Kobe Bryant: NBA stars and teams pay quiet tributes to Lakers legend on one-year anniversary of his death

One year ago, Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash.

At the request of Bryant's family, there were no special presentations to honour the Los Angeles Lakers guard but teams and players from all across the league quietly paid their own tributes to one of the NBA's most iconic players.

LeBron James

Ahead of the Lakers' game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, James took the time to remember his close friend and mentor.

"I'm able to wear the 'two-four' on my finger every night. And then when we play at Staples Center, you see that two-four in the rafters and be able to just live his legacy.

"So there's a lot of things that die in this world, but legends never die. And he's exactly that. So it's all about representing that." said James.

Represent it he did, putting up a season-best 46 points to increase the Lakers' unbeaten start on the road to 10-0 - a new franchise record.

Fittingly, the highlight of James' night was this spinning fall away jumper over two defenders to ice the game, the exact same kind of shot that Bryant made his signature move, draining them night-in and night-out during his storied 20-year career in the league.

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Pau Gasol

Gasol was arguably the closest teammate Bryant had throughout his time at the Lakers, with the Spanish forward even describing him as the nearest thing to a big brother he had in his life.

On the court, they achieved great things, reaching three straight NBA finals and going back-to-back on championship titles in 2009 and 2010.

Gasol recorded a touching interview with the National Basketball Players Association explaining the special relationship he had with Bryant, as well as tweeting his own personal message entitled 'I miss you, hermano' to Kobe and Gianna.

Gasol's own daughter, Elisabet Gianna, is named in her honour, and Vanessa Bryant serves as her godmother.

Kyrie Irving

Prior to the Brooklyn Nets 98-85 win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday, Irving entered the arena wearing a throwback number 8 Bryant jersey in the famous Lakers gold.

He told the cameras "You know who I was rockin' tonight".

Irving also wore a special pair of 'Kyrobe' sneakers, featuring an inscription of 'Gigi' - Gianna's nickname - and Mamba, along with the date of Bryant's birth and the date they both passed away.

Steph Curry

Curry marked the day by posting a photo of himself and Bryant hugging at the 2016 All-Star game, where they started alongside each other for the West. It was Bryant's 18th and final All-Star appearance.

Curry wrote: "Thinking of you and Gigi today! Your legacy remains. Blessings for the entire Bryant, Altobelli, Chester, Mauser and Zobayan families."

DeMar DeRozan

DeRozan, who grew up in Compton, just south of downtown Los Angeles, also paid tribute on Instagram. The San Antonio Spurs guard posted a grainy black and white photograph of him guarding Bryant at one of Kobe's own basketball camps, captioned simply: "Teacher & The Student".

Giannis Antetokounmpo

The reigning MVP's tribute was a simple but touching one, posting three pictures of moments he shared with Bryant on the court.

Dallas Mavericks

Each team posted their own tribute to Bryant but the Mavericks' was one of the most heart-warming: a video showing Luka Doncic greeting Bryant and Gianna, chatting and posing for photographs after the Mavericks against the Lakers last season.

The moment has taken on a special importance given what happened just a month later, but it also remains an especially fond memory for Doncic himself, given that Bryant sat courtside and jokingly trash-talked him in his native language of Slovenian.

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After Bryant's death last year, the Mavericks owner Mark Cuban also retired the team's number 24 in his honour.

Houston Rockets

Rockets players Victor Oladipo and PJ Tucker both arrived for their game against the Washington Wizards donning Bryant's Lakers jerseys.

Point guard John Wall also played the game in the 'What The Kobe' Nike Kobe 7s, doing them justice with a team-high 24 points as the Rockets won 107-88.

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Donovan Mitchell

On a similar note, Utah Jazz guard Mitchell wore special versions of his Adidas D.O.N shoes, customised with the jersey numbers of Bryant (24) and Gianna (2), who played for the Mamba Sports Academy where she was coached by her father.

Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson, another all-time Los Angeles Lakers great, tweeted that "Kobe will always be my Lakers brother for life", as well as ensuring that the names of all the victims were also remembered on the day.

B.J. Armstrong

Three-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls B.J. Armstrong paid an emotional tribute to Bryant from his home in Los Angeles, in particular talking of the special relationship the city had with Bryant and the courage that made him such an icon to younger generations.

"Well you know, LA loves its stars. This is a city of stars. Whether it's in entertainment, but in particular, they love their Lakers here," Armstrong said.

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"They've seen some of the greatest players to ever play this game. Whether that be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, James Worthy, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant.

"Kobe is right up there with the greatest players to ever play the game, period."

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Speaking on Heatcheck, Armstrong added that the thing you see most is the impact Bryant made on the next generation.

"You can see how they admired him, they admired his work ethic and most importantly they admired his courage because he was chasing what it really meant to be a hero, what it really meant to be an icon, what it really meant to be the greatest player of all time.

"He had the courage to chase that dream."

Los Angeles Lakers

Where else to end but with the Los Angeles Lakers, the team with whom Bryant spent his entire 20-year NBA career. Sometimes only a few words are needed.