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Basketball Legends Mourn Loss of Kobe Bryant

The retired NBA star died in a helicopter crash


Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, was among the basketball icons paying tribute to retired NBA star Kobe Bryant, 41, who was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday. Bryant was surpassed by LeBron James for the third spot on the all-time scoring list on Saturday. All three players starred for the Los Angeles Lakers. In a video posted on Twitter, Abdul-Jabbar, 72, lauded Bryant’s accomplishments and reminisced about meeting the future star as a child.

Former Lakers superstar Earvin “Magic” Johnson, 60, praised Bryant for his work off the court in retirement.

Eleven-time NBA champion Bill Russell, 85, used the hashtag “RIPMamba,” a reference to Bryant’s “Black Mamba” nickname in his playing days, in praising Bryant as “one of the best basketball minds in the history of the game.”

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