Love of basketball put Bryant, others on final fatal flight

six passengers traveling with Kobe Bryant and his daughter in helicopter that crashed into a Sourn California mountainside last month were joined by ir love of basketball. Among m, two teammates of Bryant's 13-old-daughter, a coach with a rising profile in girls' basketball and three parents of basketball-crazed children. ir pilot, who was taking m to a basketball tournament, was a veteran flier whose friends and customers said was exactly guy a passenger would want at controls.

KOBE and GIANNA BRYANT:

Kobe Bryant liked to tell story of how fans would approach to ask far of four daughters when he was going to have a son who could carry on his basketball legacy. His precocious 13-year-old would respond, saying, "Oy, I got this.”

Gianna Bryant, kwn as Gigi to family and friends, was infused with same burning desire for basketball greatness that h driven her far to 18 All-Star Game appearances and five NBA championships during a 20-year career with Los Angeles Lakers.

pair could sometimes be seen courtside at Lakers games, where Bryant, his arm around her, would explain intricacies of a sport he'd dedicated himself to since 6, determined to become one of its greatest players.

Four years into retirement, Bryant, 41, h moved into a second career as a storyteller and vocate for women's sports. He'd won an Acemy Award in 2018 for animated short film “Dear Basketball” and was taking his daughter, a budding basketball star herself, to a girls tournament sponsored by Mamba Sports Acemy he'd co-founded two years before.

JOHN, KERI AND ALYSSA ALTOBELLI

John Altobelli was a rewned figure in college baseball.

Altobelli, 56, h led his Orange Coast College baseball team to more than 700 victories and four state championships during a 27-year career that earned him national coach of year hors in 2019 from American Baseball Coaches Association.

Basketball was his 14-year-old daughter Alyssa's sport, however, and she was a teammate of Gianna Bryant who hoped to someday play college ball. She also loved animals, according to friends, so much so that she took home turtles from her school's science class if she feared y were being mistreated.

Friends remembered her 46-year-old mor, Keri, as a dedicated mom and wife who me it a point to attend all of her children's games, joking that she'd sat in a particular spot in bleachers so many times she should have a plaque re with her name engraved on it.

Bryant, friends with Altobelli, h offered him and his family a ride on helicopter that day so he could beat traffic to tournament.

Alobellis are survived by two or children.

SARAH AND PAYTON CHESTER

Sarah Chester, a former college volleyball player, was traveling to game with her 13-year-old daughter, Payton, who was also a teammate of Gianna Bryant.

Payton played on both Mamba girls team and for St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, where she was an eighth-grer and her 45-year-old mor was a member of board of trustees.

Payton, her far said, h hoped to play in WNBA someday.

“She found joy on any court and loved all of her teammates and coaches," he said shortly after her death.

Of his wife he said, “Sarah was full of life and glue of our family.”

CHRISTINA MAUSER

Christina Mauser, an assistant coach of Mamba girls team traveling that day to Mamba Cup tournament in Thousand Oaks, was establishing herself as a superior basketball coach.

Kobe Bryant h personally recruited her for his Mamba Sports Acemy after seeing her coach girls basketball at private school in Sourn California that his daughter attended.

Mauser, 38, h been a star athlete herself, in volleyball and basketball, at Huntington Beach's Edison High School, where she was inducted into school's Athletic Hall of Fame.

A wife and mor of three, Mauser drew praise from players, several of whom called her a second mom.

ARA ZOBAYAN

When you went up in a helicopter, people said, Ara Zobayan was guy you'd want at controls.

He t only greeted everyone with a big grin but was one of most experienced helicopter pilots around, with top ratings and more than 8,200 hours of flight time amassed over two deces.

“That’s a guy who you ask for to fly you from city to city," said Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard. He often flew with Zobayan, whom he said would tell him from time to time that Bryant h asked him to remember to say hello.

Zobayan was chief pilot for Island Express Helicopters and h flown Bryant to ar Mamba Cup game day before.

“He was one of ir best pilots,” Leonard said.

50-year-old native of Leban h fallen in love with helicopters as a teenr after a chopper mechanic who happened to be sitting next to him on an airline flight loaned him a helicopter magazine.

It was a love affair sealed a few years later after he took a helicopter tour of Grand Canyon. Soon after he was saving up for flight lessons.