During his two-decade N.B.A. career, Kobe Bryant evolved into far more than an exceptional basketball player. Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday near Los Angeles, became a crucial conduit for the league as it moved swiftly to expand its empire into an international enterprise.

Raised in Italy for seven years of his childhood, Bryant was fluent in Italian and was an ideal draw for a league that, ever since David Stern took over as commissioner in 1984, had seen basketball as a global game. Bryant’s stature as an international celebrity, honed by both the N.B.A. and Nike, crystallized during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. There, Bryant was swarmed by other athletes asking for autographs and photographs on the infield of the Olympic stadium with a man who was considered one of the world’s greatest basketball players.

It was fitting, then, that on Sunday, the tributes to Bryant poured in from across the globe.

Luca Vecchi, the mayor of Reggio Emilia — one of the Italian cities where the Bryants had lived — posted a message on Facebook in tribute to the star. “Kobe Bryant grew up here and for us all he was from Reggio Emilia,” he wrote. “He left us today. A basketball legend whom our whole city will remember forever with affection and gratitude.”

When Bryant entered the N.B.A. in 1996, his experience of growing up partly abroad was a rarity in the league. This was the era before the stars Yao Ming of China and Dirk Nowitzki of Germany had made their marks. But Bryant’s rise also coincided with the introduction of critical new technology, Adam Silver, Stern’s successor as league commissioner, said in an interview on Monday. The N.B.A. was just beginning to capitalize on the power of digital video and to beam its games into the homes of budding fans around the world. Today, foreign-born stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid are rapidly becoming the norm.