Following the terrible loss of basketball legend Kobe Bryant at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash that also claimed the lives of his 13-year-old daughter and seven other people in Calabasas, California on Sunday morning, NBA commissioner and chief executive officer Adam Silver released a statement.

The opening line of Silver’s statement was, “The NBA family is devastated by the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.”

“Kobe showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with an absolute devotion to winning for 20 seasons,” the statement went on. He was one of the most remarkable players in our game’s history, having won five NBA titles, two Olympic gold medals, an NBA MVP award, and eighteen NBA All-Star appearances. However, his greatest legacy will be encouraging people to play basketball and give it their all wherever they live. He took great pleasure in passing on his passion for the game to Gianna and was kind with the knowledge he gained, viewing it as his duty to impart it to upcoming generations of players.

The statement added, “We send our deepest sympathies to his wife, Vanessa, and their family, the Lakers organization, and the entire sports world.”

In addition to publicly crying as they talked about the loss and honored Bryant in various ways—such as the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors using a 24-second infraction to honor Bryant’s jersey number—many NBA players and coaches also expressed their grief at his passing.
During a press conference, a representative for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office stated that while emergency services reacted, none of the nine occupants of the aircraft survived.


The chopper was en route to Gianna’s basketball game, sources told ESPN.

When PEOPLE asked for comments, representatives for the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department took a while to reply.

Vanessa, 37, and their four children together—daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 7 months—survive Bryant.