Kobe Bryant: RIP

[bundabergdevil]

Not surprising given their closeness but Kyrie did not play tonight after he found out the news.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/kyrie-i...222830632.html

[DangerDevil]

If I’m reading this right, implication is weather caused the pilot to lose bearings and fly into the mountain and not mechanical issues?

Planes obviously fly in bad weather, no visibility conditions all the time and pilots rely solely on instrument readings to fly. I imagine helicopters can do the same thing but the type of flying they’re doing makes it much more dangerous? Asking. Don’t know.

Helicopters can to.

Speculating but what probably happened is they were flying VFR (visual flight rules). Simplistically this means they were responsible for avoiding the ground and other aircraft on their own and not dependent on an Air Traffic Controller. This is easier and more expedient.

Along the way it sounds like the weather got worse than they expected. When that happens you can’t start flying IFR (instrument flight rules) immediately. You have to talk to the air traffic controller to get an IFR clearance.

If you encounter bad weather along your route you would try to orbit in VFR conditions until you received your IFR clearance. If you have mountainous terrain and crowded airspace like LA that makes a bad situation even worse.

[uh_no]

Helicopters can to.

Speculating but what probably happened is they were flying VFR (visual flight rules). Simplistically this means they were responsible for avoiding the ground and other aircraft on their own and not dependent on an Air Traffic Controller. This is easier and more expedient.

Along the way it sounds like the weather got worse than they expected. When that happens you can’t start flying IFR (instrument flight rules) immediately. You have to talk to the air traffic controller to get an IFR clearance.

If you encounter bad weather along your route you would try to orbit in VFR conditions until you received your IFR clearance. If you have mountainous terrain and crowded airspace like LA that makes a bad situation even worse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0pQfgi9ZqU

There is the ATC recording. I'm not sure I can bring my self to listen just yet, but there it is.

From glancing through the comments, it seems they were too low for flight following given the terrain, which means the center can't get a good read on their position, but not that a crash is imminent.

[Saratoga2]

Helicopters can to.

Speculating but what probably happened is they were flying VFR (visual flight rules). Simplistically this means they were responsible for avoiding the ground and other aircraft on their own and not dependent on an Air Traffic Controller. This is easier and more expedient.

Along the way it sounds like the weather got worse than they expected. When that happens you can’t start flying IFR (instrument flight rules) immediately. You have to talk to the air traffic controller to get an IFR clearance.

If you encounter bad weather along your route you would try to orbit in VFR conditions until you received your IFR clearance. If you have mountainous terrain and crowded airspace like LA that makes a bad situation even worse.

Whatever the cause its a sad day when people are taken suddenly. Celebrities like Kobe are at a higher risk just due to the amount of travel they need to do. He was truly one of the great ones and he will be missed.

[DUKIE V(A)]

A devastating reminder that tragedy can strike at any time no matter who you are...Very sobering and puts life in perspective...

[JNort]

I don't think I can discuss this right now but before I leave I just wanna say he will be missed and my thoughts are with those close to them during this time. That goes for all involved.

[uh_no]

I grew up watching kobe like many of us, and he undoubtedly was my favorite player. The thing that I'll miss the most, though, is his tweets about women's basketball. He wanted to see a world where his daughters could have a great opportunity to play the game as he and other guys do, and had the ability to help create awareness, so he did. He attended several uconn women's games with his daughter and often tweeted about great things that were happening in the women's game.

I've done plenty of dangerous things...backcountry skiing, bombing descents on a road bike...but one thing I wont regret if I never do is fly in a helicopter. Hopefully he lives on every time someone tosses something at a bin and shouts 'Kobe.'

He was never a dukie, but at times it was claimed he would have gone to duke had he played college ball (among other schools)...and given his relationship with the national team and K, I hope that there is at least a little something in remembrance on tuesday. Unfortunately, I won't be there, but I would likely be in tears.

RIP.

[bundabergdevil]

There's a lot of odd coincidence in the timing. Not that it is suspicious, just really sad/odd given much Kobe had been feted the previous night when Lebron passed him on the all-time scorers lists. Lebron spent a lot of time in an interview discussing Kobe and what he meant to him and Kobe reciprocated with a "passing of the torch" type tweet. Dwight Howard offered this quote about the evening which is sadly prescient: "We don’t appreciate each other as much as we should as a humanity. Something like that should be appreciated. We should appreciate people while they’re alive."

[Acymetric]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0pQfgi9ZqU

There is the ATC recording. I'm not sure I can bring my self to listen just yet, but there it is.

From glancing through the comments, it seems they were too low for flight following given the terrain, which means the center can't get a good read on their position, but not that a crash is imminent.

I didn't understand anything about what was happening there, but seeing the blip quietly disappear off the radar was pretty gut wrenching.

[bundabergdevil]

A nice article about the special relationship shared between Kobe and Kyrie. There's a paragraph in there about the various family tragedies Kyrie has experienced. Another reminder that these guys are pretty damn human.

[duketaylor]

"I hope that there is at least a little something in remembrance on tuesday. Unfortunately, I won't be there, but I would likely be in tears."

I'll be at my first CIS game in about 4 years Tuesday, and wondered ever since hearing of this tragedy, if Duke, K, would do something in remembrance and think certainly something will be done.

Looking forward to Tuesday, just sick of this news today.

[duke96]

Pretty amazing video comparison to Jordan

https://twitter.com/naima/status/122...290759168?s=21

[heyman25]

To me the saddest fact is the best was yet to come for Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi. Ionescu of Oregon received advice from Kobe about her game. He was a big promoter of women's basketball and already won an Oscar for an animation production.Just saw the Jerry West interview and he had the most eloquent comments that I heard today.

[heyman25]

This mentions other deceased passengers of the crash. Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Josh Rubenstein confirmed their Air Support Division was grounded Sunday, adding: 'The weather situation did not meet our minimum standards for flying.'
Initial reports claimed five people had been killed, but the death toll was raised to nine - including the pilot, named locally as Ara Zobayan. Among those also killed was John Altobelli, a baseball coach at Orange County College, his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa. Girls basketball coach Christina Mauser was also killed in crash.

On a personal note. I never met Kobe Bryant. In the 90's I did catering on Rodeo Drive for Planet Hollywood's grand opening. I saw Wilt Chamberlain and chatted with him. I told him that Kobe Bryant had broken his high school scoring record for Philadelphia. That was before Kobe went pro and Duke was in contention for his services. Wilt told me he was going to look into it. He did not remember Kobe's dad that was briefly a teammate.

[bundabergdevil]

Front page - Kobe is listed elsewhere as having been born in 1978 not 1980

[Edouble]

Front page - Kobe is listed elsewhere as having been born in 1978 not 1980

Yes, also helicopter crashed near Calabasas not Calabas.

Other than that, one of the best write ups I've seen on the front page in a while.

[bundabergdevil]

Yes, also helicopter crashed near Calabasas not Calabas.

Other than that, one of the best write ups I've seen on the front page in a while.

Agreed. A thoughtful and appropriate reflection on the man.

[phaedrus]

A nice article about the special relationship shared between Kobe and Kyrie. There's a paragraph in there about the various family tragedies Kyrie has experienced. Another reminder that these guys are pretty damn human.

A number of former Duke players have commented on social media about their relationships with Kobe. Ryan Kelly was his teammate in LA, and apparently put up 24 points in 24 minutes yesterday for his team in Japan; Jayson Tatum idolized Kobe growing up and modeled his game after Kobe's; Battier said that Kobe was his greatest adversary and a role model. There are probably others, but I'm struck (even though it shouldn't be surprising) by the impact Kobe had on Duke players.

[JasonEvans]

A number of former Duke players have commented on social media about their relationships with Kobe. Ryan Kelly was his teammate in LA, and apparently put up 24 points in 24 minutes yesterday for his team in Japan; Jayson Tatum idolized Kobe growing up and modeled his game after Kobe's; Battier said that Kobe was his greatest adversary and a role model. There are probably others, but I'm struck (even though it shouldn't be surprising) by the impact Kobe had on Duke players.

I posted it elsewhere, but I got an interview with Nolan Smith yesterday about an hour after the news broke that we used on the DBR podcast. He and Kobe had a bit of a relationship and Nolan shared a few nice stories.

https://soundcloud.com/dbrpodcast/db...ip-kobe-bryant

[bundabergdevil]

A number of former Duke players have commented on social media about their relationships with Kobe. Ryan Kelly was his teammate in LA, and apparently put up 24 points in 24 minutes yesterday for his team in Japan; Jayson Tatum idolized Kobe growing up and modeled his game after Kobe's; Battier said that Kobe was his greatest adversary and a role model. There are probably others, but I'm struck (even though it shouldn't be surprising) by the impact Kobe had on Duke players.

One of his final tweets was actually to congratulate Alana Beard on her retirement. He’d been doing a lot to promote the women’s game of late.