Vanessa Bryant is continuing Kobe's proud 'Girl Dad' legacy with their daughters - here's how
This weekend, basketball legend Kobe Bryant would have celebrated his 48th birthday.
To four individuals close to the NBA star, however, Kobe wasn't just a championship-winning athlete famed for his intense drive, unmatched work ethic and 20-year career on the court - he was the ultimate 'girl dad'.
With his wife, Vanessa, he fathered four daughters, Natalia, Gianna 'Gigi', Bianka and Capri, and spoke regularly in conversation with the press about the joy of raising a family of females.
As Vanessa herself put it once, her husband was the 'MVP of girl dads', or the 'MVD'.
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"He never left the toilet seat up," she joked. "But more importantly, he made sure his daughters knew how beautiful and smart they were. He taught them how to be brave and how to keep pushing forward when things get tough."
And when Kobe retired from the NBA in 2016, he embraced the everyday realities of fatherhood, taking over the school run while Vanessa was pregnant with Bianka and, later, nursing their youngest daughter, Capri.
Nicknamed the 'Black Mamba', Kobe's pride in being a dad became an especially beloved part of his legacy, and his daughter, Gianna, even inherited a variation of his title and was known as 'Mambacita' to friends and family.
In January 2020, however, the Bryant family was suddenly torn apart when devastation struck.
Kobe and Gigi, then 13, were among nine people killed when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in Calabasas, California, while heading to a girls' basketball tournament at Kobe's Mamba Sports Academy.
For former model Vanessa, the loss was unimaginable. Not only had she suddenly lost the love of her life, but she lost her daughter.
In the six years since, however, the mother-of-four has refused to let her life be defined by tragedy.
'Kobe and Gigi gravitated towards each other'
She has made it clear that remembering Kobe and Gigi is not simply about looking backwards, but helping their three surviving daughters to move forwards, while simultaneously ensuring that the influence of her partner and child live on.
A month on from their passing, Vanessa spoke at length during a Celebration of Life memorial for Kobe and Gigi about her daughter, describing her as an exceptional athlete, a natural leader and someone who wanted to help other people learn.
"Gigi was very competitive like her daddy, but Gianna had a sweet grace about her," Vanessa tearfully told attendees at the time. "Her smile was like sunshine. Her smile took up her entire face, like mine.
"Kobe always said she was me. She had my fire, my personality and sarcasm. She was tender and loving on the inside. She had the best laugh. It was infectious. It was pure and genuine."
'Gigi looked out for everyone'
The late teen had played basketball, soccer, softball, gymnastics and danced, but basketball was where she appeared to share her father's greatest passion, with Vanessa recalling how father and daughter naturally gravitated towards one another.
"Gigi always looked out for everyone," she added. "She was very much in tune with our feelings and wanted the best for us. Gianna was smart. She knew how to read, speak and write Mandarin. She knew Spanish.
"She had great grades and kept them up – all while becoming an incredible basketball player."
Elsewhere, Vanessa gushed: "At school, she offered the boys basketball coaches to give the boys some pointers, like the triangle offence. She was very much like her daddy, in that they both liked helping people learn new things and help them master them. They were great teachers."
During her speech, as cited by ABC, Vanessa also spoke about Gigi's ambition to change women's sport, believing her daughter could have gone on to play in the WNBA and remembered how strongly Gigi felt about inequality between men's and women's basketball.
Kobe 8 'Mambacita'
That vision has become an important part of what Vanessa has carried forward.
In the months after the memorial, Vanessa relaunched Kobe's charitable organisation as the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, combining their beloved nicknames and pledging to continue their shared commitment to creating opportunities for young athletes, particularly girls.
Then, in May 2024, on what would have been Gigi's 18th birthday, she collaborated with Nike to release the special-edition Nike Kobe 8 'Mambacita' sneaker in her daughter's honour, providing the world with a tangible way of keeping Gigi's name connected to the sport she loved.
As we say, however, Vanessa's mission wasn't just about reminding the world of the impact Kobe and Gigi had upon it; it was about providing her three surviving girls with a means of rebuilding their lives in light of their unimaginable loss.
'They gave me strength'
In March 2021, she described the trio, Natalia, Bianka and Capri, as her own saving grace.
"My girls help me smile through the pain," Vanessa told PEOPLE. "They give me strength."
She also vowed again: "I want to make Kobe, Gigi, Natalia, Bianka and Capri proud."
Rather than allowing Kobe's legacy to become something frozen in time, she has continued to create space for their daughters to move on while carrying pieces of their dad and sister with them.
The clearest example is perhaps the couple's eldest daughter, Natalia.
In the face of her heartache, the 23-year-old has forged her own path in fashion, film and entertainment, never failing to acknowledge the influence that Kobe had on her.
Natalia making moves in modelling
Speaking to Town & Country in January 2024, she discussed her own goals, pledging to become the best version of herself.
Natalia also reflected on her 'understanding that there's no expectation that I should have for each stage of life', adding: "I just need to know that I have to keep learning, because there’s no finish line.
"You just have to keep pushing and being the best person you can be and soaking everything up like a sponge... The job’s never done."
The September prior, she'd made her runway debut at Milan Fashion Week, walking in Versace's Spring/Summer 2024 show, after which she was quickly signed to IMG Models.
This was all alongside her studies at the University of Southern California, where she graduated last May with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in cinematic arts, film and television production.
"Natalia has always been able to accomplish anything she sets her mind to," Vanessa also told the publication. "Whether she’s at home with us, with her friends, at work, or at school, Natalia always stays present and passionate in the face of any challenge.
Her father's film influence
"I’m so proud of everything she’s achieved and impressed by the kind, smart, and beautiful young woman I’ve seen her become."
Natalia has also spoken about how much of her creative life is rooted in memories with her dad, telling Teen Vogue in 2023 that her love of film and music came from spending time with her father.
"He was just like the best girl dad ever," she said, recalling their long family car journeys together. "He was just letting me play my playlist and jam out to Taylor Swift the whole ride back, and talk about Star Wars too.
"It was so much fun. I fell asleep during the first half of the [first] movie."
Her success hasn't come without help from her mother, however - something Natalia made clear in a letter shared to Instagram several years ago.
"You are the strongest person I know, and I am so grateful to have you as my mom!" she'd penned. "I will always be the Ethel to your Lucy!"
Then, there are Bianka and Capri, who were just three and seven months old when Kobe and Gigi died.
Vanessa's 2020 memorial speech made clear just how much their big sister had meant to them, however, telling attendees that Gigi 'happily helped carry the littles' diaper bag or played with' them.
Reminding Bianka and Capri of Kobe's legacy
"She liked helping me with Bianka and Capri. Bianka loved going to the playground, swimming and jumping on the trampoline with Gigi," Vanessa continued. "I used to tell Gigi I thought Koko considered her her favourite sister.
"Capri would smile from ear to ear when Gigi walked into the room, and Capri reminds me a lot of Gianna. They look alike and just smile with their whole face - pure joy."
Though the youngsters, now nine and seven, have grown up without Kobe and Gigi, their mother has continued weaving memories into their childhood.
In August 2024, Vanessa, Natalia, Bianka and Capri attended a Los Angeles Dodgers game together, all wearing matching jerseys featuring Kobe's No. 24.
During the same game, a baby-faced Bianka was also allowed to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
That year, during the WNBA All-Star Game, Capri was photographed sharing a sweet moment with Caitlin Clark, after Vanessa gifted WNBA players special-edition Kobe sneakers.
For Vanessa, keeping Kobe and Gigi's legacies alive has meant giving Natalia, Bianka and Capri the space to grow into themselves, while ensuring their father and sister remain a part of the story.
Six years on, Kobe's girls are still growing, still learning, still pushing forward - just as their dad taught them to.
Rhianna Benson