Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti requested all city flags to be lowered to half-staff on Monday as locals continue to mourn Kobe Bryant.

The basketball star, who played all 20 years of his NBA career for the Los Angeles Lakers, died unexpectedly at age 41 after the helicopter he was in crashed  and erupted into flames on the hillsides of Calabasas on Sunday morning. Eight others died, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.

While the incident remains under investigation, tributes to Bryant's legacy have poured in from Angelenos across the city, including Garcetti.

"What a sad day. It doesn't feel like L.A. without Kobe in it," the mayor told KTLA on Monday morning.

Bryant was a transplant like many Angelenos. He was born in Philadelphia and starred at a suburban high school team after spending part of his childhood in Italy, where he learned the language while his father played pro basketball.

But he was most closely identified with L.A.

Garcetti highlighted Bryant's contributions to local causes such as homelessness and children in foster care.

Even before he retired, Bryant and his wife Vanessa founded a group to help families and children. He said seeing homeless people outside Staples on his way home to Orange County prompted him to take action.

"This was a guy who gave so hugely with his heart, to the game, to his family, and most of all to this city," Garcetti said.

At the L.A. Live Plaza, just outside the Staples Center, a makeshift memorial of flowers, signs and balloons continued to grow.

One fan who tried to buy purple and yellow flowers to bring to Staples Center on Sunday shared his encounter with a local florist on Twitter.

Asked if they were for Bryant, he nodded.

"When she finished I asked what I owed her. she shook her head, handed me the flowers and said 'it’s LA'." Zach Schwartz wrote. "I almost cried. LAs love for Kobe is powerful."

A mural of Bryant on Melrose Avenue in Fairfax, painted to commemorate his retirement in 2016, also became a shrine following news of his death, with fans lighting candles and leaving messages on Post-it notes.

"This city is yours, Kobe," one note said. "These notes show you that you changed lives with your game. Heaven gained an angel."

A 9-year-old boy visiting the mural told KTLA, "He should’ve at least lived long enough to where he could’ve saw his grandchild… he should’ve lived way longer."

https://ktla.com/2020/01/27/he-had-loyalty-to-this-town-as-l-a-mourns-kobe-bryant-mayor-calls-for-city-flags-to-fly-half-staff/