NBA: How Kobe Bryant Coached Final Basketball Game Before Helicopter Crash

A coach in Kobe Bryant’s basketball league revealed how the Laker’s legend led his final basketball game before his devastating death.

When the pupils and staff of the Mamba Academy received one of the most ravaging news in the basketball world, everybody stopped and quickly turned the facility into a site to honor Bryant’s legacy. Confirmed by various reports, Bryant, 41, had died following a tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

According to a live update report by the Los Angeles Times, a makeshift memorial outside the locked front doors of the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks was formed Sunday afternoon.

There were flowers everywhere, a Lakers banner and a photo of Bryant on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Bryant was scheduled to coach in a tournament game Sunday as part of the Mamba Cup, a tournament featuring travel teams from fourth grade to eighth grade, both boys and girls. However, the game was canceled once news was confirmed that Bryant had died.

Anthony Nolen, a boys coach in Bryant’s league, stated that he was returning from his hotel when he arrived and saw the doors locked. Players were so devastated that nobody wanted to continue playing, and as a result, the tournament was canceled.

“There were no players that wanted to continue,” Nolen said.

Nolen then revealed the last time he saw Bryant inside the basketball court. According to him, Bryant was coaching in a girls’ game on Saturday, and it never crossed his mind that it will be his final memory of the legendary basketball player.

“They were down by 10 at the time. Kobe being Kobe, he wasn’t screaming at the refs, he wasn’t screaming at the players. He was poised. Him being down by 10, he was upset but as usual, he gave the other coach a Kobe stare to ensure him, you could beat me now as a team but not one on one,” Nolen recalled.

The Mamba Academy closed its parking lots with red cones and a Thousand Oaks police vehicle was parked inside. Fans wearing Bryant jerseys stood over the memorial with cameras. The parking lot will remain closed, according to a police officer, but access to the memorial outside the double doors will be allowed.

Bryant last made headlines when Lebron James passed him to take 3rd on the NBA's all-time scoring list. James moved to third place on the list Saturday, passing the late NBA superstar with a layup in the third quarter.