Moments after basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Giana died in a helicopter crash, along with seven others, in Calabasas, Calif., Sunday morning, the Internet exploded with pictures and videos of the father-daughter duo, who shared a love and drive for basketball.
Giana was a rising basketball star and her father coached her club team. The two often were seen attending professional basketball games together, with Kobe discussing with his daughter different plays and strategies from the sidelines.
Here are five moments of Kobe and Gianna indulging in the sport they loved.
KOBE BRYANT AMONG THOSE KILLED IN CALIFORNIA HELICOPTER CRASH
1. In December, Kobe and Gianna sat on the sidelines during a Hawks vs. Nets game at the Barclays Center in New York City as the NBA champion explained parts of the game to her.
2. Kobe was proud of his daughter’s talent on the court and boasted that she wanted to play in the WNBA. Appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” he joked that on occasion people would tell him he needed to have a son “to carry on the tradition, the legacy.”
“She’ll be, like, oy! I got this. We don’t need no boy for that, I got this,” Kobe told Kimmell. “Yes, you do, you got this.”
3. Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation over the course of his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, co-founded the Mamba Sports Academy, a training facility for athletes, where he coached his daughter’s team. The two were headed to the center to attend a basketball game were Gianna was scheduled to play, when their helicopter crashed.
4. Kobe and Gianna attended the U.S. national championships swimming meet in Irvine, Calif., in July 2018.
Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna at the U.S. national championships swimming meet in Irvine, Calif., in July 2018. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)
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5. After defeating the Orlando Magic in Game 5 and winning the NBA basketball finals in 2009, Bryant held a smiling Gianna in his arms as they celebrated.
Kobe Bryant holding his daughter Gianna after the Lakers defeated the Magic 99-86 to win the NBA Finals in 2009. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
A loving father, Bryant is survived by his wife Vanessa and their three other daughters: Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 7 months old.
