The ligament that Kobe tore was his left Achilles tendon.
On April 12th, 1013, Kobe Bryant suffered a complete, Grade 3 rupture of his left Achilles tendon, during a game against the Golden State Warriors.
The Achilles is technically a tendon that connects a muscle to bone, instead of a ligament that connects bone to bone.
And despite tearing his left Achilles tendon, Kobe Bryant famously stayed in the game to shoot 2 free throws before he walked off the court.
Kobe Bryant also suffered other notable injuries during his career which included a rotator cuff tear and a fractured knee.
Kobe Bryant tore the rotator cuff in his right shoulder in January of 2015.
And during a game against the Memphis grizzlies, Kobe Bryant also suffered a fractured tibial plateau in his left knee in December 17th 2013, shortly after his comeback from his Achilles tear.
The injury to Kobe Bryant's knee occurred when he had hyperextended his knee and an MRI had revealed the fracture just 6 games after he had returned from a torn Achilles tendon.
Sadly Kobe Bryant died instantly from blunt force trauma when the helicopter he was traveling in crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, California, on January 26, 2020.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the accident was caused by the pilot's decision to fly under visual flight rules into thick instrument meteorological conditions (heavy clouds and fog).
This led to spatial disorientation, where the pilot lost the ability to distinguish up from down, resulting in a loss of control.
The NTSB report also cited the pilot's plan continuation bias and self-induced pressure to complete the flight as contributing factors.
Kobe Bryant, all others aboard helicopter died immediately.