PLEASANTON, CA — Pleasanton-based New Ground Technology paid tribute to Los Angeles Lakers sports icon Kobe Bryant, who tragically died with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, in a fiery Sunday morning helicopter crash.

The 115-foot-tall, 92-foot-wide tribute was done in honor of the basketball player who "touched so many lives," said longtime Pleasanton resident Kelli Pearson, who creates designs for New Ground Technology. Her husband, Pete Davis, created the machine used to make the designs.

The news came as a shock, she said.