As he navigated a gauntlet of cameras, hugs and backslaps, a dazed and delirious kobe bryant looked over at john black, the lakers ’ longtime head of. Verkkoas tributes poured in remembering kobe bryant’s remarkable basketball career following his death in a helicopter crash on sunday in california,. Verkkodoc rivers, who coaches another team in a city he accurately described “brokenhearted,” summed up the feeling around kobe bryant’s.