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| The 9 Victims of the Helicopter Crash That Killed Kobe Bryant | The 9 Victims of the Helicopter Crash That Killed Kobe Bryant |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| When a helicopter crashed in the foggy hills of Southern California on Sunday with the basketball star Kobe Bryant on board, the tragedy inspired fans across the country to pay tribute. | When a helicopter crashed in the foggy hills of Southern California on Sunday with the basketball star Kobe Bryant on board, the tragedy inspired fans across the country to pay tribute. |
| They flocked toward the smoldering crash site, near Calabasas, Calif., wearing Lakers gear and with basketballs in hand. They built a shrine of candles and flowers outside Staples Center in Los Angeles, and they brought jerseys to lay outside the gymnasium named for Mr. Bryant at his high school outside Philadelphia. | |
| But as the details of the crash became public — including the news that nine people on board had died — communities in Southern California began grieving in quieter ways for all of the lives that had also been cut short by the crash. | But as the details of the crash became public — including the news that nine people on board had died — communities in Southern California began grieving in quieter ways for all of the lives that had also been cut short by the crash. |
| The authorities have not publicly identified the victims, but family and friends shared their grief in public announcements and posts on social media. The victims included a baseball coach, a pilot, and teenage girls and their parents. | The authorities have not publicly identified the victims, but family and friends shared their grief in public announcements and posts on social media. The victims included a baseball coach, a pilot, and teenage girls and their parents. |
| Amid grief for one of the world’s best-known athletes, loved ones urged the world to remember the other lives that were “just as important.” | Amid grief for one of the world’s best-known athletes, loved ones urged the world to remember the other lives that were “just as important.” |
| Kobe and Gianna Bryant | Kobe and Gianna Bryant |
| Mr. Bryant, the retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball star, died in the helicopter crash, along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. The helicopter was on its way from Orange County, Calif., where the Bryant family lives, to Mr. Bryant’s youth basketball academy northwest of Los Angeles. | |
| Mr. Bryant, 41, retired in 2016 with five N.B.A. championship rings. He gave himself the nickname the Black Mamba, and was known for taking helicopter rides to games at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles to avoid traffic and maximize time at home. | Mr. Bryant, 41, retired in 2016 with five N.B.A. championship rings. He gave himself the nickname the Black Mamba, and was known for taking helicopter rides to games at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles to avoid traffic and maximize time at home. |
| On Sunday, Mr. Bryant was on his way to his academy to coach Gianna, the second-oldest of his four daughters with his wife, Vanessa. | On Sunday, Mr. Bryant was on his way to his academy to coach Gianna, the second-oldest of his four daughters with his wife, Vanessa. |
| Gianna, who went by the nickname “Gigi,” was a budding basketball star in her own right and was “hellbent” on playing for the University of Connecticut, and one day, in the W.N.B.A., her father told The Los Angeles Times last year. | |
| The Huskies basketball program paid tribute on Twitter on Sunday with a photo of father and daughter, wearing what appeared to be matching UConn shirts: “They are deeply missed.” | |
| John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli | John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli |
| John Altobelli spent his days on the baseball diamond. As head coach of the Orange Coast College Pirates, a junior college baseball team in Costa Mesa, Calif., he often arrived at the field as early as 6:30 a.m., hours before an afternoon game. In recent weeks, he had been working six days a week to get ready for opening day. | |
| But on Sunday, with just two days to go before the season opener, there was somewhere else Mr. Altobelli wanted to be: the basketball gym. | |
| His daughter, Alyssa, was scheduled to play in a youth tournament in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Mr. Altobelli didn’t want to miss it. To avoid an 80-mile drive in traffic, the family hitched a helicopter ride with Mr. Bryant, a coach and fellow parent who had become a friend. | |
| “I don’t know how you’d say what he was more committed to, the game or his family,” said Tim Matz, a friend and pitching coach at Orange Coast College. | |
| Mr. Altobelli, 56, died in the crash, along with his wife, Keri, and daughter Alyssa, the college confirmed in a statement. | |
| Mr. Matz had just finished golfing at Palm Springs when he got a call about the crash. “Oh my God,” he thought. He knew his friend, who was known as “Alto,” had planned to be on board. | |
| “I called Alto right away, and it went straight to voice mail,” said Mr. Matz, 66, who began calling friends and family members until he reached Mr. Altobelli’s adult son, J.J. | |
| “He was just distraught,” Mr. Matz recalled. “He had just heard the news. I just said to him, ‘Please tell me Dad wasn’t on the helicopter.’ He said, ‘He was. So was Mom, and Alyssa.’” | |
| Mr. Altobelli, who had been the head coach at the college for going on 28 seasons, “had a very uncanny ability to make you feel like family,” Mr. Matz said. Keri Altobelli had recently taken over a family business, and Alyssa was making her own way, the basketball player in a family full of baseball fans. She dreamed of attending the University of Oregon, Mr. Matz said. | |
| The crash fractured and devastated the tightknit family, which included J.J., a former college baseball player who is now a scout for the Boston Red Sox, and a daughter, Lexi, who is in high school. | |
| Their deaths also crushed Mr. Altobelli’s larger baseball family, including many players who gathered at the field upon hearing the news and decided that they should play the season opener, as scheduled, on Tuesday. | |
| Mr. Altobelli had lived his life on the baseball diamond, and they would too. “Alto would want us out there,” Mr. Matz said. | |
| Sarah and Payton Chester | Sarah and Payton Chester |
| Sarah and Payton Chester, a mother and daughter who lived in Orange County, also died in the crash, family and friends said. | Sarah and Payton Chester, a mother and daughter who lived in Orange County, also died in the crash, family and friends said. |
| Andy George, a brother of Sarah Chester, told The San Gabriel Valley Tribune that his 13-year-old niece Payton had played for Mr. Bryant’s team for several years and had planned to develop her game in high school and college. | |
| “She had this sweetest soul, the kindest most gentlest person you would ever meet,” Mr. George told the paper. “She always had a huge smile on her face. Every time we would see her, she would spend all her time with my little daughters.” | |
| Sarah Chester, 45, also had two 16-year-old boys, Mr. George told The Tribune. “She was everything to her family, to our family,” he said. “Anytime I needed anything, she was the person I went to.” | |
| One of her sons wrote on Instagram that he had lost “the most amazing Mother and sister." He posted a series of photographs, including one that showed his sister at a basketball gym, smiling and laughing with Mr. Bryant. | |
| Todd Schmidt, the former principal of the elementary school that Payton had attended in Corona del Mar, Calif., said the Chesters were among the “amazing families” at the school: “engaged, supportive, encouraging, and full of mischief and laughter.” | |
| “While the world mourns the loss of a dynamic athlete and humanitarian, I mourn the loss of two people just as important,” he wrote. “Their impact was just as meaningful, their loss will be just as keenly felt, and our hearts are just as broken.” | “While the world mourns the loss of a dynamic athlete and humanitarian, I mourn the loss of two people just as important,” he wrote. “Their impact was just as meaningful, their loss will be just as keenly felt, and our hearts are just as broken.” |
| Christina Mauser | Christina Mauser |
| Christina Mauser had been a basketball coach and physical education teacher at Harbor Day School in Corona del Mar, Calif., and had coached Gianna Bryant to a school championship in the fall of 2017. | Christina Mauser had been a basketball coach and physical education teacher at Harbor Day School in Corona del Mar, Calif., and had coached Gianna Bryant to a school championship in the fall of 2017. |
| Her husband, Matthew Mauser, who was also a coach of that team, confirmed her death. | Her husband, Matthew Mauser, who was also a coach of that team, confirmed her death. |
| “She was incredibly witty — funny like nobody you’ve ever met,” Mr. Mauser, who used to teach at the school and is a singer in a band, said on the “Today” show early on Monday. | “She was incredibly witty — funny like nobody you’ve ever met,” Mr. Mauser, who used to teach at the school and is a singer in a band, said on the “Today” show early on Monday. |
| He said Mr. Bryant had hired Ms. Mauser to coach for a basketball team at his Mamba Academy and called her the “Mother of Defense” because she was so good at teaching zone defense to the eighth-grade players. | He said Mr. Bryant had hired Ms. Mauser to coach for a basketball team at his Mamba Academy and called her the “Mother of Defense” because she was so good at teaching zone defense to the eighth-grade players. |
| Mr. Mauser said he had cuddled in bed with his children as they grieved, and that his 11-year-old daughter had said it was comforting to know that other people were mourning as well. | Mr. Mauser said he had cuddled in bed with his children as they grieved, and that his 11-year-old daughter had said it was comforting to know that other people were mourning as well. |
| “We watched SportsCenter for two seconds and everything was about how much everybody was mourning and hurting, and she said it was nice to know that everybody was hurting along with us,” he said. “And I know that sounds odd, but it still kind of helps.” | “We watched SportsCenter for two seconds and everything was about how much everybody was mourning and hurting, and she said it was nice to know that everybody was hurting along with us,” he said. “And I know that sounds odd, but it still kind of helps.” |
| The Mausers coached the Harbor Day School eighth grade girls’ basketball team when it won its first championship in the fall of 2017, according to Beacon, a biannual magazine run by the school. Gianna Bryant was one of two sixth graders on the team who were playing at a level two years ahead of their class, according to the publication. | |
| Ms. Mauser had served as a coach, physical education teacher and eighth grade adviser for 11 years at the school, according to an announcement in the Summer 2018 edition of Beacon that said she and her husband were leaving the school. | Ms. Mauser had served as a coach, physical education teacher and eighth grade adviser for 11 years at the school, according to an announcement in the Summer 2018 edition of Beacon that said she and her husband were leaving the school. |
| “She added so much to our team,” Pamela Coleman, the physical education department chair, wrote at the time. “She was an exceptional teacher — organized, hardworking, conscientious, energetic, and imaginative.” | “She added so much to our team,” Pamela Coleman, the physical education department chair, wrote at the time. “She was an exceptional teacher — organized, hardworking, conscientious, energetic, and imaginative.” |
| Ara Zobayan | Ara Zobayan |
| Ara Zobayan, a pilot, was also among those who died in the crash, according to friends and colleagues. | Ara Zobayan, a pilot, was also among those who died in the crash, according to friends and colleagues. |
| Mr. Zobayan, of Huntington Beach, Calif., was a commercial helicopter pilot and certified flight instructor, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. He had been flying aircraft in Southern California for 20 years, records showed. He worked as a helicopter instructor for Group 3 Aviation in Van Nuys, and the company has posted photos of numerous students he has trained to fly helicopters over the years. | Mr. Zobayan, of Huntington Beach, Calif., was a commercial helicopter pilot and certified flight instructor, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. He had been flying aircraft in Southern California for 20 years, records showed. He worked as a helicopter instructor for Group 3 Aviation in Van Nuys, and the company has posted photos of numerous students he has trained to fly helicopters over the years. |
| One of Mr. Zobayan’s flight students, Darren Kemp, told The Los Angeles Times that his teacher had been Mr. Bryant’s private pilot. “He doesn’t let anyone else fly him around but Ara,” he said. | One of Mr. Zobayan’s flight students, Darren Kemp, told The Los Angeles Times that his teacher had been Mr. Bryant’s private pilot. “He doesn’t let anyone else fly him around but Ara,” he said. |
| On Facebook, a friend, Jared Yochim, described Mr. Zobayan as “an incredible pilot” and a “truly a great man.” | |
| “He was not your typical egotistical helicopter pilot like most of us,” wrote Mr. Yochim, who is also a pilot. “Ara was a man that always remained cool, calm and collected.” | |
| He shared a photo from a mutual friend’s birthday celebration, showing a group of men, their arms around one another, with Mr. Zobayan smiling and dressed up in a collared shirt and tie. | |
| “Who ever would’ve thought,” Mr. Yochim wrote, “that would be our final beer together.” | |
| Dave Phillips contributed reporting. | Dave Phillips contributed reporting. |