The 41-year-old and eight other people, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, lost their lives when the helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, northwest of Los Angeles on January 26 last year.
Bryant’s death sparked an outpour of emotion that stretched far beyond the NBA’s traditional boundaries and included heartfelt tributes from entertainment stars, politicians and athletes from different sports.
The tragedy was made even more poignant by the fact Bryant died alongside his teenage daughter Gigi, who was a regular presence courtside during his late father’s NBA career.
Bryant coached Gigi’s basketball team on a number of occasions and had repeatedly said in interviews his 13-year-old daughter was a far better player than he was at her age.
Following Bryant’s death, ESPN anchor Elle Duncan recalled the former Los Angeles Lakers star had pointed out that Gigi was following his footpath in basketball and she was “a monster, a beast and better than I was at her age.”
Duncan also recalled how Bryant, who is survived by his three other daughters—Natalia, Bianka and Capri—expressed his delight at being what he described as a “girl dad”.
To mark the first anniversary of Bryant’s and Gigi’s death, here a slideshow of some of their best picture together and five of his greatest NBA moments in chronological order.
Game 7, Western Conference Finals—June 4, 2000
Spearheaded by Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, the Phil Jackson-led Lakers won three consecutive titles between 2000 and 2002. The dynasty, however, looked to be over before it had even begun as the Lakers relinquished a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals and found themselves down by 14 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter in the series decider at Staples Center. The purple and gold, however, mounted a spirited comeback capped by Bryant setting O’Neal for an empathic alley-oop to put the Lakers up by six with less than a minute to go.
The Kobe and Shaq Lakers had arrived on the big stage and would dominate the NBA for the next three seasons.
Game 4, NBA Finals—June 14, 2000
The Lakers’ narrow lead in the NBA Finals looked to be slipping through their fingers when O’Neal fouled out midway through overtime in a closely-fought game against the Indiana Pacers. With the chips quickly staking against the Lakers, Bryant hit three clutch shots showing the kind of maturity and winning mentality that belied his 21 years to give the Lakers a crucial 120-118 win in Indianapolis that stretched their lead in the series to 3-1.
The Pacers took Game 5, before the Lakers sealed the series and a first NBA title in 12 years when the series moved back to Los Angeles.
81-point game—January 22, 2006
One of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, Bryant averaged 25 points per game over the course of 1,346 regular season games. In the 2005-06 season the Black Mamba led the NBA in scoring with a career-best 35.5 points per game, which included the greatest scoring outburst of his glittering career as he dropped 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.
Bryant single-handedly scored one more point than the five Raptors starters combined and 68 more points than the Lakers’ second-highest scorer on the night, Smush Parker. In 42 minutes, Bryant went 28-of-46 from the field and was a near-perfect 18-of-20 from the free throw line, scoring 55 points in the second half alone as the Lakers won 122-104.
Bryant’s 81-point effort remains the second-most of any player in NBA history, save for Wilt Chamberlain’s historic 100-point game in 1962.
Game 7, NBA Finals—June 17, 2010
If his first three NBA titles were shared with Shaq, Bryant was unquestionably the Lakers’ main man as the franchise won back-to-back title in 2009 and 2010 defeating the Orlando Magic in five games and the Boston Celtics 4-3 respectively.
Bryant played a pivotal role in the series, top scoring for the Lakers in six of the seven games as the Purple and Gold overcame their arch-rivals and avenged the loss they had suffered against the Celtics in the NBA Finals two years earlier. In Game 7, Bryant scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Lakers to a 83-79 win and securing his second consecutive NBA Finals MVP crown.
The final game—April 13, 2016
The Lakers and Bryant were no longer the force old by the time he announced he would retire at the end of the 2016 season. The five-time NBA champion had been plagued by injuries for the best part of three years and the Lakers ended his final season with a franchise-worst 17-65 record.
Bryant, however, had one final encore to play for his fans and scored 60 points in his final NBA game, as the Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz 101-96 at Staples Center in the season finale. Bryant outscored the entire Jazz team in the fourth quarter, becoming the oldest player in NBA history to score 60 points and setting a NBA record for the most points scored by a player in his final career game.