SPAIN'S Pau Gasol has posted a tribute to his 'big brother' Kobe Bryant, saying he is 'beyond devastated' at the NBA ace's death in a helicopter crash last night (Sunday).
Tributes from all over the sporting world in Spain and beyond have been pouring in for the retired Los Angeles Lakers star after he and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were confirmed as having perished along with seven others in Calabasas, California, at around 10.00 local time (19.00 mainland Spain time).
But Pau Gasol who, along with his brother Marc, is Spain's greatest basketball export in history, is particularly affected, since he and Kobe were team-mates with the Lakers.
“Beyond devastated...my big brother...I can't, I just can't believe it,” wrote Pau on Twitter.
The above photograph shows Pau and Kobe together during a Lakers game.
Marc Gasol, who plays for San Antonio Spurs, heard the news after his match against the Toronto Raptors, and said: “I just want to go home and hug my kids.”
Fellow Lakers player Shaquille O'Neal wrote: “There's [sic] no words to express the pain I'm going through with this tragedy of losing my niece Gigi and my brother Kobe Bryant. I love you and you will be missed. My condolences go[es] out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board. I'm sick right now.”
Others in the basketball world who reacted on social media include Spain's José Manuel Calderón, who said he 'could not believe it', that 'it hurts so much', and that he 'cried' when he heard about the fatal crash in which the star from Philadelphia – whom Calderón thanked for 'all he had given to basketball' – had lost his life.
Felipe Reyes was up against the 6'3” (1.91m) giant when the Spanish and US national teams played each other, and described being Kobe's rival as 'an honour'.
“Wherever you are now, you'll still always be a legend,” he wrote on Twitter.
Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, who used to play basketball for Real Madrid, posted a photo of himself with Kobe's daughter Gianna, who also died in the crash.
Spanish president Pedro Sánchez is a basketball fanatic, and paid tribute to Kobe on Twitter: “Tragic news for those of us who love basketball and the NBA. Unbeatable competitor whom we'll always remember making those impossible shots.”
Kobe, 41, regularly hired the helicopter which crashed – a Sikorsky S-76, like the one used by the Spanish coastguard, and which was referred to as 'The Mamba Chopper' - and flew it himself, but visibility was said to be so poor in the Calabasas area yesterday that police opted not to take off.
It is thought Kobe, Gianna and the seven others on board crashed into a hill which was obscured by fog.
His wife Vanessa and three other daughters, Natalia Diamante, Bianka Bella and Capri, were not with Kobe and Gianna at the time.
Authorities on the scene say Kobe was on his way to 'The Mamba Academy', a sports school he owned, near Thousand Oaks, and was said to be flying at a low altitude at the time of the accident.
The helicopter went up in flames upon impact, and even at first glance, emergency services who had been called out to the scene could tell there were no survivors.
Described as 'one of the most extraordinary players in history', Kobe started out with the NBA at the age of just 18, straight from high school, and retired 20 years later.
During that time, he has won two Olympic gold medals, five NBA championships, an NBA MVP Award, and 18 NBA All-Star selections.
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