He crashed in a helicopter with 4 other people, all dead. I'm really shaken up by it, he was one of my favorite athletes growing up, and not just that, but he seemed on the way to making an even bigger impact post-retirement. First athlete to win an oscar, his investments and story-telling projects....too much of a waste to lose him like that.
I was into basketball for a bit as a teenager and Kobe was my favourite basketball player. For his death to have already hit so many across the pond where most don't pay much attention to basketball shows just how much of an icon he is.