Vanessa Bryant has not spoken publicly since the deaths of her husband Kobe and 13-year-old daughter Gianna, but she made a powerful statement on social media.
Vanessa Bryant, 37, has posted a heartbreaking photo of a young Gianna reaching up to embrace her legendary father at the 2016 All-Star game in Toronto, according to TMZ.
Gianna, nicknamed “Gigi,” let it be known that she had aspirations to play basketball at the powerhouse University of Connecticut and then graduate to the WNBA.
Bryant, 41, and 13-year-old Gianna perished when the helicopter in which they were flying en route to a basketball game crashed into the mountains in suburban Los Angeles on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. Seven others, including the pilot, Ara Zobayan, also died in the wreckage.
The passengers’ ultimate destination was Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California, which neighbors Calabasas, the site of the crash.
According to ESPN, a drive from the Bryants’ home in Orange County on the east side of LA to Thousand Oaks on the northwest side would have taken about three hours to drive in the city’s infamously stifling traffic. The helicopter ride, Kobe Bryant previously said, shortened the trip drastically to about 15 minutes each way.
