The world is mourning the shocking death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, following a helicopter crash on Sunday. Bryant’s legacy spanned much further than the basketball world as he impacted musicians, actors and everyday people. His efforts have been well-documented in the hours since the tragic news first got out as thousands of tweets from celebrities have shared his impact on them.
Fans of Bryant’s have ventured over to the Staples Center where Bryant starred for 20 years with the Los Angles Lakers. The arena is also hosting the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, which has created quite the scene in downtown. Officials are trying to get visitors away from the arena.
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The push back from local enforcement has caused a stir among people.
ALERT: Officials are asking people not to gather outside of the Staples Center due to tonight’s Grammy Awards pic.twitter.com/XSQZbBGPTu
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) January 26, 2020
“Reschedule the Grammys. They don’t matter today,” one user responded. “Today we all mourn the loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant. If people want to gather at the Staples Center, they should be allowed to do that.”
Another wrote, “That is house that Kobe and Shaq built! Cancel the Grammy’s! Kobe’s fans deserve to grieve at Staples Center.”
Huge crowds of #KobeBryant fans still gathering at Staples Center, colliding with arriving Grammys attendees pic.twitter.com/V6D6GXDehi
— Sam Levin (@SamTLevin) January 27, 2020
One person who stopped by the venue to pay tribute to Bryant tweeted that she did so to “pay my respects for Kobe.”
“Went to Staples Center to pay my respects to Kobe. LA lost a true legend, and the crowds that came out showed just how much he meant to this city,” the tweet read.
A sea of people paying tribute to Kobe Bryant at L.A. Live adjacent to Staples Center in DTLA.
— Shawn Reynolds (@ShawnReynolds_) January 26, 2020
Staples is off limits to crowds tonight due to Grammys pic.twitter.com/bR7K1V7qKj
Along with the thousands of mourners who formed outside the Staples Center, many of his former teammates shared very personal tributes to Bryant. One of which belonged to Lamar Odom, who spent eight years playing alongside the former league MVP in Los Angeles.
“When I went through that Coma situation if God would have came to me and said we would take me and spare Kobe I would have rather that happened,” he wrote as part of his lengthy tribute.
The Grammys air Sunday, Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. ET.
Photo credit: Getty Images
