Kobe Bryant, the greatest LA Laker of all time, died in a helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others.

Bryant had one of the most decorated NBA careers ever.

Here are 24 of his most iconic moments for those who might not have followed his career, or just want to relive some of the Black Mamba's greatness.

1. Drafted straight out of high school

The draft position wasn't the highest, 13, and the team that originally drafted him might not have been that fancied, but this was the bedrock for a surreal 20 year journey.

2. His first points

The 18-year-old's first points weren't anything remarkable.

It was against the New York Knicks, who were actually quite good then, and he had been fouled on a layup attempt.

It would be the first of more than 33,000.

3. Youngest starter in NBA All Star history

While Bryant was still mostly coming off the bench in his second season, that didn't stop the fans from voting him into the starting lineup for the All Star game.

Bryant was the youngest All Star starter in NBA history, an accolade he holds to this day.

Which leads nicely to...

4. First encounter with the greatest player of all time

Throughout his career, Bryant would be compared to Michael Jordan.

The similarities were definitely there.

While Bryant had gone up against Jordan before in the regular season, this was a chance for the young upstart to go against the legend himself without the hassle of a team system bogging him down.

And Bryant showed off...

Although MJ won Most Valuable Player (MVP), this was one of those moments where you knew Bryant was going to be something else.

5. Dunk contest

Another of those moments came in 1997, when Bryant took part in the Slam Dunk contest over the All Star break.

And in true mamba fashion, he won it all.

He became the youngest winner in Dunk Contest history.

6. Dunk on Ben Wallace

Ben Wallace was one of the toughest rim protectors/ defenders in modern NBA, racking up four defensive player of the year awards.

He was also one of the smaller players to be able to block the living daylights out of Shaq.

Here is Bryant, in barely his second year, absolutely demolishing Wallace in a pre-season game against the then-Washington Bullets.

Wallace still had not become the dominant defensive juggernaut he would grow to be, but this served as a nice little backdrop to both their storied careers.

7. Alley oop to Shaq

Shaquille O'Neal was one the most dominant centres of all time. Bryant was quickly growing into the role of the next great shooting guard.

So the Lakers were heavily favoured to win the whole thing.

But in the lockout-shortened 1999 season, the first year Bryant became a starter, their championship hopes were absolutely crushed by Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs. They were swept 4-0 in the second round.

By then, tensions between the young sensation and the dominant centre had been brewing for a while. Shaq even admitted after his career that another loss in the playoffs could have seen the dynamic duo go their separate ways.

Fast forward to the 2000 playoffs, the Lakers and the Blazers were in game 7 of the Western conference finals, they would find themselves in a 17 point deficit at the end of the 3rd quarter.

The fourth quarter was a comeback for the ages, both Bryant and Shaq put up nine points each in the final quarter, with the nail in the coffin widely considered to be this alley oop by Bryant to Shaq.

Here are their full highlights.

8. Three peat

If the fadeaways and the relentless scoring was the foundation of the many comparisons between Jordan and Bryant...

...then the 2002 playoff triumph against the New Jersey Nets proved further evidence that Bryant was a special player.

While their path to the third championship did have its fair share of detractors, especially the many bad calls in their Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings, the finals were a masterclass in dominance.

The 4-0 sweep of the Nets once again saw Shaq dominating the game, averaging 36 points for the finals. Bryant though was an exceptionally capable second option, racking up an average of 26 points in the finals.

But this would also be the start of Bryant's transition as leader of the LA Lakers.

9. Dunk on Garnett

The 2003 playoff would see the Lakers fail in their quest for a fourth consecutive championship, they eventually fell to Detroit in five games, but Bryant still had quite the playoff run.

One of his most memorable dunks ever came against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the Playoffs.

Going up against one of the game's best-ever players in Kevin Garnett, Bryant pulled off this ridiculously athletic flush from the baseline.

10. Number one scorer

While Bryant had always been quite the scorer, it was when Shaq left the Lakers for the Miami Heat that Bryant became perhaps one of the greatest scorers of all time.

After the 2004 finals, both Shaq and coach Phil Jackson had left the Lakers, leaving Bryant to carry the Lakers into an unknown future.

His first full season leading the Lakers saw a steep increase in points, averaging over 27, before exploding for 35 in 2005. That was enough to clinch his first scoring title.

Here's one of the many extraordinary scoring displays he put up that season. 62 points in three quarters.

11. Clutch

Over the years, Bryant would gain a reputation of being one of the most clutch players in NBA history.

One of the first instances of that came during a playoff win against the Phoenix Suns.

First, Kobe took the game to overtime by scoring with 0.7 seconds of time remaining, before hitting an absolute beauty of a fadeaway during overtime to close out the match.

Despite the heroics, Lakers would go on to blow a 3-1 lead in the series. But still, clutch as heck.

12. 81 points

Nothing much to say about this. Just one of the greatest scoring exhibitions in basketball history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point match.

Jalen Rose, who was the primary defender on Kobe for that game, good-naturedly starred in a parody advertisement some time later.

13. Olympic redemption

The U.S. national team had come under fire for underperforming in recent competitions.

In response to that, they sent an absolutely stacked team to the 2008 Olympics in China.

Dubbed the Redeem Team, it was a play on the original Dream Team that had starred Jordan, Charles Barkley, and other 90's superstars.

It was during the finals that Kobe's clutchness came in handy.

When the lead was just two points in the fourth quarter, Dwayne Wade and Bryant took it upon themselves to extend the lead back to double digits.

The team eventually won Gold at the Olympics.

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14. 20,000 points

His newfound scoring prowess led to one of his more impressive records.

Here he is passing the 20,000 points mark at 29 years, 122 days, which made him the youngest player at that time to reach that milestone.

LeBron James would eventually become the youngest player to hit 20,000.

15. MVP

His incredible scoring output saw him being crowned the regular season MVP in the 2007-08 season.

In addition to his stellar scoring, Bryant played great defence (all NBA defence first team) and came up with show-stopping assists.

16. Loss in the finals

The years after the Shaq-Kobe duo disbanded, and Jackson left, the Lakers had gone through a bit of a rebuild.

Jackson had come back, younger stars such as Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom provided good complementary pieces to Bryant's scoring. Things were looking up.

Yet at the end of the 2008 playoffs, Bryant found himself on the wrong end of a 4-2 trouncing by the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics were considered by many to be one of the greatest teams assembled, with Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett serving as somewhat of a prototypical big three.

While Bryant did put up numbers, it was more of the press conference after the loss that people remember.

Notably he mentioned how he was here for the championships, not for MVPs.

It would serve as the backdrop to the two-year redemption coming up.

17. Tied with Shaq

Now to understand how much this means, you have to understand how Shaq's career had gone after leaving the Lakers.

In the 2006 playoffs, Shaq and Wade combined to get Miami a ring, in the same playoffs, Lakers were unceremoniously dumped out in the first round after seeing a 3-1 lead collapse against the Suns.

This meant Shaq had one more ring than Bryant. That would ultimately change in the 2009 playoffs.

Facing off against the Orlando Magic, and Dwight Howard in his absolute prime, Bryant would lead the Lakers to a 4-1 gentleman's sweep and his first championship without Shaq.

He averaged 32.5 points for the finals and clinched his first Finals MVP.

18. Revenge against the Celtics

One of the most hallowed rivalries in NBA history is the one between the LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics.

From the time of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the two most decorated teams in terms of rings would face off once more in a rematch of their 2008 playoffs.

This time things would be different.

The series went to seven games, but ultimately Lakers triumphed 83-79 in the final game of the series. Bryant would once again come up clutch, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter.

This would eventually end up being Bryant's final title, with a proposed superteam involving Dwight Howard, and Chris Paul Steve Nash never reaching the lofty heights it initially promised.

19. Kobe Bryant doesn't flinch

This is one of the little things that added a lot to Bryant's general reputation as being fearless.

Here you go.

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20. Passes Jordan

Bryant was slowing down in his 19th season. He would only play 35 games, and average 22 points on less than 40 per cent shooting.

But he wasn't done. In a match against the Dallas Mavericks, Bryant would hit a pair of free throws to overtake Jordan in all-time scoring. He would eventually retire at number three, behind Karl Malone, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

James would eventually surpass Bryant's mark, overtaking him a day before the unfortunate tragedy.

21. Defended LeBron as well as anyone

Speaking of LeBron, back in 2013, he had all but cemented his place as the greatest NBA player of his generation.

Undaunted, a 34-year-old Bryant would play lockdown defence on the league's reigning MVP. It was a joy to behold.

22. Tore his Achilles

In what is widely considered the biggest reason for Bryant's eventual retirement, he tore his Achilles Tendon during a match against the Golden State Warriors.

Despite what could easily have been a career-ending injury, Bryant picked himself up and limped back on the court to take his free throws.

Made them both.

Here's a post-game interview with a clearly devastated Bryant.

23. Dunked on his return

An achilles tear is one of the worst injuries for a professional basketball player, worse still for a professional basketball player on the wrong side of 30.

But Bryant came back not with a whimper, but a statement-making dunk against the Phoenix Suns.

Sweet.

24. Went out with a 60

Perhaps the only thing more impressive than an 81 point showing in your prime, was a 60 pointer farewell match.

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Quite stunning.

Image from Kobe Bryant's Instagram