Isaiah Johnson, Managing Editor

NBA fans and players are mourning the loss of former Los Angeles Laker great Kobe Bryant. The 41-year-old future Hall Of Famer died early this morning in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Ca. Bryant and his daughter Gianna, 13, along with seven others were victims of the tragic accident. Both current and former players shared their condolences on the devastating loss.

“There’s no words to express the pain that I’m going through,” former teammate Shaquille O’Neal tweeted. “My niece Gigi and my brother Kobe I love you and you will be missed; my condolences go out the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board.”

In a pregame interview Clippers head coach Doc Rivers gave his condolence and briefly talked about his interaction with Bryant over his 20-year career.

“We would always laugh about the versions of our losses,” Rivers said. “When we beat them in 2008, he had his version and when they beat us in 2010, I had my version and we would laugh at how different we looked at the game.”

Games went on as scheduled today in the league however, players took time to give a moment of silence to the late shooting guard. In the Grizzlies vs Suns game, the Grizzlies took a 24-second (24 being one of the numbers he wore during his time with the Lakers) violation at the start of the game to share their condolences. The Suns responded right after that with taking an 8-second (8 also being a number he wore during his time) violation. Other teams that played today followed suit.

Fans and supporters gathered outside of the Staples Center to mourn the loss of Kobe Bryant. Some fans in Philadelphia gathered outside his former high school to hold vigils.

RIP Black Mamba