Kyrie Irving is finally close to making his return to Brooklyn Nets this season. He has joined the Nets practice session and could make his 2021-22 season debut soon. Kyrie has always looked up to Kobe Bryant as his idol and recently paid tribute to him.

Kobe Bryant was one of the best players of his generation and inspired the next generation of athletes as well. He spent 20 years in the NBA and has influenced a lot of stars in the league. Kyrie Irving has been a big fan of Kobe and his ‘Mamba Mentality’. In fact, last year, Kyrie bought every Nets player a ‘Mambacita’ hoodie, whose proceeds went to Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation.

Kobe and his daughter Gianna’s tragic accident shocked the entire NBA world, and Kyrie was among the stars who grieved the most. He recently paid tribute to Kobe and Gianna through Instagram.

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Kyrie Irving takes to Instagram to pay tribute to Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna

The 29-year-old Nets star recently shared a one-emoji tribute to Kobe and his daughter Gianna on Instagram. In the picture, Kobe and Gianna are sitting, looking at each other with ‘Mambas Forever’ written on it. Kyrie used the infinity emoji as his caption for the post.

Kobe Bryant nicknamed himself ‘Black Mamba’ during his career and that is the reference used in the picture. Kobe and his daughter Gianna, along with seven other people lost their lives in a helicopter crash in January 2020. Irving and Kobe shared a close relationship, and the news of the tragic accident shocked Kyrie deeply.

However, the good part of Kyrie is that he gets to feature for the Nets this season. Due to a lot of injury issues in the team, Kyrie was called up by the Nets. He will now practice with the team and play in road games due to New York city’s rules. The Nets face the Pacers next on the road and Kyrie could make his season debut in that game.

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