Dubai: As the world mourns the sudden death of Basketball legend Kobe Bryant, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council also paid tribute to the athlete on social media.
Sheikh Hamdan tweeted a picture-post of Bryant on his official Twitter handle@HamdanMohammed, with the caption: "You carried an inspirational message to our youth in Dubai and helped them accomplish their dreams. “Heroes come and go, but legends are forever” Kobe Bryant #KOBEBRYANT"
Fazza also shared the same post as a story from his official Instagram accound @faz3.
The post had three monochrome pictures of the Basketball All-Star playing with children.
Kobe in Dubai
Fondly known as the “Black Mamba”, the National Basketball Association (NBA) star visited the UAE in 2013 to take part in a health and fitness weekend focusing on diabetes awareness.
In a telephone interview with Gulf News, Bryant had said: “The first things kids need to do is really and genuinely love the game. Basketball is a passion for me and it needs to be a passion for them as well.”
The accident killed nine
Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 26. The helicopter crashed into a hillside and left no survivors.
People gathered outside Stapels Center arena in Downtown Los Angeles with flowers, cards and jerseys to remember the player.
Online reactions
Online users all around the world took to social media to remember the star and #KobeBryant was a top trend.
Tweep @OlaMalik6 posted: “Legends never die. Sending a lot of love to victims’ families. Rest in peace Kobe and Gigi #KobeBryant.”
Twitter user @qasim_mangroria posted: #KobeBryant , 2008: "Have a good time. Life is too short to get bogged down and be discouraged.
"You have to keep moving. You have to keep going. Put one foot in front of the other, smile and just keep on rolling.”
And tweep @zmajoo_ posted: “Events like this show us that life is short! We should all stay positive, help each other, because every second that passes could be our last! #KobeBryant #Gianna "The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do!"
