REMEMBERING KOBE, GIGI BRYANT
Auriemma, Taurasi speak at California memorial service for Kobe and Gianna
“And the most impressive thing about that point in time was how Kobe stepped as far back as he could. So anyone taking pictures, anyone there would not know that this was Kobe Bryant’s daughter. This was her moment. This was her time to shine.”
To Geno Auriemma and Diana Taurasi, Kobe Bryant wasn’t just a mega-basketball star who defined his time, and Gianna ‘Gigi’ Bryant wasn’t just Kobe’s daughter.
To Auriemma, Kobe was a fellow Philadelphian with Italian roots. To Taurasi, Kobe was her childhood hero growing up as a basketball fan outside of Los Angeles. To both, Kobe was a longtime friend whose love for his family and support of those across the basketball world surpassed his legacy on the court. To both, Gigi was the future of the game who dreamed of carrying on her father’s legacy in Storrs and beyond.
Honoring the inseparable father-daughter pair, Auriemma and Taurasi were among those to speak at the Celebration of Life for the Bryants, held Monday afternoon at the Staples Center.
Kobe, 41, Gigi, 13, and seven others were killed last month in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., while on their way to an AAU tournament.
Auriemma was the third and final speaker from the women’s basketball realm, following Taurasi and Oregon basketball star Sabrina Ionescu, to take the podium.
“I’m here as a father, not as a basketball coach,” Auriemma told the audience toward the beginning of his remarks.
Auriemma and Bryant formed a bond during the 2012 Olympics and continued to keep in touch in the years since. Bryant took Gigi to multiple UConn games, including UConn’s 2017 game at UCLA, the 2018 national semifinal where the Huskies lost on a buzzer beater and last season’s Senior Day.
Gigi, a budding basketball star
in her own right, emerged as a huge fan of the Huskies, befriending several UConn players such as Gabby Williams and Katie Lou Samuelson. Bryant once said she was “hellbent” on eventually playing for UConn.
UConn and Team USA honored the Bryants at their exhibition game in Hartford on Jan. 27, the day after the crash. As one of their tributes, the Huskies placed flowers and draped a UConn jersey with Gigi’s No. 2 over an empty seat on their bench.
Auriemma was able to lighten the mood in the arena Monday, discussing the irony of “probably the most uncoachable player in the NBA” wanting to coach his daughter.
“I said, ‘Oh my God. That poor kid,’ ” he joked, evoking laughs from the audience. “When I watched the highlights of her playing and on about the third or fourth time she touched the ball, Gianna passed it when she was open. I thought, she’s not listening to her father.”
As Bryant became more invested in Gigi’s promising basketball career, he started taking her to more basketball games, including UConn’s. Auriemma spoke about the first time Gigi interacted with the Huskies and got to meet them in the locker room.
“The look on her face, the smile, the way her eyes just took everything in, how excited she was to be around, in her mind, royalty,” Auriemma recalled. “It’s ironic. Her father’s royalty, and she’s excited to be around royalty that looks just like what she wants to be.
“And the most impressive thing about that point
in time was how Kobe stepped as far back as he could. So anyone taking pictures, anyone there would not know that this was Kobe Bryant’s daughter. This was her moment. This was her time to shine.”
Taurasi, whose competitive spirit and clutch play earned her the nickname “the White Mamba,” spoke immediately following Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s widow. A Chino, Calif., native, Taurasi got to know Bryant through USA Basketball, but spoke of growing up a Lakers fan and being inspired by Bryant at the beginning of his career.
“Watching Kobe play at the Great Western Forum as a rookie made this little girl believe she could be a Laker one day,” Taurasi said. “It was like getting to know myself every single day. He made it OK to play with an edge that borderlined crazy. Early onset Mamba mentality was in full effect.”
Taurasi held back tears for most of the speech, but stayed true to form and got in a friendly dig in at LeBron James’ expense when discussing Gigi, whom she said “in many ways, represents the future of women’s basketball.”
“Her skill was undeniable at an early age,” Taurasi said. “Who has a turnaround fadeaway jumper at 11? LeBron’s barely got it today.”
Taurasi described the last time she saw Gigi, when Bryant brought her AAU team to a Phoenix Mercury practice, and that she was struck by “a look of excitement, a look of belonging, a look of fierce determination” on Gigi’s face.
“We promise to carry Gigi’s legacy,” Taurasi concluded.
Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal also spoke. UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey and Samuelson were also in attendance.
Others at UConn world react
To UConn assistant coach Shea Ralph, the collective of people who converged Monday to celebrate the Bryants served as a testament to the pair’s lasting impact and just how special they were off of the court.
“It’s worth celebrating their lives,” said Ralph, who ran Monday’s UConn practice in Storrs alongside fellow assistant Jamelle Elliott. “I wish we all could have gone. It was worth it, for that kid, for Kobe and all that he did for us, definitely they needed to be out there.”
Ralph said she was only able to watch the beginning of the ceremony before heading to practice.
“I think about all the future that’s lost, not only his as a parent and as an advocate for women in sports and for people in general, but hers, too. A 13-year-old kid, she had a really bright future,” Ralph said.
Others in the basketball world expressed similar heartbreak.
“i just pray that vanessa knows how much of an impact gigi had on the wnba without playing a single game,” tweeted Williams, who had become close with the Bryants after meeting them when she played at UConn. “we all saw a piece of ourselves in her. we play and fight to improve and create a league that she deserved to play in. that’s an impact no other 13 year old girl could have.”