The Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and the FBI have launched investigations into the crash. On January 28, Bryant's identity was officially confirmed utilizing fingerprints. The following day, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner said that the official explanation for death for him and the eight others on the helicopter was blunt drive trauma. Aside from his talents on offense, he has established himself as a standout defender. Bryant rarely attracts costs playing defense, which he believes has spared his physique and contributed to his longevity.

In that sequence, Bryant averaged 22.6 factors per sport and 4.four assists. Jackson's contract as coach was not renewed, and Rudy Tomjanovich took over. O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant. The following day, Bryant declined a proposal to signal with the Los Angeles Clippers and re-signed with the Lakers on a seven-year contract.

Whereas Chamberlain was fed repeatedly by teammates for inside pictures in a blowout win, Bryant created his personal shot—mostly from the outside—in a game which the Lakers trailed at halftime by 14 and didn't pull away till the fourth quarter. In that very same month, Bryant additionally became the primary player since 1964 to score forty five points or extra in four consecutive video games, becoming a member of Chamberlain and Baylor as the only players to take action. For the month of January, Bryant averaged 43.four points per recreation, the eighth highest single month scoring average in NBA history and highest for any participant other than Chamberlain. By the tip of the 2005–06 season, Bryant set Lakers single-season franchise information for most 40-point video games and most points scored .

His debut album, Visions, was scheduled to launch within the spring of 2000. The first single, "K.O.B.E'", featured supermodel Tyra Banks singing the hook. The single debuted in January 2000, and was carried out at NBA All-Star Weekend that month; the track was not well received. Sony abandoned plans for the album, which was never released, and dropped Bryant later that yr.

I’d never actually heard about upkeep points with a rim before a game. A quarter of an inch.” After the buzzer sounded, I was walking off the court docket and I noticed one of many maintenance guys — one of the guys who was carrying the ladder onto the court throughout warm-ups. ” “Oh, somebody notified us that it was slightly decrease than regulation.” Then he informed me how much it was off by. I could let you know his reply, but I think you already know what he said. One of the hardest video games I keep in mind taking part in against Kobe occurred in Boston. I suppose he made seven or eight pictures in a row on me.

That could mean athletes picturing themselves as Batman or Heath Ledger’s Joker when they step onto the field, very like Bryant did on the night he scored 61 points against the New York Knicks in February 2009. Bryant advised the Knuckleheads podcast in 2019 that watching The Dark Knight impressed him to enter “Garden Mode”—a nod to the Knicks’ legendary residence enviornment, Madison Square Garden. But the character Kobe inhabited essentially the most was the Black Mamba, and then he shared this persona with the world. Ryan returned from that damaged leg in 2019 and managed to turn into simply the third NFL player in the twenty first century to have no much less than four interceptions, four sacks, and 4 pressured fumbles in a single regular season. In the playoffs, Ryan and the Titans traveled to New England, where Ryan had received two Super Bowls with the Patriots. He intercepted Tom Brady’s ultimate move as a New England Patriot and returned it for a landing, eliminating the Patriots from the playoffs and ending the Brady era in Foxborough.

It doesn’t shock me in the slightest as to why the flamboyant personality was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary staff. Basketball followers regularly take pleasure in discussing the GOATS of the NBA, specifically their skills, accomplishments and impact past the courtroom. Two of the players who come up quite frequently in these conversations are Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. It goes with out saying that each are iconic in their very own right, though some nonetheless marvel who was the better participant. The answer to that question is actually still up for debate but, amid that continued dialogue, Dennis Rodman, offered some keen ideas. The rebounding icon specifically received candid about what he views as the important thing distinction between Bryant and MJ.

His mentality — his killer intuition — is what separates him from the other guys on this listing, as a outcome of once Kobe knows he has you, he’s going to maintain attacking you. He’ll throw you down, beat you up and even when you’re knocked out, he’ll keep hitting you. His sister and I are nearer in age, so we frolicked on a daily basis when Kobe was nonetheless 18, 19. ” He was like, “Look, watch this.” I think a half of it was that nobody else in the house apart from his dad may respect the true strikes of Jordan, right? But it would be a spin move, or, “Watch how he set this up. Watch when he look over his shoulder.” Just, the small print of what Jordan was doing.