NBA legend Kobe Bryant died Sunday in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles, US media reports said, in an accident confirmed by police that left five people dead.
Kobe Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna was also on board the helicopter that crashed killing her father and four others.
Gianna Maria Onore was just 13 years old and a budding basketball star following in the footsteps of her legendary father.
They were on the way to the Mamba Academy for a basketball practice when the crash occurred.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials said there were no survivors from the morning crash in foggy conditions on a hillside in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles.
The helicopter was described as a Sikorsky S-76, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.
TMZ was the first US outlet to report that Bryant was among the fatalities. The NBA icon's death was later confirmed by ESPN, CNN and the Los Angeles Times citing unidentified sources.
TMZ reported that Bryant's wife, Vanessa was not among those on board the helicopter.
Early reports of Bryant's death sent shockwaves throughout the world, with fellow stars and celebrities expressing disbelief at the news.
"This can't be true," Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic wrote on Twitter. "No please."
The crash came only hours after the 41-year-old former Los Angeles Lakers icon was passed by current Lakers star LeBron James for third on the all-time NBA scoring list in a Saturday game at Philadelphia.
Bryant's final post on social media had been a tweet congratulating James on surpassing him.
"Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames," Bryant wrote. "Much respect my brother #33644".
Bryant was a five-time NBA champion in a career that began in 1996 straight out of a high school and lasted until his retirement in 2016.
He also was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, helping spark the US squad of NBA stars to titles in 2008 at Beijing and 2012 at London.
The NBA grappled with the sudden death of the league great Kobe Bryant on Sunday, players saying they felt sick to their stomach taking to the court without having ample time to absorb the shocking news.
A haunting moment of silence preceded the Houston Rockets' game against the Nuggets in Denver, which tipped off just hours after the helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles in which Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine who perished.
In San Antonio, where the Spurs hosted the reigning champions Toronto Raptors, both teams took 24-second shot-clock violations on their first possessions of the game in honor of Bryant -- who wore the number 24 in the later years of his career.
And in a move that other NBA teams are also expected to adopt, the Dallas Mavericks announced that they were retiring the number 24 jersey.
Several NBA stars said they were reluctant to step on the court after learning the news.
"I don't even know how we are supposed to play this game tonight," said Portland's Damian Lillard said before scoring 50 points in a 139-129 win over Indiana. "It makes you sick to your stomach. It is disturbing.
"It is bigger than just our heroes and the people we look up to dying. It goes deeper than that."
Newly-retired Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade described Sunday as "one of the saddest days of my lifetime," adding that he couldn't believe Bryant was gone and that his family had been sharing Kobe stories all day.
"It seems like a bad dream that you just want to wake up from. It is a nightmare," he said.
"It is not going to go away soon. We will weep forever."