Kobe Bryant Dies in a Helicopter Crash: Live Updates

Among the other victims of the crash was John Altobelli, 56, a longtime baseball coach at Orange Coast College, a junior college in Costa Mesa. Calif. “This is a tremendous loss for our campus community,” said Angelica Suarez, the president of Orange Coast College, in a statement.

Juan Gutierrez, a spokesman for Orange Coast College, said that Altobelli’s wife, Keri, and daughter Alyssa also died in the crash.

Last year, Altobelli led the Pirates to the California Community College baseball state championship, their fourth state title under Altobelli. He was named one of the American Baseball Coaches Association coaches of the year.

Among the players Altobelli coached was Mets All-Star infielder, Jeff McNeil, in the summer Cape Cod Baseball League. “He took a chance on me, kept me the whole summer,” McNeil told ESPN. “Him taking that chance on me, having me on his team, got me drafted.”=

Games begin with shot clock tributes.

Teams across the N.B.A. started their Sunday night games by purposely running the shot clock out, taking 24- and 8-second violations in honor of the numbers Bryant wore.

In a number of games, the team winning the opening tip opted to dribble out the 24-second clock or keep the ball in the backcourt for an 8-second violation, followed by the other team returning the gesture. Bryant changed his jersey number to 24 from 8 in 2006.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/sports/basketball/kobe-bryant-dead.html?emc=rss&partner=rss