- Fans are comparing the sudden deaths of Kyle Busch and Kobe Bryant.
- Conspiracy theories around legal battles won before their untimely deaths.
- Fans do not believe it’s a coincidence.
The passing of Kyle Busch has left a mark across NASCAR’s fanbase, and after Denny Hamlin compared the loss of Busch to that of Kobe Bryant, fans across social media began connecting dots between the lives, careers, and deaths of both sports figures.
Both men shared the initials “K.B.” Bryant wore the No. 8 jersey during the first half of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, while Busch drove the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing at the time of his death. For many online, the parallels did not stop there.
A theory has now spread across social media platforms linking the deaths of Bryant and Busch to legal battles involving insurance and pharmaceutical companies. According to those pushing the theory, both athletes secured major legal or financial victories against corporations shortly before their deaths.
The viral theory linking Kyle Busch and Kobe Bryant
Bryant died in January 2020 in a helicopter crash. His daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, who was 13, also died alongside seven others while traveling to a youth basketball game. The National Transportation Safety Board later concluded that the pilot committed a series of errors that likely caused the crash, including flying into cloud cover that led to spatial disorientation.
Busch, meanwhile, died on Thursday, May 21, after being hospitalized due to what was later revealed as complications stemming from pneumonia and sepsis. Just like Bryant, Busch was also 41 years old.
X user Matt Wallace fueled the comparisons by posting, “Kobe Bryant won a significant settlement against a pharmaceutical company. He tragically d*ed in a helicopter crash weeks later.”
“Kyle Busch won an $8.5 million settlement against a major insurance company. He tragically d*ed from a sudden & unexpected illness weeks later.”
Years before Bryant’s death, the basketball icon had entered a legal dispute with Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals over the company’s use of the name “Black Mamba” for one of its diet pill products titled Black Mamba HYPERRUSH.
According to the reports, the case revolved around trademark ownership. Bryant had filed for trademark rights after the company, but his legal team argued that consumers could wrongly associate him with the supplement brand because of the use of his nickname. Bryant also pointed to Nike’s branding using the term “hyper,” claiming that the overlap could create further confusion.
The supplement company countered by arguing that boxer Roger Mayweather also used the “Black Mamba” nickname and accused Bryant of acting like a “bully.” The dispute continued until January 2, 2020, less than a month before Bryant’s helicopter crash. Bryant later filed a motion to pause proceedings because settlement discussions were underway, and court filings eventually showed that the matter had been resolved.
Likewise, on February 26, 2026, Busch reached an $8.5 million settlement with Pacific Life Insurance Company after accusing the insurer of misleading him into purchasing policies presented as retirement protection plans.
The lawsuit, originally filed in October 2025, alleged that Busch and his wife, Samantha Busch, paid more than $10.4 million in premiums after relying on projections and promises tied to guaranteed returns.
Pacific Life attempted to have the case dismissed in January, arguing that Busch had signed documents acknowledging the policies’ terms. The company also argued that the lawsuit fell outside the statute of limitations because it had been filed years after the policies began. Despite those arguments, the dispute eventually ended in Busch’s favor.
Because both stories involved famous athletes securing legal victories before dying unexpectedly, some fans began drawing emotional links between the situations, while others rejected the comparisons outright.
Fans do not believe that it’s a coincidence
One fan wrote, “Coincidences happen, but these back-to-back settlements followed by tragedy sure fuel the speculation.”
Another posted, “Almost as if insurance companies are putting a hit out on these guys so they don’t have to pay..”
A third fan referenced another high-profile case, writing, “And of course there’s Mike Lynch, the billionaire who died in a yacht ‘accident’ only weeks after winning his case against HP in the US. Strangely, his business partner died 2 days before him in a cycle/car accident. How weird.”
Another user added, “Insurance companies, government taxes, & organized religion are the 3 biggest scams ran by the devil himself.”
One more fan commented, “Y’all still think some of these dead are coincidental Big pharma don’t like losing money.”
Despite the online theories and speculation, there’s no evidence connecting either death to foul play. Bryant’s death was officially ruled an aviation accident, while Busch’s family stated that pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in complications that doctors could not stop.
