Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/January 26 to February 1, 2020

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Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga

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The official data is still down, so through other tools we compiled a list heavily shaped by two heavy subjects, a retired basketball legend dying in a helicopter crash, and the viral outbreak that people are hoping to contain in China.

Rank Article Class Views Image About
1 Kobe Bryant   22,840,307
 
Kobe Bryant had a victorious basketball career that broke many records. And he also managed a landmark on Wikipedia, breaking the top week caused by Prince's death and also managing 20+ million views in 7 days, given people couldn't believe that the Black Mamba died at just 41 in a helicopter crash.
2 Coronavirus   5,230,882
 
From one tragedy to another, the group of viruses that has a new instance (#10) currently causing panic in China (#4).
3 Kobe Bryant sexual assault case   3,926,069
 
As people remembered our #1, the blemish in his life also emerged, a 2003 incident where a Colorado woman accused Kobe of rape ("You know what I hate? Going to my husband’s rape trial!"), but prosecutors dropped the case.
4 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak   2,982,102
 
The Chinese city of Wuhan (#21) was struck with a new kind of pneumonia without clear cause or effective vaccines, which was discovered as originating from a new kind (#10) of coronavirus (#2). Tens of thousands of cases have emerged so far, mostly in China, with 725 of them fatal, and all sorts of preventive measures have ensued.
5 Billie Eilish   2,215,950
 
The Grammies were swept by the "Princess of Anti-Pop", becoming one of the youngest winners and also the first to take the big four categories (Album, Song, and Record of the Year, and also Best New Artist) since Christopher Cross went sailing for this feat in 1981.
6 Royal Rumble (2020)   1,951,351
 
Houston hosted this WWE pantomime, featuring male and female versions of the title fight with 30 wrestlers, won by Drew McIntyre and Charlotte Flair (pictured), respectively.
7 Sikorsky S-76   1,491,193
 
Related to our #1, the helicopter which crashed (in fact, the article at #9 is now 2020 Calabasas helicopter crash), taking the lives of Kobe, his teenage daughter Gianna, two of her teammates and their parents, a basketball coach, and the pilot; and his father, fellow basketball player "Jellybean" Joe Bryant (the nickname is why Kobe's middle name was Bean), who only lost one NBA Final while his son won five, and was coaching in Italy when he heard of the tragedy.
8 Joe Bryant   1,457,866
 
9 Death of Kobe Bryant   1,413,482
 
10 Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)   955,824
 
The possibly bat-originated virus (#2) that is causing chaos in China (#4).
11 LeBron James   895,598
 
The last time our #1 went to Twitter was to congratulate the current star of his Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James, on surpassing him in total career points. Once the Lakers played a home game again, LeBron gave a moving speech about him.
12 Aaron Hernandez   894,606
 
Netflix viewers continue to search more on the subject of Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez, a documentary about this troublemaking American football player who got arrested for murder and killed himself in prison.
13 John Altobelli   886,964
 
The helicopter crash at #9 happened as our #1 was taking his daughter and her teammates to train basketball in his academy. One of said girls was the daughter of the coach, who was also a passenger in the fatal voyage.
14 Michael Jordan   859,672 Our #1 was one of the few who scored more points than the greatest basketball player of all time - who Kobe played against as Jordan won his last two titles, and also during his brief un-retirement. Jordan had some sad words about Kobe's death, saying he felt like a younger brother.
15 Sofia Kenin   814,825   At just 21, this American tennis player won her first Grand Slam by beating Garbiñe Muguruza at the Australian Open.
16 Deaths in 2020   685,032|
 
If I wane this could die
I wait this could die
17 Shaquille O'Neal   802,671
 
Kobe's (#1) teammate in a Lakers threepeat, with whom he had some clashes as two alpha dogs in a team is a complicated thing. Still, he cried a lot when remembering him.
18 Severe acute respiratory syndrome   772,945
 
The current Chinese outbreak (#4) is reminiscent of the SARS one back in 2003-04, and tests indicate the new virus (#10) is very similar.
19 62nd Annual Grammy Awards   702,032
 
Amidst all the continued discussions about their relevance, the biggest music awards were held in Los Angeles shortly after the death of our #1, leading to a few tributes. The biggest winner was Billie Eilish (#5), with a few of those prizes shared by her older brother Finneas, who produced and co-wrote her album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?.
20 Finneas O'Connell   698,700
 
21 Wuhan   633,528   The capital of the Chinese province of Hubei had an outbreak of a new virus that caused pneumonia cases (#2, #4, #10), forcing some events that would be held in the city to move elsewhere.
22 1917 (2019 film)   578,158
 
Sam Mendes's World War I film told with only one cut is racking up award wins when those aren't taken by Parasite.
23 Nipsey Hussle   562,419
 
Two of the Grammys (#19) were posthumous awards to this rapper who tragically got shot in front of his store last year.
24 Rick Fox   546,325
 
Rumors that the helicopter crash at #9 also took the life of #1's Lakers teammate Rick Fox had to be dispelled quickly.
25 European Union   500,015
 
Brexit finally happened on January 31, and negotiations on how things will endure between the UK and the 27 nations still in the European Union (including the one which they have land borders - two, counting Gibraltar) is currently a hot topic.
 
Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (January 26 to February 1, 2020)