"This can't be true," writes Jonas Jerebko on Twitter.
Bryant played during the Los Angeles Lakers' career, winning a total of five NBA titles and winning two Olympic golds with the United States. He is most mourned by wife Vanessa and their four children, Reuters reports, according to data from TMZ.
During the night, LeBron James just passed Bryant in the number of points in the NBA. James scored 29 points tonight when his LA Lakers lost to Philadelphia by 108-91 and has now scored 33655 points, twelve more than Bryant and is the third best scorer after Kareem Abdul Jabbar (38387) and Karl Malone (36928).