Donald Trump Mourns Kobe Bryant: He ‘Was Just Getting Started’

Former NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant attends a promotional event organized by the spor
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty Images
Charlie Spiering

President Donald Trump issued a formal statement mourning the death of Kobe Bryant on Sunday.

“Kobe Bryant, despite being one of the truly great basketball players of all time, was just getting started in life,” Trump wrote. “He loved his family so much, and had such strong passion for the future.”

The famous basketball star was killed in a helicopter accident on Sunday with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant and three other people aboard the flight.

“The loss of his beautiful daughter, Gianna, makes this moment even more devastating,” Trump wrote.

Bryant, age 41, retired from the NBA in 2016 after a historic career playing basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers. The president and the first lady expressed their condolences to the family.

“Melania and I send our warmest condolences to Vanessa and the wonderful Bryant family,” Trump wrote. “May God be with you all”:

Earlier in the day, the president joined Americans expressing shock at the horrific news that broke on Sunday.

Former President Barack Obama also expressed his grief on Twitter at the loss of Bryant.

“Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act,” Obama wrote. “To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents. Michelle and I send love and prayers to Vanessa and the entire Bryant family on an unthinkable day”:

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