The death toll has now reach 9. Please proceed here for the new information!
UPDATE:Reports also say Gianna Maria has been confirmed on board and died in the crash.
Celebrated athlete and entrepreneur Kobe Bryant along with his daughter are dead as well as 3 others due to a helicopter crash, according to TMZ. The Los Angeles Lakers player was traveling in a private helicopter Sunday January 26th when reportedly a fire broke out. TMZ stated that emergency personnel responded, but nobody on board survived the incident in Calabasas, CA. Vanessa Bryant, Kobe's wife, was also reportedly not on board the helicopter.
Currently, the cause of the crash is under investigation and the story is still developing. Eyewitnesses have told the publication that they heard "sputtering" from the aircraft before it went down. Bryant is survived by his wife and three daughters - Natalia, Bianca and Capri, who was recently born last June.
Lakers teammate LeBron James recently commented on Bryant when analysts reported that he superseded Kobe's all-time scoring record.
It's just too much. It's too much. The story is too much...It doesn't make sense. Just to make a long story short, now I'm here in a Lakers uniform, in Philadelphia, where he's from. The first time I ever met him, gave me his shoes on All-Star Weekend. It's surreal. It doesn't make no sense, but the universe just puts things in your life. And I guess when you live in the right way, when you just give it everything to whatever you're doing, things happen organically.
Fans are shaken from the very hosts of our shows to athletes to hear such horrifying news.