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Mamba Sports Academy’s Future Uncertain

The future of Mamba Sports Academy in Newbury Park was thrown into question last month when its celebrity partner Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash. Bryant, 41, was on his way to the training center on Jan. 26 when his Sikorsky helicopter crashed in the hills of Calabasas, killing him and eight other passengers. He was heading to coach his daughter’s team in a basketball tournament at the academy. His 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, herself a budding basketball player, was onboard and was killed as well. Bryant entered a partnership with the Sports Academy, as it was previously known, in 2018 after bringing Gianna and her youth team there to practice. Dozens of mourners gathered and placed memorials outside the training center last week to pay tribute to the Lakers star who played for 20 years and won five NBA championships before retiring in 2016. Mamba Sports Academy closed for three days following Bryant’s death before reopening on Jan. 29. The terms of Bryant’s partnership with the Academy were never revealed publicly but may inform what will become of the training complex that has become a hub for L.A. athletes of all calibers. It is unclear whether Bryant was a majority or minority stakeholder. The Academy has not specified publicly how its operations will be affected and declined to comment for the Business Journal’s story by press time. Bryant’s death sent shockwaves around the world and not just among fans of the NBA. Second act After his NBA career ended, Bryant launched a successful second act as an entrepreneur and investor. He formed in 2016 Bryant Stibel & Co., an investment fund he ran with startup veteran Jeff Stibel. Together, they invested in tech startups including LegalZoom in Glendale and Epic Games, maker of smash hit Fortnite, in North Carolina. The fund claims to now manage a portfolio of more than $2 billion. In 2018, Bryant entered a partnership with the Sports Academy, a 96,000-square-foot multi-sport training facility opened by Chad Faulkner in 2016 in a building formerly occupied by Amgen Inc.’s technical support group. The 6-acre center aspires to be a one-stop-shop for athletes of all persuasions and boasts a dizzying array of resources, including basketball and volleyball courts, batting cages, pitching mounds, weight training and stationary bicycling rooms, yoga studios, sports medicine and bio-mechanic lab space, an e-sports training ground, sprinting track, Jiu-Jitsu school, sports psychology clinic, nutrition center and retail shop for sporting attire and equipment. It also offers camps and clinics for beginning and advanced athletes, and amateur sports leagues for kids and adults. When Bryant became involved, the Sports Academy changed its name to reflect his nickname, “the Black Mamba,” and changed its logo to resemble a snake wrapped around a golden “M.” Faulkner has remained as chief executive since then. “Mamba Sports Academy is a natural expansion of my commitment to educating and empowering the next generation of kids through sports,” Bryant said in a 2018 press release announcing the partnership. “We will focus on offering a premium experience on proper training for young athletes, and infuse a little ‘Mamba Mentality’ into their programs.” With his co-sign, the facility went on to host such professional athletes as L.A. Rams stars Todd Gurley and Aaron Donald, NBA pros Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo, and Tristan Thompson, all of whom have done stints with the Lakers, and Ohio State football phenom Dwayne Haskins. It also launched a charity foundation called the Mamba Sports Foundation to provide funding and sports opportunities for young, underserved athletes. The center even served as an emergency refuge for more than 3,500 Ventura County residents whose homes were at risk in the Woolsey Fire in December 2018. It had previously offered the same service during the Hill Fire. Bryant also published several books; won an Oscar for the 2017 animated short film he produced called “Dear Basketball,” based on a poem of the same name he wrote to announce his retirement; and grew his own production company Granity Studios, which produced documentaries, podcasts and an acclaimed ESPN sports analysis series. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash of Bryant’s helicopter that happened in a hilly area near Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street, south of the 101 freeway. Also killed in the crash were John Altobelli, a baseball coach at Orange Coast College; his wife Keri; daughter Alyssa, who played on the same basketball team as Gianna Bryant; Christina Mauser, an assistant coach of the Mamba girls’ basketball team; helicopter pilot Ara Zobayan; and Orange County mother and daughter Sarah and Payton Chester, also a teammate of Gianna Bryant.

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