now we have a very young nba player, 41 years old, kobe bryant. >> just 41 years old. it is such a terrible thing and a horrible way to start the year for the nba. they lost david stern. now kobe bryant. for those of you just joining us. nba star, los angeles lakers star, he spent his entire 20-year career there, kobe bryant has died in a helicopter crash. what we know so far about that crash is that it reportedly happened around 10:00 this morning pacific time. that helicopter crashes in the calabasas area, that part of los angeles. from what we know, that helicopter was a ski corpsski s-76. as richard was referencing, kobe bryant often flew around in an helicopter that was in fact an s-76. we don't know whether this was his helicopter but it was the

same make and model. he used the helicopter to commute to the staples center from his home in newport beach, california. we are expecting a news conference to update us on what happened at 5:00 eastern time. in the meantime, just an outpouring of shock, devastation from sports writers, the sports community, celebrities. money of that happening on twitter. i would like to bring up a tweet that dwyane wade posted earlier today saying, no! with all of those os there, god, please, no. at 2:50 p.m. a lot of people before the news was confirmed it started to trickle out were hoping it wasn't the case. kobe tweeted 16 hours ago about lebron james who surpassed him yesterday on the all-time scoring list moving into the third spot. it was a game between the lakers and the 76ers in philadelphia. the irony of this unbelievable

as kobe spent his entire career with the lakers and was from philadelphia. this is a tweet from espn. it says king james wrote mamba for life. mamba of course kobe's income name. king james wrote mamba for life on his shoes as he chance to pass kobe brine for third on the all-time scoring list. that happening just yesterday. and kobe brine has died today. bob ryan, award winning sports writer with us now. work stunning news today. your reaction to the nba, to the world losing a legend like this? >> any time a person of extreme magnitude dies, the community, whether it is the arts, politics, entertainment, in this case sports grieves collectively. i am sitting here feeling very sad. i am very, very sad. i was not a personal friend of kobe bryant. interviewed him as a professional, but did not have a relationship. that he did flatter me once.

in a very brief moment in which i was -- i just recalled. but i was a fan of his as obviously. who couldn't be as a basketball person? then one of my first thoughts was, oh, boy, this was going to be the year of his induction into the basketball hall of fame. he will go -- his name. he will now go into it with kevin garnet and tim duncan when the ceremony is held. the voting hasn't been announced yet but i think it is rather obvious those three will be selected. >> no doubt. >> anyway i am melancholy. i am very sad about it. it is stunning. i have already exchanged some communication with friends. and the word unbelievable has been used. all i can say is echoing what eric said. you just don't know. life is capricious, and you never know. this is one of the great examples for all of us every

day, we should treasure. you just never know. >> you mentioned that you didn't know him personally. but that's one of the things about athletes, right? as fans we may never see them up close. we may never know them on this personal level but you feel like you do because they are in your homes, playing the sports that you love every night. and i think so many people here feel a connection to this star whom they watched on tv playing for the lakers for 20 years. >> well, they true. and that's certainly one of the things that -- the bond that exists between fans and athletes, i think the athletes sometimes truly don't appreciate. they live their lives and they don't know what it is like to be a fan. i think you are exactly right. kobe was different, you know, than everybody else. everybody else. all the answer born players because of his upbringing which included several years in italy, his father joe nicknamed jelly bean bryant played in italy.

he spoke italian. he developed a huge fan interest in soccer. i am not so sure if he wasn't involved in a minor investment. i know lebron is. kobe was a noted soccer fan. and this idea of his cosmopolitan nature separated him and in fact i am guessing at times even perhapsed caused some social friction when he was clearly not one of the boys. that was one of the issues with the lakers, at times, as that -- he was -- he was different than the other guys. and he couldn't help his sensibility and his awareness about things that americans don't know sometimes came out in his social interaction with his own teammates. >> do you have a favorite moment, a favorite kobe moment, something that you have said oh, my gosh when i saw him do this, i thought, this guy is unbelievable? >> no, i can't say that. i will say, though, the realization that he scored 81 points in a game, second only to

wilt chamberlain, that always fascinated me. and his farewell. we have seen some great farewells but going out with 60 points in an nba game is a strong statement. i will nominate that. i didn't see it. damn it, but i am certainly well aware of it not long after it happened. >> all right thank you so much for being with us. i am going to hand it off to -- pass it over to richard liu andi you are going chat with our next guess. >> yes, steve mason, thank you again for joining the breaking news coverage. over to steve mason, espn radio talk show host. steve, the numbers keep on going when you go to the nba's website in terms of the numbers behind kobe bryant. we could spend hours going through some of the records of his storied career. i think one of the numbers that he would probably like to

reflect or who have liked to have reflected on today at the age of 41 before this catastrophe would be the number four. that would be four daughters that he so proudly talked about and raised in his later years and felt so proud about. that number four -- the fourth coming only seven months ago. if you can, tell us about his family and his children and what they meant to him. >> well, it's impossible to underestimate the magnitude of this in los angeles. it's absolutely shocking. i am about to go into coverage right now here locally in los angeles. he adored his daughters. in particular, his oldest, who he was sort of mentoring as she began a basketball career of her own. kobe was a big supporter and fan of the w nba, and i think it is fair to say he imagined that his

oldest daughter would one day play in that league. he -- kobe is not like any other athlete i have had a chance to meet or to cover. he -- his intellect among athletes i have covered was unmatched. his competitiveness was like nothing we had ever seen. you know, he very much valued his career in terms of championships as opposed to individual accolades. i -- i heard your previous guest talk about his final night in the nba. i did have the privilege to be in the building the night kobe scored 60 points, his final night in the nba. he was known by multiple nicknames, in particular, the black mamba is probably his most famous nickname, which i think really summarized the level of

competitiveness you got from kobe bryant on a night to night basis. he was incredibly famous for playing through injury. there was really no injury that kobe couldn't play through. he -- later in his career, he suffered a torn achilles during the course of a game, one that did shut him down. the most amazing thing about that injury is that after he tore his achilles and crumbled to the ground knowing that that was a serious injury, kobe simply got up, walked to the free-throw line, and with that torn achilles made two free throws, and then walked off the floor. that's a testament to the level of tenacity he had as a professional athlete. >> it is seldom that we really do this here, steve. as players develop names, nicknames, we just use them. we have an understanding of what they mean.

but if we -- for instance, the black mamba, if we were to ask you to define very quickly what it is -- i won't do that to you you about i want to get a sense of how he got that name. from national geographic, the black mamba lives in the rocky hills of southern and eastern africa. they are africa's longest and most venomous snake. they reach up to 14 feet in length. how did he get this nickname given this definition from national geographic? >> well, kobe became -- although he was late to social media, he became an unbelievable expert at marketing himself, and talking about himself on line. he was able to sort of take that black mamba name and apply it to his career. like i said, he would play through any injury. there was no challenge too big for kobe bryant.

he went flew a stretch in his career, he won three championships with shaquille o'neal back in the early 2000s. >> uh-huh. >> shaquille was traded and kobe went through a very sallow period in his career. and he was highly criticized. what kobe did was he took that criticism and he turned it aroundthrough this embodiment of toughness, this nickname. and kobe went on to win two more championships something that people felt he might not be able to do on his own. he really willed the lakers franchise and this lakers team to two more championships while he was the emblematic face of the franchise. and i think that that black mamba nickname emphasizes his toughness, his tenacity, and his will to win. >> steve, i want to finish our conversation here with something about the way we started it. that was about his four daughters. the latest being born seven

months ago. as we know in his very human history as a public figure, there was a time of sexual assault that came about. then he turned into a propennant of gender equality. had four daughters. as you were saying became a proponent of the wnba. give us the arc of who he was as a younger player and who he was at 41. kobe bryant at 18 basically versus at the age of 41. >> well, you know, that toughness and that tenacity was something that he brought to fierce protection of his daughters and of his family. despite the fact that he is probably the most famous, most recognizable athlete in los angeles. he was able to maintain a level of privacy. and part of that was his toughness and his ability to really keep the shine off of his

family and protect them from any sort of public scrutiny. kobe later in his career -- people may not realize this -- won an academy award? oh, by -- act award. >> oh, by the way. >> for his animated film, dear basketball. kobe was on the verge of doing something most athletes don't really do. his contemporaries he viewed not as other athletes but as people like steve jobs, tim cook he spent time with. he spend time with ariana huffington. he spent time with deepak cope re. he was discovering life after basketball in a way that we don't see other athletes do. he was building an animation studio where he intended to build on his success from dear basketball. >> yeah. >> he's a brilliant mind, a brilliant guy. and he will be sorely, sorely

missed. and we will always be left to wonder what he might have accomplished had he had a full life. >> steve, you brought up the number one. and that's probably when you look at his accomplishments over his career is just one. on the flip side, he played over 48,000 -- exactly 48,637 minutes. the sixth most in nba history. he was unstoppable. you were describing earlier, despite some injuries along the way. but he was a common face for so many years as well as so many minutes, over 48,000 minutes. >> and played them all in los angeles for the lakers, the most iconic franchise in the league. >> and being a warriors fan, i don't say this lightly, but we certainly did admire what he meant to the nba, watching. and i think so many fans, as they do see what he has done over his career -- when we look at the 48,000 number, how did he

get there? obviously we are talking a little bit earlier that he was quite productive, despite injury, despite difficulty during a game. >> he would play through -- i mentioned the torn achilles. he would play through minor injuries. today in the nba they have a thing called load management where guys take nights off just so they can stay fresh. that's so an athleticcal to what kobe bryant did. kobe understood that the nba, above all else, is an entire at the same time product and that when he played in atlanta or he played in cleveland or he played in milwaukee that there were fans that maybe got to go see one game a year, that wanted to see the greatest showman in the sport. and so the idea of him taking a night off because he was tired or he had the flu or he had a stoved finger or whatever that happened to be was an thre

aathleticcal to who he was. he didn't want to let the fans down. that might be the one time in their lifetime they had a chance to see kobe bryant and he wanted to be there at all costs. >> steve mason i know you have a busy afternoon. i appreciate you giving us your expertise as well as your understanding over the context of what kobe bryant means to all of these nba fans as well as those who were fans of what he many as a public figure. steve mason, espn radio talk show host appreciate it. >> thank you. >> from his perspective and from all the guests we have had we start to learn more as we go through the story and what he did in the past and what he means to, unfortunately -- unfortunately in death what he will mean to many people. >> most people know kobe bryan was a laker. most people know he spent a lot of time there. when you run through the history that he spent his entire career there. i love everybody mentions hey by

the way he won an academy award. all the things he did that people may not be aware of. you realize what an incredible loss, what a devastating loss, what an incredibly special person he was. >>ally son morris has been covering news for us all afternoon on a sad day, kobe bryant passing away in a helicopter crash in southern california. i appreciate it. >> i appreciate you, it is always good to have company on a day like this. thanks richard. >> absolutely. we are waiting here on msnbc. in 45 minutes we expect to hear the very latest from law enforcement officials in southern california. we expect a briefing at 5:00 p.m. eastern, 2:00 p.m. pacific when we might get more details on this video we have been playing on the left-hand side. how did this helicopter crash? and who were the others in it? all we know is kobe bryant is dead at the age of 41. stay with us. we are going to continue our

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what is going through your

mind? what is going through your heart right now? >> disbelief. it is kobe. invincible. i just told him -- my wife and i just got married on 8/24, for kobe like literally. >> you are a really big fan? >> huge, we just followed their road trip to boston and new york. he was my idol. >> what did kobe mean to you? >> i have been watching kobe for a long time since i was a kid and was able to get courtside seat tickets to watch in one of his last games. to know that i got to see one of his last games is also something i will never forget in my life. >> some of the fans that are just learning the news of the death of kobe bryant in a helicopter crash today on this sunday in southern california. we are still waiting for yet more details here on msnbc. this is some of the video that we had from earlier today. but there are still questions that remain that we will try to find the answers to. how did this happen?

and who else was on that helicopter? we expect to have a live briefing in about 40 minutes coming out of southern california. when that does happen, we will go straight to it. for more, let's go to nbc sports host mike tirico. mike, do we have anything else. >> there are certainly rumors out there. but until confirmed by authorities you don't pass rumors along. patience is a virtue. this is not a first to get it right situation. but certainly just a confirmation from the authorities that kobe bryant's passing did take place in this helicopter crash has really started a ton of emotional reaction from some of the fans, who you just heard, from people around the sports world. not just the basketball world. he did transcend the sport in so

many ways. anyone who watched him play over his 20 years with one of the most visible franchises in all of sports, the los angeles lakers, feels some of that emotion today for sure. >> i was saying earlier, and this is so personal for so many folks, but as we were showing the fans' reaction and them crying even you were a fan of one of the rivalries of the l.a. lakers you did learn to respect who kobe bryant was. you actually learned to be a little bit of a fan of what he did despite his ability to completely destroy your loved team. in my case, it was in northern california. what a good and bad, we watched in front of all of america and what he represented. he was so human, yet a super star at the same time. >> yeah, you know, richard, when you see a player who does transcend the league and becomes known on a one word basis. you say kobe and you think of almost no one else.

>> right. >> there has to be a reason for that. your last guest who was on, steve mason, i thought he summarized it very well. kobe had this incredible work ethic that rest naonated with m fans, many teams, and many opponents, and also inspired an entire generation. folks who were around kobe, his two olympic gold medal, team u.s.a. basketball perform ans report that kobe was very significant in laying down here's how to be a great and a leader for individuals like lebron james who just passed his scoring record last night in philadelphia. kobe was third on the all-time nba scoring list as an individual until lebron passed him last night in kobe's hometown of philadelphia. so there are so many different examples that you will hear in the coming hours, days, and weeks of what made kobe bryant so respected for his incredible

basketball skill and his unique one of a kind leadership as well. >> that number that you were saying when he was third. it was 33,643 points was when he was third just behind michael jordan and kareem abdul jabbar. we are talking about a very elite group here, mike. when we think of all the numbers that stand out -- we will give you one more, just how well did he do in the playoffs? that's often a marker of how good of a player you are, 5,640 points scored just in the playoffs itself. how was he as a player if you were to summarize during the season and in the playoffs? >> well, during the season, i don't want to reiterate everything steve just said, your last guest, but it was true. kobe would play his hardest at all times. kobe didn't take many nights off. the term you hear in the nba right now is load management. so the best players are fresh at the end of the season.

kobe believed that every game was the most important one. he felt that way. in the playoffs i think the best way to summarize it would be if you wanted someone to take a shot, it was kobe bryant. he had the confidence, the skill, the ability, also the unique ability to see the game so well that he knew where the best shot might come from, what defense might be played. one thing about kobe brine's basketball that the numbers don't tell is his incredible mental acumen for the game. kobe was a brilliant basketball mind. his dad joe was a long time nba and european player. it is one of the reasons kobe is fluent in multiple languages including italian. kobe's dad played in italy, and kobe was raised in italy during his formative years. the knowledge was handed down from father to son. and you were seeing it kobe

would go to games with his daughter who was a young player playing. treeing basketball and taking a real interest in his keep. there were shots of kobe talking courtside to his daughter to help her understand a little bit more. and you understood the next chapter of the incredible entle inity of the knowledge of basketball. >> mike, we are just getting this in here at msnbc that we can now confirm that his daughter, you were discussing earlier the tips and the leads that we had and we could not confirm. we were just able to confirm that his 13-year-old daughter geeana that rhea honore bryan was also on the helicopter and was passed away. that just in to us here, mike, that his daughter, his oldest, his 13-year-old, geeiana maria honore bryant. what -- as we get more information -- and this is unfortunate information. tell us about the relationship. clearly, she was very dear to

him, as she was just starting her own basketball career. >> yeah. all four of the kids, of course, richard, very close. and kobe was very -- >> 17. 17, excuse me. >> 17 years old, yes, right. >> 13. sorry. >> 13 should be the correct age from what i understand. very involved in her basketball life as she was taking a liking to it. and that's the young woman who we have seen sitting courtside with kobe in some of the pictures that have been out in social media here. heed a real engagement with the game. and her -- [ no audio ] >> mike, are you there? mike tirico? looks like we lost mike tirico from nbc sports. let's go to a reporter for 680, the fan. we just got the information,

13-year-old daughter geeiana bryant we are now able to confirm was also on the helicopter and is believed to be dead at this moment. we just got that into msnbc. 13-year-old daughter of kobe bryant also on the helicopter, geeana bryant. we are also hearing one of her teammates, a parent, and the pilot also those included in the five killed in the helicopter crash. relate to us if you can, what is it -- were the relationships? that's what we were hearing from mike tirico a second ago, how important family was and what geeana's career was like in basketball. and just the horrific news now that he -- and of course all the loss of life here is horrific. but then there is a special relationship that certainly kobe and geeana had. >> well, listen, this is another level of you know shocking news just in general. one of the most iconic sports

figures in history let alone the most iconic to pass away. kobe was seen with his daughters not just a little bit, not every so often. he was seen with his family constantly while he played and after he retired. more so than any other player i remember. you know the bryant family as a whole 678 so whole. so it speaks to the depth of the loss and the depth of the tragedy this is. again, when you think about his commitment to the game of basketball and to his family, he went out of the game gracefully with his family surrounding him. he had huge goals for his causes and loved being around his girls watching and coaching basketball. it takes it to an even more tlajic level. >> what are you hearing from your listeners about the loss of kobe bryant and now again just in to msnbc, the loss of his daughter along with one of her teammates, a parent, and the pilot as well? what are you hearing from your

listeners? >> it is not just listeners. this is a moment, you know, the shock waves -- this is a john lennon moment, if you will. >> yeah. >> to compare it, a jfk jr. moment. it is where were you when you heard the news? anybody that follows sports in the world knows kobe. he is an international figure. of course he grew up overseas. his dad was a professional player. he was part of pop culture. people that weren't even sports fans know exactly who kobe bryant. any time you hear something like this it reverberates with enormous impact. we hear from the listeners, we loved kobe, we loved watching him. he was one of the greatest three or four players in the history of basketball. he also was a visible figure. talking about the ones, ali, jordan, kobe, these are the names that ripple through sports over the last century. obviously, it is stunned. stunning news. >> where would you put him in terms of the all-time greats?

top five? top ten is what we have been talking about right now. >> i hate to use it in that term because it feels pedestrian to start talking -- listen, he is one of the greatest basketball players that ever lived. so -- he is the most known basketball player that ever lived in terms of this generation, right there with michael jordan, lebron james, and company. i don't remember -- clemente is probably the last sports figure at this level that we have had to deal with a loss. i don't want to talk about him in those terms. he was just an international super star at the highest level. >> when you talk about the international super star part of this we have to remember he played at the time of david stern during a time when the nba became the professional sport international. >> it is a global sport. >> what did he mean then globally? >> i mean, the nba stars are enormous in china. they are enormous all over europe. they are enormous all over the world.

i promise you kobe bryant couldn't go five steps in the world without being recognized and mobbed by fans. >> just about anywhere. >> all over the world, yeah. this is a guy that is world famous. and this is a guy that was beloved. and this is a guy that approached his craft with the utmost intensity. and people had enormous respect for him around the world. >> stake shapiro from 680 the fan. thanks for your time, my friend. let's go live to steve patterson in calabasas, california. steve, we are waiting for in a news conference. but you are on the ground there. what have you learned? >> reporter: we are here -- the scene is right behind me. my photographer can zoom in and push and show you exactly where the crash happened at about 10:00 a.m. this modern. the smoeltderring ruins of it, the wreckage. you can see the steam or the

smoke rising above as people down below have come from all over the city to see what has happened here. obviously when that news broke out, people all over town were heart broken. driving here, there was a huge traffic jam. so many people wanted to see it for themselves. i think this story has been so unbelievable to people. as you are driving up you see people in kobe bryant jerseys. people on the scene here in tears. obviously people who live in l.a. who have nothing to do with the incident itself who just wanted to be a part of something and see what had happened and really confirm it with their own eyes which you can do. it is about the strangest sight you will ever see people gathered below looking up with their cell phones at what is left of that helicopter. we do know a press conference is scheduled to make place within the next few minutes, probably another 20 or 25 minutes or so. we are expected to learn more obviously about the passengers who were on board.

there were at love conflicting reports that came out when this all started. offensely we have all heard kobe brine was one of the passengers on board along with, unfortunately, and tragically, his daughter. one of the big things is to find out exactly who else was on board that craft. how this investigation will then progress from here, richard as this continues, this unbelievable setting here in calabas calabasas. >> as you are on the scene and able to look around you, if you can tell us what is the weather like? that's one of the questions we might ask. we are interested in how did this catastrophe happen? how mountainous is the area? and then the location -- we understand that kobe bryant used to commonly use his helicopter to come from his mom about sports academy to home, and then of course to the arena downtown, maybe not what he did today. but where is this location, calabasas, with regard to the sports academy and to his home, if we know that? and what is the weather like today? because those so important when

we try to understand how this catastrophe happened. >> kobe bryant obviously as you mentioned there in your report is that he is no stranger to taking helicopters from point a to point b. he started doing it as a player coming from his home to obviously the staples center downtown. l.a. traffic is legendary for how clogged it can get. he got used to that method of transportation. he has been doing this for years, if not decades now, from his playing career. the conditions here, i think is going to be a big part of what this investigation looks at are foggy, visibility has been poor all day. i don't know if we can show you back to the scene up there again but you can see kind of this haze over the mountain tops there. that may have been far worse -- i didn't see it but obviously it may have been far worse hours ago when that crash occurred. this has been settling sort in the mountains n the passes here all throughout the morning. visibility was something that was an early indication of what

could have caused the crash. obviously it will take a full investigation to determine that. >> yeah. >> but the more you look up the less you can see. i guess you can say that right off the bat. this location, affluent neighborhood. i think a lot of people have heard of calabasas. it is far from where we heard the helicopter had taken off. early reporting is that the helicopter had taken off from orange county. so it would have been an hour if not more before it reach this crash site. not sure exactly where the sports center was where he was traveling but i think it was in the nearby area. and with visibility the way it was it obviously could have been a determining factor in the crash. investigators though -- we hope to hear more in the next few minutes on what they have determined about exactly what the weather has contributed to this, and then obviously the aircraft, the pilot, so much to uncover here in the early phases. obviously, right now just in mourning and really just still in shock here, richard, as we pay attention to the crowd that's gathered here.

back to you. >> quickly, and then we will let you go. is it windy at all or is it pretty steady right now, steve. say that again richard? >> is it windy. or steady in terms of wind. >> steady breeze. nothing dramatic. nothing that would feel severe enough at this point. obviously this is hours earlier that this crash occurred. but nothing where i am in the immediate area that feels like you are going to be blown over by a blast of wind or anything like that. >> of course we ask all these questions trying to understand the conditions that are there on the location of the crash. nbc's steve patterson for us live at the motion, close to the location of the crash of kobe bryant's helicopter. and we will get back to you, steve, as we later on will be listening to the press conference coming from law enforcement officials very close to the crash location in the southland in southern

california. let's go to howard beck, senior nba reporter with the bleacher report. howard, we are waiting at the moment to find out from officials there in southern california how this happened. but the very catastrophic news is made worse if that's possible with the news of who the other four were. in addition to that that gianay bryant, 1 years old, his daughter, an aspiring basketball player was with him when the helicopter went down. howard, if you can quickly, talk about his family. >> you know, i covered kobe in l.a. from 1997 to 2004. that was really before his daughter's had come along. but you know, we still encountered each other quite a bit over the years since i moved to new york. and i can tell you, the guy was such a doting father, was such a -- just a loving parent.

he wanted his girls to you know be as he was, basically attack life with everything he had. and you could see it in the coaching that he was doing with his daughter giana's team. you can see it in all the proud papa moments that kaem out whether he was on late night talk shows or whether he was on -- you know, his own dispatches on twitter, on social med media. theyment the world to him. i don't know how else to put it. he played basketball with an inebl kr, unmatched, unbridled passion. i think he put that same passion and dedication into everything, whether it was his family, his daughters his post career

endeavors into media and story telling. the guy never did anything halfway. >> howard, as you got to know kobe better you saw some things that we don't get to see. if there is one story that sticks out to you if you were asked to tell a story about kobe personally, what would that story be this we didn't quite see because, as you were describing, for public figures a lot of the time their private time is their private time. >> yeah. i mean, that's a great question. at a moment like this honestly it is kind of hard to summon that one you know profound all encompassing anecdote or memory. it is hard. i just know that the kobe i knew and covered every day for those years in l.a. was just as dedicated and spence about his job as anybody is about anything. but i also know that as a person

he was intellectually curious, incredibly bright, engaging, he liked the back and forth, you know, good times and bad. there were ups and downs over those years. when you are a beat writer covering a team, covering a player. there are moments when things get haywire and you get on each other's nerves but then you move on the next day and then you start fresh. and he -- he -- i think he really enjoyed the back and forth with us, with those of us who covered him. and as i say, just a really engaging intelligent person. >> you know, it is -- he is famous for coming out of high school and going straight to play pro ball, from lower marion high school close to philadelphia, in the philadelphia suburb of lower marion. if that 18-year-old were to talk to the 41-year-old as you were able to watch him and follow him and report on him, what do you think that 18-year-old would be telling that 41-year-old kobe

bryant? >> wow. i -- it is hard to envision what the younger kobe tells the older kobe. the older kobe probably tells the younger kobe, you know, maybe pass instead of shoot every so often. >> right. >> during some of the tougher times. but i -- you know, that 18-year-old kobe, you go back and you watch that video with the kid with the shaved head emulating jordan with the sunglasses on his forehead saying i am taking my talents to the nba, just how cocky he was but how sure of himself, how certain he was that he was destined for greatness. and he wasn't wrong. and you know, it wasn't just a matter of natural talent either. as i said, he worked at it. >> yeah. >> and harder than almost anybody i have ever met. he made that greatness. he created that greatness. it didn't just come from, you

know, anything in his gene even though yes his father was a pro basketball player. not nearly at kobe's level. just he knew -- he knew what he wanted and he pursued it so intensely, and so single mindedly. and as a result, like he inspired an amazing number of people -- the people i have heard from today. not just people around the nba. people in politics who i know are texting saying he's the guy that they emulated as kids or as teenagers or just trying -- they wanted to be like him or were inspired to be like him even in their own field like i am going to attack my career with the same intensity that kobe attacked his. and that's -- that's a gift that you can't even quantify. >> howard beck from the bleacher report sharing his professional and personal loss of the death of kobe bryant today in southern california. howard, thank you so much. i know this is a difficult day for you both previously and

personally as i just mentioned. i appreciate you stopping by. >> thank you for having me. >> you bet. we will continue to wait for the press briefing. we expect that to happen in about 15 minutes. 2:00 local, 5:00 eastern from southern california from law enforcement officials there. stay with us right on msnbc as we get closer to that moment. >> you have got stand up for who it is that you believe in. you know, i think the struggle always seems to be of what is available to you now. as opposed to what is the right thing to do for years to come. right? i think the easiest thing that we can do is just do what is right now. even if it may seem uncomfortable. even if it doesn't seem like it is publicly accepted, you have got to do what's right. ion to le and save in more ways than one.

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msnbc anchor and senior business correspondent on the phone with us right now. stephanie, as we look at his background, it is quite staggering. we're mentioning the number of minutes, the number of games he played and the successes he had outside of all of that. >> reporter: without a doubt. when you talk about the businessman, the success kobe bryant was. put into perspective who he was on the court. he earned $680 million during his 20 year career with the lakers. according to "forbes," that's anymore than any career athlete, more than be tiger woods and floyd mayweather. he had more than an impact and a fan base here. i know you were speaking about kobe growing up just outside of philadelphia in lower marion. when he was 6 his family moved to italy.

his father moved the family to italy for a few years where he played. coby picked up italian and spanish. it was then when the father impressed upon him how important it was to be international. kobe bryant was one of the -- is still considered one of the most valuable athletes of all time in the chinese market. he has -- he is considered a chinese sport diplomat. for five years his jersey was the top selling jersey there. he had his own kobe bryant foundation in china to support athlet athletes. think about the chinese market and the nba. he was the first athlete to do the international tours and build his brand there. i know you said it earlier. many people don't realize he won an oscar. he was an athlete that, yes, an incredible athlete on the court but capitalized on it. he became a nike athlete back in 2004 and just last year his

sneaker, not even the most current one, one of his vintage ones, the kobe 4, there are currently 102 nba players wearing kobe sneakers on the court. that's more than who are wearing kyrie or lebron. i mean, a true icon in the sport. >> you know, stephanie, we're also looking at another indication of how he transcended what was broadcasting in the united states. when it comes to fantasy football, for instance, in 2011, he was a number one overall pick. that says a lot about the culture that you just described so well. his global footprint, one to one with basketball fans around the world. >> his body armor sports drink that he partnered in years ago, he made a $6 million investment. just a few years later coca-cola bought it out making that worth $200 million. so he was truly a leader. when it comes to the sport, other athletes, fans, the impact

he had was massive. something that did stick out to me today in a terribly sad way. i did a profile on the business of kobe bryant a few years ago. i remember when we did the interview in la he arrived via helicopter. akol league of mine found a piece from gq in 2010, a piece specifically about kobe's relationship with always taking a chopper. he was a good ways away from la but he always made the commute. i wanted to share, bryant said the helicopter was just another tool for maintaining his body. no different than weights or whirlpool tub or kus mom made nikes. he can't sit in a car for more than 2 hours. the helicopter ensures that he gets to the staples center feeling fresh, warm, loose, fluid as mercury when he steps onto the court. just think about who he was, this man, this lifestyle and just so tragic when you hear

about the loss today. >> you know, stephanie, in your experience as a business person, now as a journalist, now as our senior business correspondent for nbc news, msnbc and an anchor for msnbc, what do you remember city putting on your business hat when you sat down to speak with him about a business person? what stood out that you said, ah, this person knows exactly how to leverage a brand? >> reporter: he truly understood his brand. he came up with the name black mamba which is a venomous snake. this goes back to his relationship with china. when he had the top selling jersey for five years, it was about kobe spending the time going to china, meeting fans. how many athletes do you know use their charitable trust in an international market, in china, because he understood that from a young age. he learned that from his dad. >> will he be remembered in terms of sports business

professionals in the likes of michael jordan, those in pop culture like jay z? >> reporter: i would say different if you look at a michael jordan who owns a piece of the team, if you look at magic johnson who went from an athlete to team ownership that's different. without a doubt, a businessman, a class act and revered by any of his endorsement partners, by athletes but also what a fierce competitor. >> stephanie ruhle, thank you very much. our senior business correspondent right here on msnbc. thank you so much, stephanie. >> thank you. we're going to take a short break. we'll have more breaking news right after this break. we expect to be going live to southern california for a live -- for a news briefing on the latest as to potentially the details behind how kobe bryant's helicopter crashed this morning in southern california. stick around. - do you have a box of video tapes, film reels, or photos,

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good afternoon. it is 5:00 on the east coast. for those of you who are joining us, we're following some breaking news this hour. nbc news confirming retired nba basketball superstar kobe bryant has been killed in a helicopter crash. they responded around 10 a.m. local pacific time to reports of a chopper crash on a hillside