The world was saddened and stunned by the tragedy of a California helicopter crash Sunday Jan. 26 that took the lives of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter Gianna and seven others. As news began to circulate, networks and broadcasters displayed much emotion while discussing the tragic deaths.
While many expected NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to cancel Sunday’s slate of games, the league instead chose to play as scheduled. Knicks play-by-play announcer Mike Breen displayed the uncomfortable nature of having to broadcast a game in the wake of tragedy.
On NBA TV, Kobe’s former teammate and coach Brian Shaw offered a tearful tribute, reminding fans to think of all the joy the NBA superstar brought them.
ABC and ESPN, scheduled to air the Pro Bowl, provided a breaking news special report to inform viewers of Bryant’s death. A number of false reports occurred Sunday as media outlets carelessly rushed to be the first to have new information with ABC among those, insinuating all four of Kobe’s daughters may have been in the helicopter. Choosing to stick with the NFL’s All-Star exhibition game on ABC and ESPN after their special report, coverage of Kobe Bryant’s death was available on ESPN 2 where Jay Williams provided one of the most emotion-filled reactions.
The Pro Bowl itself, called by Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland, turned into a celebration of Bryant. Players offered on-field tributes and fans chanted “Kobe” as his death was announced inside the stadium.
Late Sunday night, Scott Van Pelt continued ESPN’s emotional coverage of Kobe Bryant.
On CBS, Jim Nantz began their 3pm ET broadcast of the PGA’s Farmers Insurance Open with the tragic news of Bryant’s death.
Soon after Kobe’s death was announced, 710 ESPN Los Angeles went live with weekday afternoon host Steve Mason.
Mason was joined during the show by his weekday co-host John Ireland, who also serves as the Lakers radio play-by-play voice. Ireland and the Lakers learned of Kobe’s death on their plane ride home from Philadelphia Sunday morning.
A two-time gold medalist, five-time NBA Champion and the fourth leading scorer in league history, Kobe Bryant displayed other interests upon retirement, including film and music. His film Dear Basketball earned an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2018. Kobe and Gianna are survived by wife and mother Vanessa, daughters and sisters Natalia, Bianka and Capri.
