Kobe and Gianna Bryant mourned by players and fans at memorial in Los Angeles

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By Valerie Gonzales
Cronkite News

LOS ANGELES — Around 20,000 fans, celebrities, players and legends of the NBA gathered Monday to celebrate the lives of Kobe and Gianna Bryant, who were killed along with seven others in a helicopter crash Jan. 27.

At the Staples Center, where the former Laker’s number 8 and 24 jerseys hang in the rafters, host Jimmy Kimmel named cities from Boston to Phoenix while noting that even in “places where Kobe would be booed on the court, he’s missed.”

Among players in attendance to honor the five-time NBA champ were fellow former Lakers Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rick Fox and Shaquille O’Neal. Many players wore sunglasses indoors at the emotional event that also drew celebrities like J-Lo, Kanye and the Kardashians. Kobe’s rivals also paid their respects, including former Phoenix Sun Steve Nash who was drafted in the same year.

Vanessa Bryant and leading players in basketball spoke, including WNBA Phoenix Mercury player Diana Taurasi, who is also known as the “White Mamba.”

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