Mumbai: Indian cricketers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma expressed their shock and paid tribute to NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles. The retired LA Lakers star, 41, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others died early on Sunday in the crash on a hillside in Calabasas, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are currently with the Indian team on tour of New Zealand, took to Instagram to mourn Kobe Bryant with India captain saying that he was “absolutely devastated” by the news.
Bollywood stars like Ranveer Singh, Abhishek Bachchan, Lara Dutta, Arjun Kapoor among others also paid tribute to Kobe Bryant.
Bryant, 41, was travelling with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers and crew when their Sikorsky S-76 helicopter slammed into a rugged hillside in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles. There were no survivors.
Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players in history, an iconic figure who became one of the faces of his sport during a glittering two-decade career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Dozens of firefighters and paramedics battled across steep terrain to reach the flaming wreckage at the crash site but found no survivors, officials said.
Some 200 people also gathered on Sunday at the foot of the hill closest to the crash site, many of them wearing Bryant jerseys.
Others turned out to pay tribute near the Lakers practice facility on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
Fans and players at the National Football League’s Pro Bowl game in Orlando, Florida, observed a moment of silence to commemorate the Lakers star with the crowd afterwards chanting “Kobe, Kobe.”
In New York, the Madison Square Garden ceiling was awash in purple and gold — the Lakers colors — to honor Bryant ahead of the Knicks and Nets game.
