The basketball world is reacting to the deaths of Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.
Kobe, 41, and Gianna, 13, were killed on Sunday morning along with seven others when their helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California. In a statement, Michael Jordan said words "can't describe the pain I'm feeling. I loved Kobe — he was like a little brother to me. We used to talk often, and I will miss those conversations very much. He was a fierce competitor, one of the greats of the game and a creative force. Kobe was also an amazing dad who loved his family deeply — and took great pride in his daughter's love for the game of basketball."
Bryant's former teammate Shaquille O'Neal tweeted there were "no words to express the pain I'm going through," calling Gianna his "niece" and Kobe "my brother." Magic Johnson said Bryant was the "greatest Laker of all time," and the fact that he is gone is "hard to accept. Kobe was a leader of our game, a mentor to both male and female players." Without Bryant, he added, the game of basketball "will never be the same."
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Bryant, "one of the most extraordinary players in the history of our game," showed "what is possible when remarkable talent blends with an absolute devotion to winning." Bryant "will be remembered most for inspiring people around the world to pick up a basketball and compete to the very best of their ability," Silver continued. "He was generous with the wisdom he acquired and saw it as his mission to share it with future generations of players, taking special delight in passing down his love of the game to Gianna."
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