Kobe & Gianna Bryant: A Tribute On The 5th Anniversary Of Their Passing
Jan 27, 2025 by apost team
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On Jan. 26, 2020, a helicopter crash in California claimed the lives of basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant. At the time of the fatal crash, the father and daughter were traveling to a youth basketball game with parents and players from the Mamba Sports Academy.
On Feb. 7, 2020, Kobe and Gianna were laid to rest together at Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona Del Mar, California. A touching public memorial service was held at Staples Center on Feb. 24, 2020. Famous friends, including Beyoncé, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and LeBron James, paid their tributes.
Sports and entertainment industries organized candlelit vigils, sculptures and public murals worldwide to commemorate Kobe and Gianna’s lives five years after that tragic day. The memorials recognize Kobe and Gianna’s contributions to basketball.
Kobe’s career began at Lower Merion High School before he was selected 13th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, who traded his rights to the Lakers. There, he teamed up with Shaquille O’Neal, winning four championships together, before their relationship evolved into an amicable sports rivalry.
At 18, Kobe became the youngest player in the history of the NBA, earning 18 All-Star selections and leading the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA championship titles.
In 1999, the then-21-year-old Kobe Bryant met 17-year-old Vanessa Marie Laine while he was a Lakers star and she was a high school senior. On Apr. 18, 2001, they got married. In a 2020 Instagram post, Laine recalled: “It was love at first sight.”
In a 2015 documentary titled “Kobe Bryant’s Muse,” the NBA star reflected on the early days of their relationship: “For me, it was very different to have somebody that I was so close to, because I had been so used to growing up in isolation, really.”
Kobe Bryant, Vanessa Bryant (2005), (Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
In 2003, Kobe and now Vanessa Bryant welcomed their first daughter, Natalia Bryant, followed by Gianna in 2006. Their third daughter, Bianka Bella Bryant, was born in 2016, and their youngest, Capri Kobe Bryant, arrived in 2019.
In September 2019, Kobe joked about their youngest, Capri, in an interview with Extra.
“She has been our best baby,” he said, continuing, “She sleeps six hours. She’s an absolute sweetheart.”
In a July 2017 interview with Extra, the NBA star talked about Gianna being “pretty fierce,” adding:
“She loves playing, she loves shooting.”
Gianna harbored dreams of following her dad into basketball. For this reason, Kobe coached her team at Mamba Sports Academy and supported her WNBA aspirations. In 2020, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert named Gianna an honorary pick during the 2020 WNBA Draft.
In the days leading up to the 5th anniversary of the tragic day, Vanessa took to Instagram to announce that she would publish a catalog titled “Mamba & Mambacita Forever.”
Set to release on Aug. 19, 2025, the catalog will feature over 100 murals and stories that honor Kobe and Gianna’s lasting impact. She captioned the post:
“Kobe and Gianna Mural book highlighting a selection of murals in their honor coming 8/19/25. ❤️”
According to a press release, the catalog “brings together the images and stories” of the public art installations that honored the Byrants.
The release also reads:
“Taken together, what emerges is the story of a man who became even more than he himself could have imagined, an avatar of determination, discipline and competitiveness. He was also a worldwide icon, one of the greatest athletes of our time, a man committed to his family and to fatherhood.”
Our hearts go out to the Bryant family on the anniversary of Kobe and Gianna’s tragic passing.
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Gianna Bryant, Kobe Bryant (2019), (Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
We shall never forget Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s incredible lives, unwavering love for each other, and lasting impact on basketball and beyond. What’s your favorite memory of them? Let us know, and then pass this along to your friends and family to keep their legacies alive.