Kobe Bryant: Chinese fans mark one-year anniversary of NBA legend’s death

Los Angeles Lakers star trends on social media in China one year after being killed in a helicopter crash

NBA legend’s death was one of the most searched terms of 2020 in a country where he had long been popular

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Kobe Bryant promoting the 2013 Global Games in Shanghai. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:19pm, 27 Jan 2021Updated: 3:55pm, 27 Jan 2021

Chinese basketball fans marked the anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s death on Tuesday by paying their respects on social media in the millions.

“Hashtags such as ‘death of Kobe’, which was read 6.6 billion times online, along with ‘one year after Kobe’s death’ and ‘Mamba spirit’ were trending on social platform Sina Weibo on Tuesday,” reported the English-language Global Times.

“One year after Kobe’s death” had 410 million reads on the microblogging site, while “Kobe left this year” had 300 million reads. There were millions of posts from individuals sharing their memories of Bryant.

The original outpouring of grief on Chinese social media at the news of Bryant’s death last January was among the biggest search terms of the year on Weibo.

The NBA legend, who died in a helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter and seven others, had long been a favourite with Chinese fans.

He made annual visits to the country with his first coming in 1998 and he was on the USA team that won Olympic gold at the Beijing Olympic Games a decade later.