It has been more than three months since Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant passed away along with seven others in a helicopter crash. January 26 marked a dark day in the history of the NBA and the Bryant family.

Kobe and Gigi were flying out to the Mamba Sports Academy to attend a basketball game in which Gianna was playing too. Sadly, none of them knew they were not going to make it, until the pilot lost control of the copter and crashed. 

Gianna was 13 at the time of the crash, and today, if she had lived, it would have been her fourteenth birthday. Gianna Bryant was born on May 1, 2006. She is the second eldest among her siblings.

Gigi was tremendously inspired by her father, and wanted to grow up to be like him. Being the daughter of Kobe Bryant, she wanted to emulate him and make a name for herself in the women’s game. All her dreams smoothly came together and she was a rising star in the game of basketball.

Kobe fondly called her the “Mambacita,” and trained her from Day 1 to make her follow his footsteps. She played for the Mamba Ballers, a competitive team from Bryant’s academy. The brilliance in her game reflected her dad’s teachings. But some people get no warning before the world decides to take them away. A young Gigi and the Mamba died, following the crash of their chopper on top of a mountain.

The bond between Kobe Bryant and his daughters

Bryant had four daughters and he loved to be called a ‘Girl Dad.’ He sadly took Gigi with him, leaving his wife Vanessa and his other three daughters devastated. Gigi was so into basketball that she would accompany her dad to the Staples Center to watch the Lakers and would visit WNBA games as well. 

Many fans asked Kobe to have a son to continue his legacy. They want to see his mamba mentality in his son to fly the flag high. Gianna certainly had that covered. In her mind, she knew she had to step up.

“This kid, man… I’m telling you, The best thing that happens is when we go out, and fans will come up to me, and she’ll be standing next to me, and they will be like, ‘You gotta have a boy, you and V [wife Vanessa] gotta have a boy, man, to have somebody carry on the tradition, the legacy.’ And [Gigi] is like, ‘Oi, I got this!'” Bryant said. “That’s right. Yes, you do. You got this.” 

The amount of confidence she had to succeed, ignited the flame inside her father. As a result, he believed that she is the one to carry forward his legacy. Their bonding was extremely special and Kobe most importantly taught her everything he knew. Above all, his goal was to make her the best women’s player in the world.