When Bryant was 6, his father, Joe, retired after a lengthy career in the NBA and moved his family to Italy, where he played for five seasons in the central region of Lazio, the southern region of Calabria, in Tuscany and finally for two seasons at Reggio Emilia, a small town in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna.

There, Kobe began his climb to greatness, playing on the youth team of Pallacanestro Reggiana — the team his father played for.

On Sunday the team published photos of Kobe Bryant with the simple message, “Always one of us.”

In Beijing, fans flocked to the NBA store, where Kobe shoes and other memorabilia quickly sold out. 

A Chinese internet app that sells secondhand shoes offered a special edition of Nike Kobe 4s for the equivalent of a month’s salary and on the social media platform Weibo, there were calls for a boycott of resellers, who were accused of “eating a bun that’s dipped in human blood,” a phrase by writer Lu Xun.

Elsewhere on Weibo, “Kobe dies” shot to the top of trending posts, along with a hashtag #CanWeRestart2020?

Many users combined posts mourning Bryant’s death with grief about the growing Wuhan coronavirus epidemic.

The hashtag #Eternal4a.m. also went viral, reflecting the time when news of the death became known in China as well as Bryant’s onetime answer to a reporter about the secret of his success:

“Have you ever seen Los Angeles at 4 a.m.?”

“I’ve never seen Los Angeles at 4 a.m., but I heard the news of your death at 4 a.m.,” thousands of fans posted, many adding stories of staying up all night crying.

The tragedy even resulted in Israel’s leading political antagonists agreeing on something Sunday.

“He’ll never be forgotten,” tweeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “He was one of the greatest basketball players of all time,” tweeted opposition leader Benny Gantz.