David Beckham has paid a touching tribute to NBA legend Kobe Bryant after he passed away in a helicopter crash.
Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, died in a helicopter crash on Sunday alongside seven people after the Sikorsky S-76 chopper flew into a mountain in Calabasas, California.
Beckham, who first met Bryant when he played in MLS for LA Galaxy, shared a heartfelt tribute on Instagram.
Beckham wrote: “It’s taken me hours to work out what to write and still my words won’t ever be enough to describe how I am feeling after the tragic loss of Kobe.
This was one special athlete, husband, father and friend.”
“Having to write these words is hard enough but also knowing we have lost an amazing human being and his beautiful and talented daughter Gianna is heartbreaking.
The commitment Kobe showed to his sport was inspiring, to go through the pain and to finish a game off like only he could inspired me to try to be better.”
“Sometimes I would only go to games just to watch that clock go down to the last 2:00 minutes knowing that we were about to witness something special.
Kobe always talked about Vanessa and his beautiful girls and how proud he was of them.”
“Kobe’s passion was his family and basketball.
He was determined to inspire the next generation of boys and girls to embrace the sport that he loved.
His legacy will live on.
My family’s love and prayers go out to Vanessa and the girls, to Kobe’s basketball family, and of course to the families of those who were tragically lost with him yesterday… ??”
Many celebrities took to social media to mourn the death of the NBA legend.
Bryant and his daughter, Gianna were on their way to the NBA player’s Mamba Sports Academy youth training center in Thousand Oaks, California when they died in a helicopter crash alongside seven people.
Three bodies from the crash site have been recovered so far while investigators are searching for more remains.
The pilot of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter struggled due to fog and plunged more than 1,000 feet into a hillside.
All nine people on board died in the helicopter crash.
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