US politician Adam Schiff pays tribute to Kobe Bryant, calls him 'greatest player'

After the sudden death of American basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash, Democratic Party member Adam Schiff paid his tribute and called him one of the 'greatest basketball players'. The United States representative took to Twitter and joined others in mourning the tragic death of the NBA star and the eight others who killed in the crash.  

The 41-year-old, along with his daughter Gianna Maria Onore and seven others, was killed in a tragic helicopter crash in Los Angeles on January 26. According to reports, Kobe Bryant was among at least four people travelling in his private helicopter over Calabasas when a fire broke out, sending the chopper spiralling down. He was travelling to Mamba Sports Academy to attend a basketball game when the incident took place. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said that there will be an extensive investigation into the accident which could take a ‘great deal of time’. 

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Kobe Bryant played with the Lakers for two decades, starting as an 18-year-old rookie in 1996. Bryant retired in 2016, third on the all-time NBA scoring list. He had five NBA championships to his name, winning NBA MVP in 2008. Bryant had a career average of 25 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. Kobe Bryant even paired up with LeBron James for the Olympics, winning the country two gold medals in 2008 and 2012 respectively. 

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Bryant's last post

The stunning death of the shooting guard came just hours after he toasted fellow NBA icon and current Laker LeBron James for passing him for third place on the league’s all-time scoring list. Kobe Bryant was considered the favourite to be installed into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, set to be announced next month. He had also taken to Twitter to toast James and used the Hashtag #33644- the numbers of points James needs to become the third-leading scorer in NBA history.

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