Vanessa Bryant has shared a touching tribute to her late daughter Gianna. The 37-year-old beauty – who lost her husband Kobe Bryant and their 13 year old in a helicopter crash last month – shared photos from a ceremony to retire the teenager’s number two jersey from her Mamba Academy team and spoke about how much she “misses” the youngster.
She wrote: “My Gianna. God I miss you. I’ve been so lucky to have woken up to see your gorgeous face and amazing smile for 13 years. Wish it would’ve been until my last breath. Mommy loves you to the moon and back. Infinity plus 1. #2 #Mambacita #GigiBryant [heart emoji] (sic)”
During the emotional ceremony at Harbor Day School in Corona del Mar, California, a number of coaches, classmates and teachers gave speeches about Gianna, with Vanessa sharing a number of videos.
The teenager’s former coach said: “No matter who we were playing, she was gonna force her will and help us find a way to win. And she did just that. She willed us to the finals and got her teammates to compete at a very high level.
“She was the heart and soul of this team and her competitive nature was infectious.”
The coach also shared a story about how Gianna was asked to play on a boys’ team to help them out against a rival school recently. He said: “The fact is, Gigi could have played with those boys. She could have helped them win some games. She was definitely able to hold her own at that level. She was one of the fiercest competitors I’ve ever seen.”
Earlier in the day, Vanessa – who also has 17-year-old Natalia, three-year-old Bianka, and seven-month-old Capri with Kobe – paid tribute to her husband. She shared a smiling photo of the basketball legend and wrote: “#Mybestfriend #theBestdaddy Miss you so much #Handsome #sweet #funny #silly #lovinghusband [heart emoji] Miss you saying, ‘Bonjourno principessa/reina.'(sic)
In other news – Jessica Mbangeni paid tribute to Kobe Bryant at a basketball game in New York
As the world continues to mourn Kobe Bryant, South African praise poet and musician Jessica Mbangeni has travelled to New York to perform a tribute to the NBA star, who was killed in a helicopter crash last month.
Jessica got tongues wagging this week when she posted a picture of herself paying tribute on Facebook, with the caption: “Kobe Bryant. Memory is our heritage. Read more
Source: IOL
