Fans of basketball gathered in Los Angeles on Tuesday to remember Kobe Bryant, one year after the legendary former NBA player, his daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash.
Fans laid flowers and Los Angeles Lakers memorabilia at an improvised monument outside the Staples Center, the arena where Bryant became an icon of the city over two decades of his career.
Bryant, 41, his daughter, and other passengers died on January 26 last year when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, amid foggy conditions in the area.
In an Instagram post, Bryant's widow Vanessa shared a letter she had received from one of her daughter's best friends. Part of the text read, "You may have heard this, but if I ever become a mother, I hope my daughter turns out exactly like yours."
Vanessa Bryant added in the post, "I miss my baby and Kob-Kob too. I will never understand why/how this tragedy could have happened to such beautiful, kind, and amazing human beings."
Bryant's former teammate on the Lakers, Spanish player Pau Gasol, was one of those who tweeted remembering Kobe.