himself
as a
person
and a
professional:
“That’s
the kind
of guy
you want
representing
your
city.”
When
he
wasn’t
working,
Bryant
would
pop up
at
women’s
pro and
college
basketball
games in
Los
Angeles,
often
with
13-year-old
Gianna
in tow.
The
second
oldest
of
Bryant’s
four
daughters
took up
her
father’s
sport,
and he
proudly
coached
her AAU
team. He
talked
up the
women’s
game,
too,
giving
it a
boost.
With
Staples
Center
hosting
the
Grammys
on
Sunday,
fans got
as close
to the
arena as
they
could,
standing
under
video
boards
with his
face and
the
message:
“In
Loving
Memory
of Kobe
Bryant.”
Together,
they
shared
memories
in quiet
voices.
Some
shed
tears.
Others
held
their
head in
their
hands.
Inside
the
arena,
Bryant’s
two
retired
numbers
in the
rafters
— 8 and
24 —
were
bathed
in
light.
“We’re
literally
standing
here
heartbroken
in the
house
that
Kobe
Bryant
built,”
host
Alicia
Keys
said in
opening
the
Grammy
telecast.
“We love
you,
Kobe.”
At
Bryant’s
Mamba
Sports
Academy
in
Thousand
Oaks,
not far
from the
crash
site,
Renee
Tab
arrived
with her
young
son,
carrying
purple
and
yellow
flowers.
“We
love
Kobe
Bryant,”
she
said.
“He is
quintessentially
LA. Our
LA hero,
our LA
legend.”
Perhaps
Leonardo
DiCaprio
summed
it up
best.
“LA
will
never be
the
same,”
the
actor
tweeted.
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