Kobe Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, died alongside her father in a tragic helicopter accident on Sunday, January 26, cutting the young athlete’s legacy short.
The teenager was born in 2006 to the late basketball legend, 41, and his wife, Vanessa Bryant. She joined her older sister, Natalia, now 17. A decade after Gianna’s birth, her parents went on to welcome Bianka, now 3, and Capri, now 7 months, arrived in June 2019.
The Philadelphia native announced five months earlier that baby No. 4 was on the way with an Instagram post, writing, “Vanessa and I are beyond excited to announce that we are expecting another #mambacita to go along with Natalia, Gianna and Bianka. New Year, New Baby! Baby Mamba on the Way 2019.”
In May, he showed off his wife’s budding belly in a sweet family photo at her baby shower. “Happy Mother’s Day @vanessabyrant we love you and thank you for all that you do for our family,” Kobe wrote on social media at the time. “You are the foundation of all that we hold dear. I love you.”
He and Vanessa, 37, tied the knot in 1999 and were considering trying for a son. “I think she wants a boy more than I do,” the Wizenard Series: Training Camp creator told Extra in March. “I love having girls — I’m super, super excited about that. She is as well. She wanted a boy so he can be mama’s boy forever — that sort of thing. We’ll see if I can deliver, I don’t know.”
The former Los Angeles Lakers player added, “She’s like, ‘You go see if you can hit a clutch shot. You gave me all girls, let’s see if you can bring a boy!’ Nope, not yet. We’ll see.”
Keep scrolling to read about his second daughter Gianna’s 13 years of life, from following in her father’s athletic footsteps to bonding with Shaquille O’Neal‘s kids.
The teenager was on an Athletic Amateur Union team, which her dad coached. “Not yet, but we absolutely will [break down game film],” he said during an October 2018 Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance. “We try to teach the kids what excellence looks like. We try to give them a foundation of the amount of work that it takes to be excellent. Playing basketball, we’re going to focus on the details. We’re going to learn the basics, learn the fundamentals and do those things over and over.”
Courtesy of Kobe Bryant/Instagram
He added at the time that Gianna “for sure” wanted to play professional basketball. Kobe explained, “The best thing that happens is we’ll go out, and fans will come up to me and she’ll be standing next to me. And they’ll be like, ‘Hey, you gotta have a boy. You and Vanessa gotta have a boy to carry on the tradition, the legacy. And she is like, ‘Oy, I got this. You don’t need a boy for that, I got this.’ I’m like, 'That’s right, you got this.’”
Courtesy of Kobe Bryant/Instagram
Gianna’s parents called her “Gigi,” using the sweet nickname on social media multiple times.
Courtesy of Kobe Bryant/Instagram
Not only did Kobe’s former teammate, 47, post about his “niece Gigi” in his Instagram tribute following her death, but Shaq’s son Shareef tweeted, “Love you cousin.” Gianna and the TNT sports analyst's youngest daughter, Me’arah, were born one day apart in May 2006.
Courtesy of Kobe Bryant/Instagramfrom Celebrity News – Us Weekly https://ift.tt/3aJIwBE
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