Husband of coach killed in Kobe Bryant crash opens up: "I got three small kids ... and no mom"

The husband of Christina Mauser, a woman who was killed along with NBA legend Kobe Bryant and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, has spoken out. Mauser and the other passengers were heading to a basketball game on Sunday when the chopper went down. Mauser was a basketball coach at Harbor Day School in Newport Beach, where Bryant's daughter attended school.

She was also a mother of three, and her husband, Matt Mauser opened up about the family's loss on the "Today Show" on Monday morning. "I got three small kids, and I'm trying to figure out how to navigate life with three kids and no mom," Mauser said.

"I'm scared. I think more than anything I'm a little scared about the future," Mauser continued, adding that his wife was "extraordinary."

"She was incredibly witty, funny, funny like nobody you've ever met," he said. "She was warm, she was incredibly bright, she was technologically incredibly savvy. She could figure out anything."

Christina Massuer was the assistant coach, alongside Bryant, of the Mamba Academy team, which his daughter, Gianna "Gigi" Bryant was on.

Matt Mauser teaches at the same small private school as his wife did, according to "Today Show." During his phone call with the show, Mauser said he started to "lose it again," when he heard his wife's name mentioned. "I guess I'm doing as good as you can expect. It's horrible. It's horrible," he said. 

Mauser said both he and his wife were close with Bryant, who also died in the helicopter crash at age 41. "He saw what an amazing mind [Christina] had for basketball," Mauser said. "She was an amazing mind of defense for basketball, so he brought her on. They called her the mother of defense, 'MOD.'"

Among the nine victims of the crash were Gianna Bryant, the NBA All-Star's 13-year-old daughter. John Altobelli, the head baseball coach at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, his wife Keri and their daughter Alyssa were also killed. Sarah Chester and her middle school aged daughter Payton and helicopter pilot Ara Zobayan, also died.

Mauser confirmed on Facebook that his wife was a victim of the crash shortly after the accident occurred on Sunday. "My kids and I are devastated. We lost our beautiful wife and mom today in a helicopter crash. Please respect our privacy. Thank you for all the well wishes they mean so much," his post reads.

In:
• Kobe Bryant