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This review contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 4, episode 15, “Smoldering Flames,” aka episode 78 overall. To refresh your memory of where we left off, check out our review of MHA Season 4, episode 14.

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At its midpoint, episode 14, “Bright Future”, abandoned the clean-up and the aftermath of the raid on Shie Hassaikai HQ to place the spotlight on Shigaraki in a scene that was soaked in dread and gave him back some of the terror that once defined him. Episode 15, “Smoldering Flames” took us back to that scene in its opening, recounting it more or less as it happened and giving Shigaraki the equivalent of the action movie money shot where the hero walks away from an explosion, carefree in the face of chaos. It’s a serviceable intro to the episode that reminds us there is still – always – a threat to face.

“Smoldering Flames” also reveals My Hero Academia’s new OP, and what an utter delight it is. The show has never had an OP like this: one that foregoes any action shots at all, barely gives screen time to any character who isn’t in Class 1-A, and could easily convince us that this is a high school slice-of-life anime, rather than a shonen battle anime. Casual clothes, happy banter, pop-art colours, and a bouncy accompanying melody all work together to encourage fans to kick back and enjoy the light-hearted antics of Class 1-A that it promises. A final funny touch added to this OP is that, once again, Deku enjoys all the sakuga and yet doesn’t actually do anything action-heavy with it. Is this Bones trolling us? Maybe, but it’s hilarious.

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As for the episode itself, it is cleverly bookended by scenes that advance the arc, centred around Gran Torino and the legacy of All For One. But everything in-between is intimate, character-focused introspection that drifts through a fog of gentle optimism for the future. The OP implies that this next arc will be a light-hearted one, but this episode doesn’t throw us into that atmosphere in a jarring manner, after the events of the first half of the season. Instead, it begins in the same sombre place that episode 14 left off from, and slowly builds to an optimistic place by the end.

The bulk of the episode’s perspective rests on Deku and his interactions with his classmates. In the first half, he visits Mirio in his room, with the two sharing a layered heart-to-heart as Deku grapples with projecting an outward positivity and trying to understand and process the real dark aftereffects of their fight. In fact, the entire episode, in one way or another, is about how this fight with Overhaul will have lasting repercussions on everyone who was involved in it.

That’s something My Hero Academia excels at: From the scars on Deku’s hands that never go away to the permanent physical and emotional changes we see in characters like All Might and now Mirio, change in My Hero Academia is lasting and carries real consequences.

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This episode really allows fans to take stock of this, as we see more than once how Deku has changed and grown so far. The fights he has won or lost and the people he has worked with have actively changed his personality, his view of the world, and even his body.

The episode might not be an action-heavy one, and it might not do much to set up a new arc, but it is an intimate and moving installment that celebrates the show’s core strengths. In its second half, we enjoy a reunion between the members of Class 1-A who were in the heat of the fight (Midoriya, Ochako, Tsuyu, and Kirishima) and the rest of the class. It’s here that we get to see such a broad blend of emotion on display.

Both Bakugo and Todoroki, for example, are keeping everyone at arm’s length and acting aloof. While the rest of the class seems confused by this, it’s clear to us that they’re jealous and feeling a lot of pent-up impotence from not getting the chance to flex their own hero muscles in the recent arc. It’s clever characterisation of two boys we’ve barely seen a peep from all season long – though it’s clear that’s all about to change.

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Hop on the “Road to WrestleMania,’ y’all! Yup, the first Royal Rumble of the decade is officially upon us! Lock it in here all evening for up-to-date match results and raucous reactions.

You can also follow my live-tweeting over on Twitter, if you’re so inclined. You never know. Sometimes people are inclined.

Who will win it all and head to WrestleMania 36 in Tampa Bay for a shot at a world championship? Will Daniel Bryan be able to topple The Fiend even though he’ll be strapped to the maniac? Will Becky Lynch finally be able to defeat Asuka and retain her Raw Women’s Championship? Will Brock Lesnar enter the Rumble at number one and last until the end or will someone dump him out right away? Let’s get to it!

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On top of the men’s and women’s respective Rumble bouts, there’s Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin in a Falls Count Anywhere match, Andrade vs. Humberto Carrillo, SmackDown Women’s champion Bayley vs. Lacey Evans, and Sheamus vs. Shorty G.

All in all? An “eh” card. Not great on paper. Could it exceed expectations? Sure. But as-is, storyline-wise and feud-wise, it’s kind of a softcore snoozer. Slicing deeper into the card a bit: Sasha should be facing Lacey, no one thinks Bryan can beat Bray Wyatt, and Andrade’s match won’t be able to top the Ladder Match he had with Rey Mysterio on this past week’s RAW. Hopefully the Rumbles will hold good surprises. And a lot of NXT!

Shorty G vs. Sheamus

I know the Rumble needs Kickoff Show contests but how did this get a slot on this low-match card? Over everything else happening on both shows right now? Welp…

First off, the worst part about the name Shorty G, aside from it being the name Shorty G, is that Cole can’t call him “Shorty” or “G.” He has to say Shorty G, in full, EVERY TIME.

That being said, this was a. decent match that definitely grabbed more and more of the crowd as it went on. At first it was in danger of being swallowed up by the size of the arena, which is currently holding about 40 thousand people. Blood, sweat, and welts – these two worked hard and G put up more of a fight than I expected him to. In the end though, he fell to the Brogue Kick.

Winner: Sheamus

United States Champion Andrade vs. Humberto Carrillo

Man, having another Rumble in a baseball stadium means everyone has to enter from the dugout again. Which looks dumb. More like a DUMBout! Ha ha ha! Whewwww.

Anyhow, this was pretty great. No, it wasn’t the Rey match from RAW, but it was still damn good. My objection to the Ladder Match coming before this one was that it felt like that match was the stepping stone to Andrade facing Carillo – when it should have been the other way around. Regardless, these two work amazingly together and they put on a match that was thrilling enough to captivate this giant Minute Maid space. And Zelina’s Owl top rocked! Carillo should probably win ONE match one of these days. Just not today.

SO FAR NO SURPRISES. WILL THIS JUST BE A HO-HUM BY-THE-NUMBERS SHOW?

Winner, and STILL United States Champion: Andrade

Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin (Falls Count Anywhere Match)

Sooooo…around the ring slugfests, where you just punch and stomp and ram your opponent into things, can be a chore to watch. They go over even worse in giant arenas. Roman vs. Corbin was kind of a trudge, occasionally flirting with excitement by using some big table spots (Corbin chokeslammed Roman through two, Roman Samoan Dropped Corbin through two!). So things ran pretty flat until Roode, Ziggler, and the Usos showed up. No matter how much Cole and Corey told us “the is madness!”

They sure covered a lot of ground though. Into the seats, warring through the tech area, battling near the port-o-potties, putting Corbin INSIDE A PORT-O-POTTY AN DUMPING IT OVER – it was pretty exhausting. Overall, the second half of this match was stronger. It should have just started with all six men. Of course, there aren’t many matches on this card so everything’s getting a lot of time, presumedly. Roman won with a Spear on top of a DUMBout!

Also, this has to mean the men’s Rumble is closing the show, right?

Winner: Roman Reigns

Women’s Royal Rumble Match

Okay, aside from the one wasted spot — the dumb-as-hell SANTINA return at 29, which was supposed to help bring Beth Phoenix some career closure — this was all top-shelf stuff. Great Rumble match! Smooth and exciting. It lost the clunkiness of last year’s bout and nicely managed to blend main roster, NXT (Toni, Tegan, Dakota, etc), and the legends (like Molly, Beth, Kelly Kelly, etc).

This was just a fun time in the ring, pure and simple, with a ton of separate stories abound – like Bianca’s amazing half-Rumble run, Shayna’s closing blitz (eliminating Shotzi too), Beth and Nattie’s team up (until the betrayal), Beth’s bloodied head (yikes!), Mandy being saved by falling on Otis, Liv and Lana (in Captain Marvel gear) eliminating each other, Zelina actually getting to wrestle, Mercedes Martinez getting a spot, and more!

In the end, it seemed like Shayna was the one going over, but they gave it to Charlotte. It still worked well. Spectacular work all around.

But no Sasha?

Winner: Charlotte Flair

SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Lacey Evans

While definitely a cool-down match after the Rumble, this was still the first great Bayley bout on a PPV in a long while. And one of the best Bayley bouts since she won the title from Charlotte on SmackDown. It was a nice solid win, without Sasha’s help (who didn’t even have to lose to Lacey herself for Lacey to get a shot at Bayley), for Bayley.

That being said, the crowd was still somewhat muted for this one because Sasha is the bigger star (and heel) and Lacey isn’t fully getting over as a babyface (despite the egregious use of motherhood and Marine-dom). Lacey went for a springboard moonsault, Bayley got her boots up, and that’s all she wrote.

Winner, and STILL SmackDown Women’s Champion: Bayley

Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan

For a while, I didn’t even know if this was a good match or not. I was just so excited to have The Fiend’s red light gone!

I think they finally realized, as we enter ‘Mania season, that it’s a bad look for championship matches that might wind up closing a show in a mega-arena. Like if Roman and Bray close out ‘Mania 36 in front of 70 thousand people. It can’t have that awful red tint the entire time. So they might as well just do away with it with no explanation.

Also, with a strap match, as grim as it sounds, they want to show you the marks and welts on Bryan’s body after he’s hit with the strap. You can’t see that under a red sun. That wasn’t the only reason this was a better match than their last encounter though. Bryan was more fired up, more intense, and The Fiend was allowed to be more vulnerable. Bryan even got to kick out of the Sister Abigail. And battle out of the Mandible Claw!

One of the many mistakes made during the Fiend/Seth feud was the fact that they didn’t have a handle on Bray’s “powers.” What he could do. Whether people could find the Funhouse or not. How invincible he should be. It was a mess. This felt like the first fully formed Fiend match.

Winner, and STILL Universal Champion: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt

Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Asuka

A solid, hard-hitting match that was practically ‘Mania worthy. Stellar encounter! Big moves, savage strikes, and a fire lit inside Becky Lynch as she struggled to beat the one competitor she’d never conquered. Though there was no doubt Becky would best Asuka, the story was crafted well enough to create real drama.

Asuka’s green mist didn’t backfire in any particular way, but she never got to use it properly as Becky kicked her at the right moment, causing her to spit it up in the air, making for a cool-as-hell visual. This was Becky’s best title defense to date, complete with a compelling story to draw us in and make us care. In the end, Asuka tapped to the Disarmer.

Winner, and still RAW Women’s Champion: Becky Lynch

Men’s Royal Rumble Match

Okay, there’s A LOT to unpack here. The first half of this Rumble, the Brock half, was very polarizing with fans online. Some appreciated how it was something different than usual, and also enjoyed the trolling aspect of it too, I guess, but then others hated the burying of the locker room that was being fed to Brock. Admittedly, I resented the way it kind of sucked the joy and excitement out of the match.

Brock’s run gave us hope spots, from people we really wanted to eliminate Brock — like Kofi, Rey, and Keith Lee — but mostly it killed the joy of anticipating the next participant. All of a sudden, I was let down by every new person because I knew they weren’t important enough to take down Brock. So the buzzer became a siren of doom.

The second half of the Rumble match though was EXCELLENT. Ricochet got revenge on Brock and paid back the low blow from RAW, allowing Drew to eliminate Brock. A huge moment for Drew! In fact, after that, it was hard to imagine Drew not winning the Rumble so he could face Brock at ‘Mania.

Then…EDGE.

Edge, who retired in 2011, and was supposed to never wrestle again, came back as a full competitor and made it to the end. Down to the final four when it was him, Roman, Randy, and Drew. It was magical. Edge was nearly brought to tears when he came out to he biggest pop of the night. He teamed with Randy for some Rated RKO antics, and then even eliminated Randy (before Randy could double cross him). Seth was in there as the final heel, using his cohorts to help thin the herd, but then everyone teamed up on him and took him out.

Post-Brock, there were so many fun moments. Edge’s spear on Roman. The double RKO. And if you enjoyed the Brock part, because it was something different, and helped build up Drew, then you had yourself one hell of a night!

Winner: Drew McIntyre

Overall, this was a strong showing. Great PPV to kick off 2020. The sludgiest parts were some of the Roman/Corbin match and parts of the Bayley/Lacey bout, but the Rumble matches were both emotional and exciting (even if you didn’t enjoy Brock’s dominance). Now we have Drew vs. Brock at Mania 36 and also Charlotte vs. Becky. Two big main events. Now if Sasha winds up somehow facing Bayley, then we’d have all Four Horsewomen in both women’s title matches.

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow…

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With The Outsider’s fourth episode, “Que Viene el Coco,” we start to better understand how this tale will take up 10 full episodes. Even though a slow-burn pace has already been clearly established, this was the first chapter where it felt like viewers might creep ahead of the story a little bit.

Not in a terrible way, mind you — and, of course, I’m discounting those who’ve read the book and might know certain story beats ahead of time — but as Holly dug deeper into the creature’s path of destruction we started to see the full forest in a way that the main characters still can’t.

Granted, we already know the killer is a supernatural beast and so the show’s job now is to reconcile what we’ve easily accepted with its “real world” characters who are going to think this is all horses***. Except for Holly, naturally, who’s key role here is to be the most open-minded of the heroes, and the one who’ll more likely follow the mythology with no judgment (while taking pepper spray to the face). Her arc this week had a lot of legs, as she traveled from Dayton to New York to sift through the mystery of Heath, the hospital worker who was set up for child murders the same way Terry was.

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RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET

Ralph’s stay-at-home investigation lagged a bit, however. While Holly was out uncovering the unfathomable, Ralph was stuck. Fortunately, Ben Mendelsohn is such a joy to watch, even in sludgy situations, that he always delivers fascinating nuggets of realization. Of course, Ralph’s personal story is one of grief and “being stuck,” so his cycle of frustration and unproductiveness felt apropos.

While Terry’s widow was harassed by stealth reporters and hostile locals, Ralph watched surveillance videos over and over, and then later sat by the teen van thief while he draw a picture of a hooded man with a melted face. None of it led him to anything more than just a bigger feeling that things weren’t right about the case though. The show needs to position him into a place where he might be able to believe what Holly brings back, as an explanation, and right now he’s pretty far from that point.

There are a lot of invisible daggers pointed at Ralph right now. Both Jack and Claude, in the end, might be the pieces of the creature’s puzzle that sound the alarm. Jack’s being puppeted by the beast, building a nest for it out in the woods with supplies and dead animals, but his behavior’s already unsettling so it might take a while for people to notice. Claude, on the other hand, might be next in line as the creature’s double, having been scratched. But it’d also be breaking its own M.O. since copying Claude wouldn’t take the monster far out of town to a new community.

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EL COCO

The creature wasn’t given an actual labeling this week, but like Holly’s brief blurb last week about different cultures’ names for doppelgängers, it got lumped in with many old world tales about boogeymen –  hammering home the idea of yesteryear yarns about goblins and ghouls being based in real life and that we, in the modern era, just dismiss them because of our ancestors’ limited knowledge of the world.

For now, “El Coco,” seems to be the most used moniker, coupled with the idea of a “grief-eater” – a being that creates a tragedy and then dines out for a while on the sadness everyone in the surrounding area feels. And as we’ve seen with this particular monster, it’s able to get in people’s heads and make them kill themselves. And then those death are covered up in the wake of the overall awfulness of the incident. El Coco is all about covertness and cover-ups.

Holly’s investigation, which brought back Derek Cecil’s Andy (and started up a small romance between the two), gave us more. More of what we basically knew about the creature’s pattern. Not only did we get Heath, and the deaths of his brother and mother, but we met Maria, who’d been framed states away. In the wake of her crucible, she lost her father and uncle to a vengeful member of her dead boy’s family (which, as we know, is the other way the beast creates more death). So yes…more. What will everyone think when Holly tells them all of this? Hell, what does Andy think? Like, the patterns are clearly unmistakable. What will be the thing that helps everyone get over the hump of disbelief?

COPYCAT

All of the world and lore building regarding the “Coco” creature is interesting (which is fortunate because it made up the bulk of this episode), but the most fascinating element came with the diner scene between Heath and “Maria.” It was this week’s tiny mystery, opening the episode with flirty small talk about eggs and syrup. This being, this entity, is actually good at becoming a person. At emulating an individual to a degree that they’ll think they’re out on a date with them. It doesn’t just fake basic mannerisms, like it seemed to be doing when it was Terry, but it managed to get Heath in the sack for a full sexual encounter.

And with that came the funniest part of the episode where the creature still had to scratch Heath’s back in order to gain access to his form when…it was in the middle of having sex with him. You’d think the sharing of intimate bodily fluids would also be a way for Coco to absorb a person’s essence, but no. It still needed to get that scratch in.

Warning: this review contains full spoilers for Batwoman: Season 1, Episode 11. If you need a refresher on where we left off, here’s our review for Season 1, Episode 10 and our review for the entire Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.

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Batwoman’s midseason premiere may not have done much to reflect the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, but the same can’t be said for the followup episode. “An Un-Birthday Present” uses the fallout of Crisis in a very intriguing way – reuniting Kate Kane with literally the last person she ever expected to see and leaving us to wonder if other, similar twists are forthcoming in other Arrowverse shows. Best of all, this twist helps lend a new touch of depth to what is easily the series’ most underwhelming character. All in all, a real win-win that helps recover the momentum that was lost last week.

The previous episode’s cliffhanger turned out to be exactly what it seemed, as Kate finds herself confronted with an alternate universe doppelganger of her sister who somehow survived the events of Crisis. The whys of Beth’s survival don’t necessarily matter. It’s enough to assume the creation of Earth-Prime has resulted in all sorts of random glitches like this across the world. glitches which will serve as plot catalysts in all these shows. It’s basically like the aftermath of Flashpoint on a much wider scale.

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What matters is that the emergence of Beth Kane comes at a perfect time, allowing the series to do some much-needed fine-tuning of its depiction of Beth/Alice. Alice has been the series greatest weakness from day one. Rachel Skarsten just hasn’t painted a very convincing portrait of a woman driven mad by a brutal childhood and retreating into the safety and security of storybook fantasy. Her Alice performance is stiff and forced in a way that doesn’t really suit the character.

But if there’s any takeaway in Episode 11, it’s that Skarsten feels much more at home playing Beth than Alice. There have been hints of that in the past, with her Alice performance coming across as more genuine and believable when the character drops the act and her real personality and affection for Kate shine through. Now it’s much more apparent. Skarsten deserves a lot of credit here for delivering such a distinctly different performance. This is a Beth with all the warmth and humanity and uncertainty of purpose that Alice lacks. And in perhaps the clearest test of all, Skarsten nails the climactic scene where she has to portray Beth pretending to be Alice. It works. By the end, it’s hard not to wish for Skarsten to keep playing this dual role, even though it’s quickly becoming apparent that won’t happen.

The final scene strongly suggests Beth and Alice are having their “Nebula in Avengers: Endgame” moment. These two people shouldn’t exist in the same reality, and the pain will just continue to get worse until they either merge or one kills the other. It’s hard to say which would be the better outcome, dramatically. Combining Alice and Beth into one, unified person seems like a cheap and easy way of forcing Alice on the path to redemption. On the other hand, if that shakes up the character enough that we get to see more of the genuine side of Beth’s sister and less of the dull storybook villain, maybe that’s worth the trade-off. Meanwhile, Alice killing Beth seems  an unnecessary twist when Kate already has ample reason to despise her sister.

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Beth’s surprise appearance gives a boost to several other cast members in this episode. Certainly, Ruby Rose shines as her character struggles to come to terms with this reunion and the larger implications. But Beth’s presence also benefits Luke and Mary. Any opportunity to push Luke outside his comfort zone as the show’s snarky tech dude is worth taking. And as for Mary, some of this episode’s more memorable scenes come when she forms a bond with the doppelganger of the woman who murdered her mother.

“An Un-Birthday Present” also makes strong use of the flashback scenes to further flesh out Alice’s traumatic past and her relationship with Mouse. Unlike Arrow, Batwoman uses its flashbacks more sparingly. They crop up only when they have something meaningful to contribute to the feud between Kate and Alice, which makes them a more effective and welcome addition to the mix. If anything, the flashbacks work to justify Skarsten’s portrayal of modern-day Alice by showing us how much this persona is a mask designed to help a lonely, frightened girl survive an unending nightmare. That helps to an extent, though there’s still a long way to go before Alice truly lives up to her potential as Batwoman’s main antagonist.

It’s now being said that Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Maria, was one of the other victims of the crash.

UPDATED STORY: TMZ has more information now, reporting that Bryant’s daughter Gianna was among those killed.

In their update: “Kobe’s daughter Gianna Maria — aka GiGi — was also on board the helicopter and died in the crash … reps for Kobe tell TMZ Sports. She was 13.”

“We’re told they were on their way to the Mamba Academy for a basketball practice when the crash occurred. The Academy is in nearby Thousand Oaks.”

ABC News has reported that one other victim of the helicopter crash was John Altobelli, a baseball coach from Orange County College.

ORIGINAL STORY: In some shocking and tragic news, 5-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant died Sunday morning after the helicopter he was traveling in crash landed in Calabasas, Los Angeles.

TMZ reports that “Kobe was traveling with at least 3 other people in his private helicopter when it went down. A fire broke out. Emergency personnel responded, but nobody on board survived. 5 people are confirmed dead.”

The names of the other victims have not been released at this time. It’s being said though that Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, was not among those on board. Bryant leaves behind his four daughters Gianna, Natalia, Bianca, and Capri (who was born last June).

The news has also been confirmed to Variety.

TMZ also now has some images of up of the photos neighbors took of the crash site up in the mountains, with some saying they “heard the helicopter’s engine sputtering before it went down.”

Bryant’s NBA career spanned 20 years, all of which he spent with the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive team and was the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2008.

Bryant was also featured on the covers of many NBA games, including his own game, Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside (for N64), its sequel, NBA Courtside 2: Featuring Kobe Bryant, along with NBA 2K10 and 2K17’s “Legend Edition.”

A memorial for Bryant has been placed outside of the Los Angeles Staples Center, as seen in video posted to Twitter by Yahoo Sports.

A memorial for Kobe Bryant has been started outside the Staples Center.

(via @Chiney321) pic.twitter.com/DMIezZag9L

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) January 26, 2020

Fellow NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar posted a heartfelt video tribute to Bryant, saying the loss of Bryant is “hard to comprehend.”

Most people will remember Kobe as the magnificent athlete who inspired a whole generation of basketball players. But I will always remember him as a man who was much more than an athlete. pic.twitter.com/9EZuwk8wrV

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) January 26, 2020

The NBA Players Association has released a statement regarding the death of Bryant.

“We are stunned and devastated by the news of the sudden passing of Kobe Bryant,” the statement said. “Words cannot express his impact on our Players, the NBA and the game of basketball. This is a monumental loss for the entire basketball community and our hearts are quite simply broken. We send love and prayers out to his wife Vanessa and the entire family.”

President Barack Obama also tweeted out his condolences to the Bryant family.

Kobe Bryant was 41.

IGN will update this story with any new information that is released.

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