Essential California

SPONSORED BY GUNDRY MD*

January 27, 2020

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Monday, Jan. 27, and I’m writing from Los Angeles. Shock and grief coursed through Los Angeles and reverberated across the globe, as news broke that Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine killed in a Calabasas helicopter crash on Sunday morning. [Read the story: “Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna among 9 dead in helicopter crash; L.A. in mourning” in the Los Angeles Times] The stunning death of one of basketball’s greatest players turned local landmarks into impromptu memorials. At the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the crowd was packed with Bryant jerseys. Outside the Staples Center — where official flags were lowered to half-staff, but Lakers flags were waved high — thousands of mourners converged at L.A. Live, while music’s elite filed into the Grammy Awards in the arena. Public figures, former teammates and fans alike joined in the mourning, with many taking to social media to pay their respects. “Particularly when he was young, to be a part of his life and to watch his career grow, watch him grow, this is one of the most tragic days of my life,” said fellow Lakers legend Jerry West, who was the team’s general manager in 1996 and maneuvered Bryant’s immediate trade to the team when he was drafted. West’s words echoed the grief of Bryant’s adopted city — where older generations had watched Bryant come of age and into greatness, and the younger ones had always known him as a legend. Bryant was not yet a legal adult when he was drafted by the Lakers in 1996, and he played his entire two-decade career in Los Angeles. Sports columnist Bill Plaschke wrote that a “huge hole has been cut out of Los Angeles’ heart, and the wound is breathtaking.” “Kobe was your childhood hero. He was your adult icon,” Plaschke continued. “For 20 years he was on posters in your bedroom, on the television in your living room, in the lunch talk in your school cafeteria, in the smack talk at your office water cooler, and ultimately riding on a truck down Figueroa Street while you cheered and bragged and bathed in his greatness.” His was a career that reached the highest of athletic heights and was also tarnished by the worst of personal scandals, as sports columnist Dylan Hernández put it: “Whatever his faults, he was Los Angeles sports. He still is.” Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri Altobelli and his 13-year-old daughter, Alyssa, who played on the club team with Bryant’s daughter, were also among the victims. More Kobe Bryant coverage from The Times and beyond: “How can Kobe Bryant be gone?” Sports columnist Bill Plaschke on how Bryant’s legend wasn’t supposed to end this way. Los Angeles Times “Did you hear?” The public grieves for Kobe Bryant, from Trader Joe’s to Staples Center. Los Angeles Times “I am straight up in tears right now.” Why Kobe Bryant’s death hurts so much. LAist Gianna Bryant was a basketball star in making. The 13-year-old wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps. Los Angeles Times And from the archives: Every shot Kobe Bryant ever took. All 30,699 of them. Los Angeles Times