An elite training facility best known as Kobe Bryant’s destination the night of the fateful helicopter crash in 2019 that killed him, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others is currently a safe space for a dismayed collection of top high school basketball players.
The Sports Academy — known as the Mamba Academy under Bryant’s ownership before his death — in Thousand Oaks serves as the classroom, weight room, basketball court for Donda Academy, a prep school whose future is in the balance because of the recent antisemitic rants of its owner, Kanye West.
Donda players have their share of support. Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown has been an outspoken advocate for players on Twitter even after severing a business relationship with West’s Donda Sports marketing agency.
