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During his playing career, there weren’t many young players whom Kobe Bryant mentored. He made an exception for Anthony Davis.

“Anthony was different just because of his curiosity about the game itself,” Bryant said in an interview last fall. “His obvious potential. His ability. But he had a curious nature about him and how he wanted to learn more and more about that game. So I’d gravitate toward that.”

Bryant was one of nine people killed in a helicopter crash Sunday morning along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna; Alyssa Altobelli, Gianna’s teammate on the Mamba basketball team; and her parents John and Keri Altobelli; Christina Mauser, who helped coach the Mamba girls basketball team; and the pilot, Ara Zobayan. Two other passengers haven’t been publicly identified yet.

Davis learned the news along with his teammates Sunday afternoon as they flew back from Philadelphia, where they had played Saturday night.

Read the full story on LATimes.com