Milan (AFP)

"He will always be one of us": Italy mourns Kobe Bryant, five-time NBA champion with the Lakers and world icon of basketball, a sport he discovered, as a child, during his seven years spent on the peninsula .

"Italian sport is in mourning. Kobe Bryant is a son of Italy. He grew up in Italy (...) we are all ravaged by pain", reacted Giovanni Malago, president of the National Olympic Committee (CONI) .

"He was one of the greatest sports figures of all time. He had infinite class and elegance," he added.

The death of Kobe Bryant, who died Sunday near Los Angeles in the crash of his helicopter, saddened his countless fans around the world, but few felt it as strong as in Italy.

Before joining the NBA after graduating from high school, Bryant had spent part of his childhood in Italy, where his father, a professional basketball player, Joe Bryant, had ended his career.

The basketball player, who spoke fluent Italian, lived on the peninsula between the ages of 6 and 13, before returning to Pennsylvania where he was from.

The family first lived in Rieti (center), northeast of Rome, then in Reggio Calabria in the south, Pistoia, in Tuscany (center) and finally in Reggio Emilia, in the northeast.

- "My story begins in this city" -

"My story begins in this city," said Kobe Bryant of Reggio Emilia. "This is where I started dreaming of playing in the NBA," he added, while acknowledging that he was also passionate about football.

"One of ours forever," local basketball team Pallacanestro Reggiana wrote on his Twitter account, also posting photos of young Bryant.

"Kobe Bryant grew up here and for all of us he was a fellow citizen. He left us today. A basketball legend that the whole city will remember with friendship and gratitude. Ciao Kobe," wrote the city mayor. Luca Vecchi on her Facebook page.

"You made us dream, you gave us emotions but above all you made us all fall in love. It was at Rieti that you started to make your first little opponents cry. We are proud to have been the first to seeing you on a basketball court. We will never forget you Kobe, "wrote his former NPC team Rieti.

Kobe Bryant had kept very strong ties with Italy: his four daughters all had names of Italian origin.

This is particularly the case of Gianna Maria Onore, his second 13-year-old daughter, who died with him in the accident on Sunday. Her other three daughters are Natalia Diamante, 16, Bianka Bella, 3, and Capri Kobe Bryant, seven months.

- Moment of silence -

For the mayor of Pistoia, another team from its beginnings, Alessandro Tomasi, the death of Kobe Bryant "is a mourning that struck the whole city".

"Many people of my generation - I am his age - played basketball with him, went to school with him," added the mayor.

"For us, this is a special moment of mourning, because he is not only a great champion, not just a legend, he is a boy who played here and walked our fields," concluded Mr. Tomasi.

On Monday, the president of the Italian basketball federation, Giovanni Petrucci, announced that a minute of silence will be observed throughout the week at the start of each organized match.

"It is a small gesture but an obligatory gesture which comes from the heart to pay homage to the life and the memory of Kobe Bryant, an absolute champion who always carried Italy in his heart", assured Mr. Petrucci .

© 2020 AFP