Putting in words how much Kobe, Gianna will be missed
Vanessa Bryant on daughter Gianna:
“She was Daddy’s girl, but I know she loves her mama. And she would always tell me and show me how much she loved me. She was one of my very best friends. She loved cake. She loved putting a smile on everyone’s face. Last August, she made a beautiful birthday cake for her daddy. It had fondant and looked like it had blue agate crystals. Kobe’s birthday cake looked like it was professionally decorated.
“She made the best chocolate chip cookies. She loved watching cooking shows and ‘Cupcake Wars’ with me, and she loved watching ‘Survivor’ and NBA games on TV with her daddy. She also loved watching Disney movies with her sisters.
“Kobe and Gianna naturally gravitated toward each other. She had Kobe’s ability to listen to a song and have all the lyrics memorized after listening to the song a couple of times. It was their secret talent. She was an incredible athlete. She was great at gymnastics, soccer, softball, dance and basketball. She was an incredible dancer too. She loved to swim, dance, do cartwheels and do jumps into our swimming pool. And Gigi loved her TikTok dances.
on husband Kobe:
“Kobe was known as a fierce competitor on the basketball court. The greatest of all time, a writer and Oscar winner, and the Black Mamba. But to me, he was Kobe-Kobe, my boo-boo, my bayboo. My papi chulo. I was his Vivi, his principessa, his reina, his queen Mamba.
“... Kobe was the MVP of girl dads, or MVD. He never left the toilet seat up. He always told the girls how beautiful and smart they are. He taught them how to be brave and how to keep pushing forward when things get tough.
“He was thoughtful and wrote the best love letters and cards, and Gigi had his wonderful ability to express her feelings to pick up paper and make you feel her love through her words. She was thoughtful like him. They were so easy to love, everyone naturally gravitated toward them. They were funny, happy, silly, and they loved life. They were so full of joy and adventure. God knew they couldn’t be on this earth without each other. He had to bring them home to heaven together.”
Diana Taurasi three-time NCAA and WNBA champion
“Every single workout, I end the same way with the Kobe gamewinner. Three hard dribbles going right. Left foot plant pivot. Swing right leg through, elevate square up. Follow through. Five in a row and I got to go home. It’s that exact same shot that won us the championship in Phoenix in 2014.
“Kobe’s willingness to do the hard work and make the sacrifice every single day inspired me and resonated with the city of Los Angeles. We struggle together. We grew together. We celebrate the victories together.
“Gigi, in many ways, represents the future of women’s basketball. A future where a young woman aspires to play in the WNBA. The same way I wanted to be a Laker.
“Gigi already had goals to play for UConn, and that in itself showed her fearless mentality. She represents a time where a young girl doesn’t need permission to play. Her skill would command respect.”
Sabrina Ionescu women’s basketball’s top college player
“I grew up watching Kobe Bryant game after game, ring after ring, living his greatness without apology. I wanted to be just like him, to love every part of the competition, to be the first to show up and the last to leave, to love the grind, to be your best when you don’t feel your best and make other people around you the best version of themselves.
“If I represented the present of the women’s game, Gigi was the future, and Kobe knew it.
“… I remember one time someone grabbed her jersey, and she sort of just knocked them down and then stepped right over ’em. Me and Kobe looked at each other, smiling, and he goes, ‘I don’t know where she learned that from.’
“I wanted to be a part of the generation that changed basketball for Gigi and her teammates. Where being born female didn’t mean being born behind, where greatness wasn’t divided by gender.
“‘You have too much to give to stay silent.’ That’s what he said. That’s what he believed. That’s what he lived. Through Gigi, through me, through his invest
ment in women’s basketball.
“I still text him even though he’s not here. … The texts go through but no response. It still feels like he’s there on the other end, that the next time I pick up my phone, he would have hit me back. Sometimes I find myself still waiting.”
Geno Auriemma University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach
“… How ironic that he would talk to me about coaching. The uncoachable one wants to talk about coaching — probably the most uncoachable player in the NBA during his career wants to know about coaching. I wanted to know why. He said, ‘I’m coaching my daughter’s team.’ I said, ‘Oh, my God. That poor kid.’
“So when I watched the highlights of her playing, 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.’ ”
Rob Pelinka general manager of the Lakers and Bryant’s longtime agent
“[In a text exchange the morning of the crash], Kobe was asking me if I happened to know a certain baseball agent based in Southern California. Since Kobe’s question didn’t have any urgency to it, I decided I’d wait till after church to respond, but then again there was a gentle nudge. I grabbed my phone and texted Kobe back that I’d seen the baseball agent at a Lakers game just the other night and was happy to help him with whatever you wanted.
“It was now just past 9:30. Kobe texted back, explaining his desire to help a friend of his secure a baseball agency internship for one of his young daughters. Kobe vouched for the girl’s character, intellect and work ethic. He clearly wanted to champion a bright future for her. I texted Kobe right back and said I would put a plan in motion to help him get that done.
“A handful of minutes later, Kobe and Gianna and seven other beautiful souls ascended into heaven. Kobe had been texting me from the helicopter. The girl in that text chain that he was wanting to help so badly was Lexi Altobelli, the surviving daughter of coach John Altobelli, who was also on the helicopter.
“Kobe’s last human act was heroic. He wanted to use his platform to bless and shape a young girl’s future.”
Michael Jordan six-time NBA champion
“He wanted to be the best basketball player that he could be. And as I got to know him. I wanted to be the best big brother that I could be. To do that, you have to put up with the aggravation, the late-night calls or the dumb questions.
“I took great pride as I got to know Kobe Bryant that he was just trying to be a better person, a better basketball player. We talked about business. We talked about family. We talked about everything, and he was just trying to be a better person . ... Now he’s got me. I’ll have to look at another crying meme for the next ... I told my wife I wasn’t going to do this because I didn’t want to see that for the next three or four years. That is what Kobe Bryant does to me.”
Shaquille O’Neal who teamed with Bryant to win three consecutive NBA titles
“As many of you know, Kobe and I have a very complex relationship throughout the years. But not unlike another leadership duo, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, whose creative rivalry led to some of the greatest music of all time. Kobe and I pushed one another to play some of the greatest basketball of all time, and I am proud that no other team has accomplished what the three-peat Lakers have done since the Shaq and Kobe Lakers did it.
“Make no mistake, even when folks thought we were on bad terms, when the cameras are turned off, he and I would throw a wink at each other and say ‘let’s go whoop some ass.’
“We never took it seriously. In truth, Kobe and I always maintained a deep respect and a love for one another. The day Kobe gained my respect was, the guys were complaining, said, ‘Shaq, Kobe’s not passing the ball.’ I said, ‘I’ll talk to him.’ I said, ‘Kobe, there’s no “I” in “team.” He said, ‘I know, but there’s an ‘M-E’ in that motherf—.’ So I went back and told Rick and Big Shot Bob, I said, ‘Just get the rebound, he’s not passing it.’ ”