Kobe Bryant

The Altobelli and Mauser families were each given $1.25 million on Wednesday by Los Angeles County as part of a settlement for first responders sharing photos from the site of the helicopter crash that killed Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and eight others in January 2020.

According to Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today, the Altobelli and Mauser families sued L.A. County for for invasion of privacy and negligenceafter county sheriff’s and fire department employees were found to have taken photos of human remains at the crash scene and shared them.

Regarding the settlements, outside counsel for the county Skip Miller said the following:

"We believe these proposed settlements of $1.25 million are reasonable and fair to all concerned. We are pleased that the Mauser and Altobelli families, who as private citizens suffered the same grief and loss as others, will be able to move forward after these settlements. ... We also hope that eventually the other families will be able to do the same."

The helicopter was en route to Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy for a girls' basketball game.

Bryant's daughter Gianna was also among the casualties, along with John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser and the pilot Ara Zobayan.

Gianna Bryant, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester were all teenage basketball players. John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli and Sarah Chester were parents. Mauser was an assistant coach for Team Mamba.

Two lawsuits regarding the photos remain active. One was filed by Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe and mother of Gianna. The other was filed by Chris Chester, husband and father respectively to Sarah Chester and Payton Chester.

Members of the Bryant, Chester, Altobelli and Mauser families also sued Island Express, the owner and operator of the helicopter. The sides reached a confidential settlement in June.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Eick ruled that Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Fire Chief Daryl Osby must provide pretrial testimony as part of Vanessa Bryant's lawsuit against L.A. County for invasion of privacy and negligence.

Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today reported the sheriff and fire chief will be asked questions under oath regarding pictures that were taken of the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed Kobe and Gianna Bryant, as well as seven others.

Vanessa Bryant said employees of the sheriff's and fire department shared photos of her husband and daughter, and Eick ruled Villanueva and Osby have "unique firsthand, non-repetitive knowledge relevant to the issues in this case."

It wasn't the only ruling from Eick, as he also granted Bryant access to the phone records of retired fire captain Brian Jordan. The county fire department previously criticized him for taking photographs with "no legitimate business purpose" that "only served to appeal to baser instincts and desires for what amounted to visual gossip."

The county has been trying to force Bryant to undergo a psychiatric exam to show she suffered emotional distress from the crash and not from the sharing of the photographs.

Bryant's attorneys said Villanueva and Osby "know a great deal" about the photograph issue.

"Villanueva personally promised Mrs. Bryant that he would protect the remains of her husband and daughter from desecration by unauthorized photographers," says a document submitted by the plaintiff's attorneys.

It continued, saying, "He personally described the sharing of photos of human remains by law enforcement officers as a problem as old as the Polaroid camera, and he noted that police officers keep so-called 'death books' of such photos."

As for Osby, Bryant's attorneys said he was told five days after the crash that two members of his department had photographs but "waited to conduct any meaningful investigation of those reports until March," and, as a result, "photos were turned into cocktail-hour entertainment at a public awards show."

The trial for the case is set to begin in February.

A Kobe Bryant Upper Deck card from the 2002-03 season recently sold for $922,500 at auction, setting the record price for a non-rookie Kobe card.

The autographed Logo Mania card received a 9 overall grade from Beckett before being placed on the auction block.

A Bryant rookie card sold for $1.8 million in March, setting the overall record for Kobe trading cards.

Collectors have spent increasingly high sums on Bryant memorabilia since his untimely death in a January 2020 helicopter crash.

The Los Angeles Lakers legend was 41.

Vanessa Bryant recounted when she found out about the deaths of her husband, Kobe, and daughter, Gianna, in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020.

Per Jonathan Abrams and Kevin Draper of the New York Times, Bryant went through the events of that day as part of a deposition stemming from her lawsuit against Los Angeles County.

In the transcript, obtained by Abrams and Draper, Bryant said a family assistant arrived at her house at around 11:30 a.m. local time to inform her that Kobe and Gianna were involved in a helicopter crash.

"The assistant said that five people had survived the crash that day, Jan. 26, 2020. Bryant said that she figured Kobe and Gianna would be among them and would be helping the other victims," wrote Abrams and Draper. "But as she tried to call her husband, notifications began popping up on her phone: R.I.P. Kobe. R.I.P. Kobe."

Bryant said she attempted to secure a helicopter that would be able to take her to the site, but she wound up receiving a car ride from Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka after being informed she couldn't obtain a helicopter because flying was unsafe at that time due to weather conditions in the area.

At the time Bryant was attempting to get on a helicopter, she said she still had not received word that Kobe and Gianna had died.

Bryant said that after the hour-and-45-minute car trip with Pelinka to the Malibu sheriff's station, "no one would answer" when she asked about her husband and daughter.

Bryant said it was only after a long wait that L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and a pastor spoke with her to confirm that Kobe and Gianna died.

"And I said: 'If you can't bring my husband and baby back, please make sure that no one takes photographs of them. Please secure the area,'" Bryant said in the deposition. "And he [Villanueva] said: 'I will.' And I said: 'No, I need you to get on the phone right now and I need you to make sure you secure the area.'"

The deposition, which took place Oct. 12, is part of Bryant's lawsuit against L.A. County. She filed the suit in September 2020, claiming L.A. County sheriff's deputies shared unauthorized pictures from the crash site, including graphic images of the victims.

Attorneys for L.A. County filed a motion last week requesting that plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including Bryant, undergo an independent psychiatric examination "to evaluate the existence, extent and nature of Plaintiffs' alleged emotional injuries."

According to Abrams and Draper, Bryant said in the deposition that Villanueva "reassured" her the area had been secured.

In a March 2020 report by Alene Tchekmedyian and Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times, a complaint was filed against an L.A. County sheriff's deputy who was accused of showing graphic photos from the helicopter crash site at a restaurant in Norfolk.

Kobe and Gianna were among nine people killed in the crash in Calabasas, California. The helicopter was en route to Newbury Park for a basketball game at the Mamba Sports Academy.

Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, reportedly filed a trademark application for "KB24" for use within a wide-ranging sports and entertainment company.

TMZ Sports reported Tuesday the planned use of the trademark includes clothing, digital collectible items, trading cards, websites, training camps, broadcasting platforms, podcasts, TV shows, movies, documentaries and music.

She previously filed a trademark for "Mamba and Mambacita" in March for use on clothing and shoes after failing to reach an agreement with Nike to continue their partnership, per TMZ.

In April, ESPN's Nick DePaula reported the Bryant family was frustrated with the lack of Kobe-related products available from Nike following his 2016 retirement from the NBA and had also questioned the lack of items in kids' sizes after the 18-time All-Star's death in a January 2020 helicopter crash at the age of 41. Vanessa and Kobe's 13-year-old daughter, Gianna "Gigi" Bryant, also died in the crash.

When the sides began to discuss a potential contract extension, members of Bryant's estate were surprised Nike didn't offer a "lifetime" structure to the family, per DePaula.

"Kobe Bryant was an important part of Nike's deep connection to consumers," Nike told ESPN in a statement. "He pushed us and made everyone around him better. Though our contractual relationship has ended, he remains a deeply loved member of the Nike family."

Vanessa Bryant told DePaula she was hoping to "forge a lifelong partnership" with Nike but ultimately opted to move in a new direction.

"My hope will always be to allow Kobe's fans to get and wear his products," she said. "I will continue to fight for that. Kobe's products sell out in seconds. That says everything."

Vanessa has filed for several other trademarks in preparation for future ventures, including "Mamba Sports Academy," "Mambacita," "Lady Mambas" and "Lil Mambas," per TMZ.

Kobe Bryant was one of the most decorated players in basketball history, having won five NBA championships while being named to the All-NBA first team 11 times and the NBA All-Defensive first team nine times. He also won two Olympic gold medals along with countless other accolades.

After his playing career, he won an Academy Award for his animated short film, Dear Basketball, in 2017.

Los Angeles county is trying to make Vanessa Bryant take a psychiatric exam as part of its defense against her lawsuit for invasion of privacy and negligence.

Per USA Today's Brent Schrotenboer, the county is seeking a court order to force Bryant and other surviving family members of the helicopter crash that killed nine people to take the exams in an attempt to show they suffered emotional distress from the crash itself, and not because county fire and sheriff's department employees shared photos of their dead relatives afterward.

Kobe and Gianna Bryant were among the people killed in the crash in Calabasas, California, on Jan. 26, 2020.

Vanessa filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County sheriff in September 2020. The suit said that multiple deputies shared unauthorized photos from the scene of the crash. Bryant's attorney, Luis Li, said in a statement at the time:

This lawsuit is about accountability and about preventing this disgraceful behavior from happening to other families in the future who have suffered loss. The department formally refused Mrs. Bryant's requests for information saying it was 'unable to assist' with any inquiry and had no legal obligation to do so. It's now for a court to tell the department what its obligations are.

In a statement filed in federal court last month in response to Bryant's lawsuit, Los Angeles county contended that the "plaintiffs' emotional distress was not caused by (the county defendants), who have neither published nor publicly disseminated any accident site photographs."

In response to the attempt to compel exams, the attorneys for Bryant and other plaintiffs said the county has "resorted to scorched-earth discovery tactics designed to bully Plaintiffs into abandoning their pursuit of accountability."

Bryant's lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

The helicopter was taking Kobe and Gianna, along with six others, to a basketball game at the Mamba Sports Academy.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the crash was from spatial disorientation due to the pilot flying the helicopter into thick clouds that led to a loss of control of the aircraft.

Bodybuilder Patrick Graber sent a letter via FedEx to Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant in 2003 offering to kill the woman who accused Bryant of sexual assault if he paid Graber $3,000,000. 

TMZ Sports reported that the FBI released a heavily-redacted 17-page document earlier this month detailing the case. They also noted that Bryant's team immediately contacted authorities after receiving the letter.

Per Scott Schwebke of the Orange County Register, an undercover Los Angeles County detective spoke twice with Graber, who admitted to the murder-for-hire scheme and said he would "execute Bryant’s accuser leaving no evidence."

In the meantime, officials also traveled to the woman's residence in Colorado to make her aware of the threat.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents arrested Graber on Sept. 18, 2003 as part of a setup to collect the first $1 million, according to Schwebke.

The bodybuilder reached into a car for a bag of movie studio prop money before 30 officers surrounded him in an El Segundo, California supermarket parking lot and arrested him.

The Swiss national, who was 31 years old when he sent the letter, pleaded no contest to grand theft in 2004, per Schwebke. Prosecutors dropped other charges, including solicitation to commit murder.

Graber was sentenced to three years in prison, and he was ordered to be deported upon his release.

Bryant was arrested in 2003 after a 19-year-old woman said he raped her at the Vail, Colorado, hotel where the Lakers star was staying prior to a scheduled knee surgery. He said the sexual encounter with the woman, who worked at the hotel, was consensual.

The criminal case was dropped after the woman decided not to testify. She and Bryant later settled out of court in a civil suit she filed against him.

Kobe Bryant fans will have an opportunity to bid on the late NBA legend's game-worn sneakers from his first game in the league via Gotta Have Rock and Roll auctions.

The pair of Adidas from November 1996 are signed by Bryant, come with ticket stubs from his debut game and a letter of authenticity from MEARS. They are expected to sell for between $300,000-$500,000 when bidding begins on Wednesday. 

Per the auction site's listing: 

The shoes come from Laker superfan Scott Hurlimann, a North Dakota native. Knowing the Lakers were playing against the Timberwolves, his two favorite teams, and Kobe was making his first appearance, he needed to go and watch the young star’s first appearance. Before the game, Scott met all the players outside of the stadium, including Bryant, and got numerous items signed. Scott asked Kobe if he could have his shoes after the game, to which Kobe responded “No problem, just meet me out here after the game”. Sure enough, Kobe came out with the shoes. The shoes exhibit heavy wear, which is noted in the MEARS letter, most likely because the shoes were worn during various practices before the game. A few years later, Scott managed to meet Kobe again outside a hotel and got a very rushed initialed autograph on the shoes. These are without a doubt the most important Kobe Bryant shoes to ever come up for auction.

Bryant played just 6:22 that night, missing his only field goal attempt while recording one rebound and a block in his NBA debut. The Lakers won, 91-85. 

The two-time scoring champ went on to win five NBA titles, earn 18 All-Star selections, make 12 NBA All-Defensive teams and was named the 2007-08 MVP. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the 2020 class in May.

Bidding on the sneakers opens at $100,000. 

Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will honor Kobe and Gianna Bryant on his cleats for Toronto's four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels starting Tuesday.

Artist Michael Jordan, who designed the cleats, told TMZ Sports he began working on the project in June so that the customized kicks would be ready in time for the Blue Jays' upcoming trip to L.A.

Once the series is over, Guerrero plans to give the purple and black pair to Vanessa Bryant.

Kobe and Gianna Bryant and seven others died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in January 2020.

The Ringer's Katie Baker profiled Guerrero in 2019 and wrote he "grew up loving Kobe Bryant." The 2021 All-Star also told Baker he has "always been a Lakers fan."

This will be the Blue Jays' first road trip to Los Angeles since Bryant's death.