TOKYO -- The Kobe Municipal Government paid tribute to National Basketball Association (NBA) legend Kobe Bryant on Jan. 27 after he was killed along with his daughter in a helicopter crash.

The western Japan city's public relations division tweeted around 2 p.m. saying, "Kobe Bryant served as an ambassador for Kobe from 2001 to 2011." The post also mentioned the 41-year-old's efforts to support the city after the Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck Hyogo Prefecture in January 1995. "Thank you so much for supporting Kobe, which was devastated in the disaster. We offer our deepest condolences."

The division had earlier retweeted an image of Bryant, originally posted by NBA's official Twitter account.

Bryant, named after the famous Wagyu beef produced in the Hyogo Prefecture city of Kobe, spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He perished with his 13-year-old daughter in a helicopter crash in Southern California, which also took the lives of seven others onboard.

(By Rei Oikawa, Staff Writer)