CNA<\/a>)<\/span>.- Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Southern California, along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.<\/p>\nBryant, the father of four, was Catholic.<\/p>\n
In all nine people were killed in the Jan. 26 crash.<\/p>\n
Bryant, 41, is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He retired in 2016 after a 20 year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, in which the shooting guard won five NBA championships, a league MVP award, two scoring championships, and myriad other distinctions.<\/p>\n
Beyond basketball, Bryant was a husband and a father who in 2015 attributed his Catholic faith with helping him move past a challenging period in his own life and the life of his family.<\/p>\n
Bryant was raised in a Catholic family, and spent much of his childhood living in Italy. He married in 2001 in a Southern California parish.<\/p>\n
In 2003, Bryant was arrested after he was accused of raping a woman in a Colorado hotel room.<\/p>\n
Bryant admitted a sexual encounter with the woman, but denied that he had committed sexual assault. When the allegation became public, Bryant lost sponsors and faced criminal charges, which were eventually dropped.<\/p>\n
Bryant issued an apology to his accuser, with whom he also reached a settlement in a civil lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter,\u201d Bryant said in his 2004 apology.<\/p>\n
In 2015, the basketball player told GQ that after the matter was resolved, he decided to shed some superficiality he felt he had built up in his public persona.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I came to understand, coming out of Colorado, is that I had to be me, in the place where I was at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryant said it was a priest who helped him to make some important personal realizations during the ordeal.<\/p>\n
Describing his fear of being sent to prison for a crime he believed he had not committed, Bryant told GQ that \u201cThe one thing that really helped me during that process\u2014I\u2019m Catholic, I grew up Catholic, my kids are Catholic\u2014was talking to a priest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was actually kind of funny: He looks at me and says, \u2019Did you do it?\u2019 And I say, \u2019Of course not.\u2019 Then he asks, \u2019Do you have a good lawyer?\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2019Uh, yeah, he\u2019s phenomenal.\u2019 So then he just said, \u2019Let it go. Move on. God\u2019s not going to give you anything you can\u2019t handle, and it\u2019s in his hands now. This is something you can\u2019t control. So let it go.\u2019 And that was the turning point,\u201d Bryant said.<\/p>\n
A 2004 decision to place deeper trust in God did not mean the basketball star\u2019s life was thereafter without difficulties, or defined by virtue.<\/p>\n
In 2011, Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce from Kobe, citing irreconcilable differences. But Bryant said he decided not to give up on his marriage, and two years later, his wife withdrew her divorce petition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to say our marriage is perfect, by any stretch of the imagination,\u201d Bryant told GQ in 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still fight, just like every married couple. But you know, my reputation as an athlete is that I\u2019m extremely determined, and that I will work my ass off. How could I do that in my professional life if I wasn\u2019t like that in my personal life, when it affects my kids? It wouldn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryant and his wife have been reported to be regular parishioners at an Orange County, California parish.<\/p>\n
Singer Cristina Ballestero posted on Instagram Jan. 26 a story of her encounter with Bryant at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, California at a weekday Mass.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we went up to communion, [Bryant] waited for me to go. If you grew up in the Catholic Church, you understand this is a respectful thing men do in church as a sign of respect to women. He said I have a beautiful voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis most inspiring trait was his decision to turn to his faith in God and receive God\u2019s mercy and to be a better man after a regretful decision,\u201d Ballestero added.<\/p>\n