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Live: Watch the Kobe and Gianna Bryant memorial service here

LOS ANGELES — Mourners gathered Monday in downtown Los Angeles to say farewell to Kobe and Gianna Bryant, hours before a sold-out memorial service for the basketball superstar and his 13-year-old daughter was scheduled to start.

Watch the memorial service live here:

The service was to take place at the Staples Center, the arena where Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers for two decades. The two were among nine people killed in a Jan. 26 helicopter crash.

Among the early arriving fans was Alyssa Shapiro, 27, of Huntington Beach, who said she was inspired to become a basketball player after watching countless Lakers games with her father.