LOS ANGELES — The emotions overwhelmed him anytime he looked outside his office window.
Sometimes, he felt sad. Other times, he felt inspired. Sometimes all at once, he smiled and cried.
Chad Faulkner had spent nearly two years working with former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant as the chief executive officer of the “Mamba Sports Academy,” a place where Bryant hosted workouts for NBA and WNBA players, coached his 13-year-old daughter’s AAU girls’ basketball team and monitored the growth of its training facilities.
But then on Jan. 26, 2020, Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter (Gianna), her AAU teammates (Alyssa Altobelli; Payton Chester), their parents (John and Keri Altobelli; Sarah Chester) and another one of their AAU basketball coaches (Christina Mauser) were among the nine people that died in a helicopter crash near the Santa Monica Mountains. They were on their way to an AAU basketball game at the facility Faulkner oversaw in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
“The worst tragedy…