Dex Alonso arrived early outside New York’s NBA store to pay his respects to Kobe Bryant, the basketball legend whose death has shaken the sporting world.

Mr Alonso was one of a dozen or so people who came to the Fifth Avenue shop early on Monday, waiting outside in the cold for it to open at 10am. They had come to grab a jersey or perhaps a cap as a keepsake.

But they had also come to participate in a nationwide outpouring of grief that has included shocked moments of silence in America’s stadiums and tears from professional athletes inside those same arenas.

There have been moving tributes from seemingly everyone, from presidents to kids, who grew up playing basketball and revering “the Black Mamba” — a larger-than-life figure whose life has been ended, alongside that of his teenage daughter, in a tragic California helicopter crash.

“Me and my friends grew up debating who was the best,” Mr Alonso, 25, told The Independent, describing a discussion that every American who grew up watching Kobe Bryant face off with Michael Jordan and, later, LeBron James, would instantly recognise. “Those debates were responsible for some of my best friendships.”

Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures NBA legend Kobe Bryant died, aged 41, in a tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, California on Sunday 26 January 2020. Four other passengers were killed in the crash, the LA County Sherrif Department have confirmed. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant dunking the ball at his Lower Merion, Pa. high school gym during a practice in 1996. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Kobe Bryant, 17, smiles as he holds his Los Angeles Lakers jersey in 1996. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant drives to the basket during a Lakers pre-season victory over the Dallas Mavericks in 1996. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Waiting to appear in his first-ever NBA game in 1996. He was the NBA's youngest ever player at the time. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest AFP via Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) He remains the the youngest ever winner. AFP via Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Shaquille O'Neal puts his arms around teammates, Elden Campbell and Kobe Bryant as they return to play the Houston Rockets in 1999. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) The arrival of Phil Jackson kick-started the Lakers to true contention. AFP via Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant's image overlooks the Staples Center arena after the Lakers won the NBA Championship against the Indiana Pacers in 2000. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Kobe Bryant celebrates from atop a doubledecker bus during the Lakers victory parade in 2000. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Kobe Bryant jumps over a row of fans after saving the ball from going out of bounds in the second half of the Lakers 107-101 win over the Houston Rockets in 2001. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant watching the clock run down in the final seconds of their Western Conference semi-final against the San Antonio Spurs in 2002. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant would form one of the most potent one-two punches in NBA history alongside Shaquille O'Neal, winning three titles in a row from 2000 to 2002. The pair later publicly feuded and O'Neal left. AFP via Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Sitting next to his MVP trophy he received at the 51st NBA All-Star game in 2002. Reuters Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant was accused of sexual assault in 2003. The charges were later dropped and a civil suit was settled out of court. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Braynt changed from the No 8 to the No 24 in 2006. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant goes up for a shot between the Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce, left, and Al Jefferson in 2006. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Kobe Bryant attends a gathering with his fans in Shanghai during his Supernatural Asia Tour 2007. Reuters Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant was named the league MVP in the 2007-08 season. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Winning his first Olympic gold medals as part of Team USA in 2008. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Kobe Bryant jumps for a rebound during a playoff game in 2009. Reuters Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Celebrating the 2008-09 title win, a series where he was named Finals MVP. AFP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) He celebrated the Lakers 2009 victory with his family. AFP via Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) US President Barack Obama shares a laugh with Kobe Bryant during a ceremony honoring the 2009 NBA basketball champions at the White House. Reuters Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Kobe Bryant smiles as he carries his daughter Gianna after the Lakers 2009 victory parade. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Most valuable players Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal from the West team up the trophy at the NBA All-Star in 2009. EPA Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Winning the title for the second year in a row, Bryant was again named Finals MVP after an epic seven-game series against the Boston Celtics. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Smiling with daughters Gianna and Natalia with the MVP Trophy after his team defeated the Boston Celtics in 2010. Reuters Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant slam dunks against the Sacramento Kings in 2011. Reuters Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Playing with a ball during a sponsor's appearance in Milan in 2011. He moved to Italy when he was six, after his father retired from NBA to play basketball at a lower level. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Dwight Howard, and Steve Nash, arrived in 2012 but the pair struggled to gel and although the team made the play-offs they lost in the first round. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant dunking the ball against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the Western Conference Semifinals in 2012. EPA Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Kobe Bryant went to support the US women's side at the 2012 Olympics Games against France, the day before his own final. AFP via Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant went on to win his second Olympic gold at the London Games. Reuters Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant is injured in one of the last games of 2012-13, the first of a series of injuries that saw his powers fade dramatically in his final three seasons. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Daughter Natalia sitting on his shoulders during a practice session for the NBA All-Star basketball game in 2013. Reuters Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Speaking after announcing retirement in December 2015. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Bryant in his 18th and final All-Star game in Toronto. He was named starter for every appearance, a record. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Taking his final ever shot - a free throw - late in the fourth quarter to score his 60th point against the Utah Jazz and his last at Staples Center. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Balloons and confetti rain on the court following Kobe Bryant's final game as a Laker in 2016. AFP via Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Kobe Bryant retires after 20 years with the LA Lakers - the only player in NBA history to spend that long with the same franchise. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Kobe Bryant watches a tribute at AT&T Center in 2016. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) With his family and city officials Bryant was honored at a council meeting with Kobe Bryant Day in 2016. With the date commemorating the 2 numbers, 8 and 24, he wore on his Lakers jersey AFP via Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) in Haikou in China's southern Hainan province on September 12, In 2017 he attended basketball teaching activities, as part of an announcement that China's first NBA basketball school was to be opened. He believed it would improve the game in the country. AFP via Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Both Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers jerseys, number 8 and 24, were are retired in 2017. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Kobe Bryant with the Best Animated Short Film Award for "Dear Basketball" in 2018. Reuters Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) With daughter Gianna at the US national championships swimming meet in 2018. He regularly took his children to watch other sporting events. AP Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) As a World Cup ambassador, Kobe Bryant, was part of the Basketball World Cup draw in Shenzhen in 2019. Getty Kobe Bryant: Career in pictures Kobe Bryant (1978-2020) Present at the finals he presented the 2019 World Cup MVP to Spain's Ricky Rubio Getty

The death of Bryant at the age of 41, has shown the level of love felt towards the five-time NBA champion, whose career spanned two decades.

During those 20 years, Bryant helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to five championships, earned himself the second most career All Star team nods at 18, and retired with the third most career points in league history (a ranking he enjoyed up until the night before his death, when James overtook him). And those are just a small selection of the stats that back up his ranking amongst the best to have ever played the game of basketball.

In the hours after his death, virtually every top trending topic on Twitter in the United States was related to the apparently fog-induced crash in Calabasas. And across the country, memorials and tributes popped up everywhere.

His old high school jersey was placed delicately at the centre of a makeshift memorial in front of the gymnasium at his former school in the Philadelphia suburb of Ardmore, Lower Merion High School — a school he had reportedly continued to visit as a superstar, and one that honoured him by putting his name on the gym.

At the Staples Center, where Bryant became a Los Angeles hero, the crowd packed in to pay their respects. Among those spotted mourning were current Lakers guard Quinn Cook, who was seen crying and clutching the same Jersey that had sold out in New York City when Mr Alonso tried to buy it.

Thousands of miles away, at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the sentiment dominated the game between the Knicks and Nets on Sunday night. Bryant played his first All Star game there in 1998 and continually packed the house even as the home-team Knicks dwindled and attracted considerably less enthusiasm (in 2009, Bryant broke the arena’s scoring record too).

On Monday, just outside the Garden, fans still stopped to snap photos of the tribute that was projected across the street before they hurried off to work.

One of those who stopped to take a picture was Caroline, whose son is a basketball player. At 11 years old, he would have been just seven when Bryant retired in 2016, underscoring the enduring legacy of a player whose appeal spans generations. “He admires him a lot,” she said.

While Bryant’s legacy on the court is indisputable, the death of the man whose post-basketball years saw him entering into a second phase of life as a writer and film producer — he won an Oscar in 2018 for his animated film “Dear Basketball” — has nonetheless resurfaced at least one sordid moment from his history.

In 2003, Bryant was accused of rape in Colorado after a 19-year-old hotel worker claimed he had forced himself upon her in his hotel room. Those charges were ultimately dropped after the alleged victim decided against testifying and after a civil settlement that included an apology from Bryant, who maintained his innocence while admitting to adultery.

The investigation into the crash is being led by federal authorities and has already determined that Bryant’s mid-sized helicopter had been flying in foggy weather when it crashed just after 9am. It is expected that the investigation could continue for days.

Meanwhile, the family of Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Ghianna must now grieve a loss of life that has left the broader NBA family in tears. Orange Coast College coach John Altobelli was also killed in the crash alongside his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa. Christina Mauser, a girls’ basketball coach, was also killed.

Barack Obama, who once praised Bryant during an event at the White House, was among those to share his shock at the death and the potential that was lost in the fog outside Los Angeles.