1-year anniversary of helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant is next week

A great many people would like to forget 2020, but a day of remembrance is fast approaching.

The one-year anniversary of the fatal helicopter crash that took the lives of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven other Orange County residents will be on Tuesday.

A Southern California sports icon and a Newport Beach resident, tributes have taken place for Bryant over the course of the past year. They have come in various forms.

Orange County declared Aug. 24 to be “Kobe Bryant Day,” representing the Nos. 8 and 24 worn by the Los Angeles Lakers’ great during his playing days. Murals have been erected in his honor.

The Lakers also went on to win their 17th championship in franchise history, a feat that many a fan considered to be done “For Kobe.” There are homages to Bryant in the Lakers’ championship rings, too.

Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife, Keri, and daughter, Alyssa, were among the victims in the helicopter crash. The college plans to have a virtual memorial service Tuesday at 10 a.m.

Sarah and Payton Chester, a mother and daughter from Newport Beach, Christina Mauser, a Mamba Academy basketball coach and Huntington Beach resident, and pilot Ara Zobayan, from Huntington Beach, also died in the on Jan. 26, 2020 crash en route to a basketball tournament at the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks.

::

Support our sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.

For more sports stories, visit latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports or follow us on Twitter @DailyPilotSport.