Former NBA All-Star and 5-time NBA Champion, Kobe Bryant, and daughter Gianna die in a helicopter crash; seven others confirmed dead

On January 26, 2020, at 9:06 a.m., firefighters responded to a 911 call in Calabasas, California, to report to a helicopter crash sighted up in the hills. The helicopter carried nine passengers inside and no survivors. Two of the passengers involved in the helicopter crash were 5-time NBA champion and 18-time all-star Kobe Bryant, who played his entire basketball career with the Los Angeles Lakers over a span of 20 years, having retired from the game in 2016. The other notable passenger was his daughter Gianna Bryant, who was also going to make a name of her own when she decided to follow her father’s footsteps.

According to news reports, the helicopter was on its destination to the Mamba Sports Academy for a practice session involving Kobe’s daughter Gigi and her peers.

The helicopter was given clearance for takeoff by the Burbank tower control center to fly under special visual flight rules, despite the thick fog that was that had been emanating during the early hours of the morning, with most air traffic control and the LAPD helicopters being told to remain grounded until the weather clears up.

Before the crash, it was reported by various news sources that the helicopter that Bryant, his daughter, and the seven other passengers were in, was descending altitude at a fast rate and making a climbing left turn before it plunged into the ground.

He left behind a legacy that will forever be remembered by all who were able to witness him on the basketball court, whether it’d be in stands or watching live on television.

A generational talent of his time, Kobe Bryant revolutionized the game of basketball and helped shape the game into what it is today, breaking numerous records along the way, defying every single odds that were against him, even when his back was against the wall.

Four years ago after he retired from basketball, he had just set on stage two of life, having already won an Academy Award for his animated short film, “Dear Basketball,” and becoming a coach for his daughter’s youth AAU basketball team.

Bryant is survived by his wife, Vanessa Laine Bryant, and his three other daughters, Natalia, Bianka Bella, and Capri, their youngest daughter. Outside of basketball, Bryant was known as a humble family man, as he showed on his Instagram all the time he spent together with his family, from dressing in Halloween costumes, spending leisure time with his daughters, and even playing basketball with them. He will be missed and forever known as a legend, an icon, an inspiration, and most importantly, a husband, and a loving father to his wife and four daughters.

This story is currently developing, and more updates will follow within the coming week.

Bryce Gowdy- A young man with a bright future, takes his life while dealing with the pressures of poverty

Bryce Gowdy was a former high school football player, who set out to play for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets this Monday after graduating a semester early, and just one week away from attending his dream school. Gowdy was a high school senior, who played wide receiver for Deerfield Beach Senior High School. Weighing in at 6’2 and 190 pounds, he was ranked as the 54th best wide receiver in the 247 Sports Composite Rankings for the recruiting class of 2020, according to an article in the Miami Herald. It would be the first time since Calvin Johnson in 2004 that Georgia Tech had signed a high school wide receiver with a rating higher than three stars, according to Sports Illustrated.

While living the life most high school football players could only dream of, there was, unfortunately, a life most people outside his family didn’t know about. A few months prior, he and his family, consisting of his mother, Shibbon Winnelle, and his two younger brothers had recently become homeless and had lived in their mother’s car. His mother’s job was not paying her in full and at times, not paying her on days she was supposed to get paid, leaving her unable to make ends meet. The stresses of homelessness built up on Gowdy as he questioned whether or not his family would be well off as he prepared for college.

On December 30, 2019, as his family stayed at a hotel, Gowdy went downstairs to get his mother her favorite blanket. It would be the last time he would see his mother, however, as he would leave his shoes, phone and wallet inside the car. He was struck by an oncoming freight train at around 4 a.m., killing him instantly. 

Mental health may have played a factor, given the situation that he was living in, his future wide open, while ultimately having to deal with the pressures of living in poverty and fending for himself, with no one to turn to in his dire of need, as the reality ate him from inside.