Kobe Bryant suffered catastrophic brain injuries and 30% burns to his body in the helicopter crash that killed him and eight others, his autopsy has revealed.
His 13-year-old daughter Gianna, who was also killed in the crash, suffered severe internal injuries, according to her autopsy.
The autopsy reports into the deaths of all nine people on board the helicopter were released on Friday, almost four months after the crash in Calabasas, California on January 26.
The reports give the cause of death for all nine victims as "blunt trauma", while the manner of death is ceritified as "accident". Many of the details contained within the reports are too graphic to publish.
The autopsy into the death of the helicopter's pilot, 50-year-old Ara Zobayan, revealed there was no alcohol or drugs in his system.
Bryant and Gigi were on their way to a basketball tournament on January 26 when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, killing all nine people on board.
The crash also claimed the lives of John Altobelli, 56, his wife Keri, 46, and their daughter Alyssa, 14; Payton Chester, 13, and her mother Sarah Chester, 46; as well as Christina Mauser, 38.
Previously, the Los Angeles County coroner had announced the causes of the deaths to be blunt trauma, following an examination of all nine victims on January 28.
Jennifer Homendy, a board member on the National Transportation Safety Board, described the accident as a “high energy impact crash” after the S-76B helicopter suffered a descent rate of 2,000 feet per minute.
Heavy fog blanketed Los Angeles on the morning of the accident - but the probable cause of the crash will not be announced until the National Transportation Safety Board release a final report into the incident, which may not be for another 12 months or so.
Bryant was survived by his wife Vanessa and their other three daughters Bianka, Capri and Natalia.
In February, Mrs Bryant filed a lawsuit alleging that the company which owned the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter, Island Express Helicopters and Island Express Holding Corp, were only allowed to fly under visual flight rules, and the conditions the day of the crash were not conducive for such flying.
The complaint, heard in Los Angeles County Superior Court, also claimed that pilot Mr Zobayan failed “to use ordinary care in piloting the subject aircraft” and was “negligent.”
Additionally, it alleged that the pilot was disciplined in 2015 for violating the visual flight rule minimums by flying into an airspace of reduced visibility.
The lawsuit claimed the pilot failed to properly monitor and assess the weather prior to takeoff, failed to obtain proper weather data before takeoff, failed to abort the flight when he knew of the cloudy conditions, failed to maintain control of the helicopter, and failed to avoid “natural obstacles” in the flight path.
Earlier this month, the representative of Mr Zobayan accused the passengers of "negligence".
In response to the lawsuit filed by Mrs Bryant, the representative said: "Any injuries or damages to plaintiffs and/or their decedent were directly caused in full or in part by the negligence or fault of plaintiffs and/or their decedent, including their knowing and voluntary encounter with the risks involved, and that this negligence was a substantial factor in causing their purported damages, for which this answering defendant bears no responsibility."
Mr Zobayan had lengthy experience in the air.
He had 8,200 hours of total flight time and had completed the same route the day before, albeit in clear conditions.
Bryant, regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, represented the Los Angeles Lakers for all of his 20-year career and also won two Olympic gold medals before retiring in 2016.
He retired in 2016 as the third-leading scorer in NBA history, although he has since been passed by another Lakers star, LeBron James.
The tragic death of Bryant and his daughter Gianna, known affectionately as 'GiGi', prompted tributes from throughout the sporting world and beyond.
A public memorial to Bryant and the others who tragically died on January 26 took place in LA on Monday at the Staples Center.
More than 88,000 people applied for tickets to the memorial service in the first five hours, with a limited number available to the general public. The rest were reserved for friends, family and members of the NBA community.
The likes of fellow basketball legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Steph Curry and 'Magic' Johnson were all in attendance.
