Vanessa Bryant, the wife of Kobe Bryant and mother of their children, gave a moving speech in memory of the legendary athlete, and her 13-year-old daughter Gianna, who passed away on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash. The memorial service was held at the Staples Center on Monday (Feb. 24), an arena where Kobe introduced a new style of playing and an unmatched sports mentality. His daughter followed in her father’s footsteps and had plans of revolutionizing the way the world viewed women in sports, specifically starting with the WNBA.
“Gigi would’ve most likely become the best player in the WNBA,” Vanessa Bryant stated. “She would’ve made a huge difference for women’s basketball. Gigi was motivated to change the way everyone viewed women in sports. She wrote papers in school defending women and wrote about how the unequal pay difference for the NBA and WNBA leagues wasn’t fair. I truly feel she made positive changes for the WNBA players now because they knew Gigi’s goal was to play in the WNBA.”
The intelligent teen had dreams of attending UCONN and playing for the Huskies women’s basketball team. After her passing, the university honored Gianna with a jersey featuring the No. 2, which she was known to sport during games.
“Gigi was very competitive like her daddy but Gianna had a sweet grace about her,” she shared. “Her smile was like sunshine. Her smile took up her entire face like mine. Kobe always said she was me. She had my fire, my personality, and sarcasm. She was tender and loving on the inside. She had the best laugh. It was infectious, it was pure and genuine.”
Vanessa Bryant speaks about her daughter, Gigi.
(via @NBATV)pic.twitter.com/eXmWvfXSxE
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 24, 2020
In tribute to her husband, Vanessa revisited memories they both shared and how they envisioned their future as their family tree continued to grow. “I couldn’t see him as a celebrity nor just an incredible basketball player,” she said. “He was my sweet husband and the beautiful father of our children. He was my everything.” Vanessa Bryant also mentioned that Kobe sought to have their eldest daughter, Natalia, take over his company, and looked toward being the “fun grandparents” to their children’s future children.
“Kobe was the MVP of girl dads or MVD,” Vanessa continued. “He never let the toilet seat up, he always told the girls how beautiful and smart they are. He taught them how to be brave and how to keep pushing forward when things get tough.”
In a statement that defines the bond Kobe and Gianna shared, Vanessa held back tears as she said, “God knew they couldn’t be on this earth without each other. He had to bring them home to heaven together.”
Vanessa Bryant remembers Kobe: “Babe, take care of our Gigi. And I got Nani, Bibi and Coco. We’re still the best team.”
(via @NBATV)pic.twitter.com/aZEK2HB656
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 24, 2020
View the full live stream below.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=UrtNWJYL2Sg
