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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Jessica Sansome

BBC apologises after footage of LeBron James mistakenly used during report on basketball star Kobe Bryant's death

The BBC has apologised after footage of the wrong player was aired during a report on basketball star Kobe Bryant's death.

The NBA legend and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine people to be killed when his helicopter crashed near Calabasas, California, at 10am local time on Sunday.

Seven others were killed.

In a segment on BBC's News At Ten programme, footage of LA Lakers player LeBron James was used by mistake.

Viewers took to Twitter to highlight the error.

Some pointed out that James' name was seen on the back of his vest in the clip.

Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna died in the crash on Sunday morning (Getty Images)

BBC News at Six and Ten editor Paul Royall apologised for the 'human error'.

He tweeted: "In tonight's coverage of the death of Kobe Bryant on #BBCNewsTen we mistakenly used pictures of LeBron James in one section of the report.

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"We apologise for this human error which fell below our usual standards on the programme."

Bryant played his way into the basketball history books, helping the Lakers win three back-to-back NBA championships between 2000 and 2002.

Thousands have flocked to the Staples Center in LA to pay tribute to the sporting icon (Getty Images)

After being named Most Valuable Player in 2008, Bryant added a further two championships to his and the Lakers' tally, once again winning them consecutively in 2009 and 2010.

He retired in 2016 as the third-leading goal scorer in NBA history, a title which he held until Saturday night when James surpassed his record.

In Bryant's last tweet before his death, he paid tribute to friend James.

"Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames," he tweeted.

"Much respect my brother #33644."

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