This is the heartbreaking moment Kobe Bryant told Jimmy Kimmel how his daughter Gianna wanted to play basketball professionally and ‘carry on his legacy’.
The former Los Angeles Lakers basketball star, 41, and 13-year-old Gianna died, along with seven others, after his private Sikorsky S-76 crashed into a hillside in Calabasas on Sunday morning.
They were thought to be heading to Mamba Academy, founded by Bryant, for a youth basketball tournament in which Gianna was playing.
Bryant told Jimmy Kimmel in 2018 that Gianna wanted to play in the WNBA and recalled how fans would often approach him saying ‘you gotta have a boy, you gotta someone to carry on the tradition, the legacy.’
‘Gianna took exception: “She’s like, ‘Oy, I got this”,’ Bryant recalled.
As the audience cheered, Bryant said: ‘That’s right, you got this.’
Kobe Bryant, pictured, told Jimmy Kimmel in 2018 how his daughter Gianna wanted to play basketball professionally and ‘carry on his legacy’
Kobe is seen greeting his daughter Gianna before the NBA All-Star Game in 2016, left. Gianna – a budding basketball star in her own right – frequently shared photos of herself on the court
Gianna is pictured playing on Saturday. She had a promising youth career and Bryant told Jimmy Kimmel how she wanted to play basketball professionally and ‘carry on his legacy’
In images taken a day before the 18-time NBA All-Star talks to Gianna and a group of her peers about their game. He was said to have coached his daughter’s team.
Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, had four daughters. He had been a vocal booster of women’s sports since his retirement, coaching and mentoring basketball players around the world while also backing women’s soccer and other endeavors.
On its website The Mamba Cup Tournament Series is described as ‘developed by Kobe Bryant. It adds: ‘The Black Mamba himself, Kobe Bryant, has long wanted to develop a league concept for high level youth basketball teams in Grades 2-8.
‘Thus, the Mamba Cup Tournament Series has been designed to capture the benefits of league play while still honoring the tournament culture established by those who have built youth basketball to where it is today.’
The father daughter duo were thought to have been at one of eleven tournaments from September through March ‘culminating in the Championship Tournament on the weekend of March 28-29’.
The website adds: ‘Of course, Coach Bryant’s very own Girls 8th Grade Mamba Club Team will be a participant in the Mamba Cup.’
Bryant had been spending more time with his daughters since leaving the league. The Bryants’ first daughter, Natalia, turned 17 a week ago. Bianka Bella Bryant is 3 years old, and Capri Kobe Bryant was born last June.
Gianna, better known as Gigi, had a promising youth career and a competitive pugnaciousness that reminded everybody of her dad.
A heartbreaking video of the deceased father-daughter duo attending a basketball game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Brooklyn Nets on December 21 resurfaced soon after the crash.
Bryant appears to be teaching Gianna – a budding basketball star herself – a thing or two about the game while sitting courtside at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Gianna frequently shared photos of herself on the court on social media.
Bryant told Jimmy Kimmel in 2018 that Gianna wanted to play in the WNBA and recalled how fans would often approach him saying ‘you gotta have a boy, you gotta someone to carry on the tradition, the legacy.’ ‘Gianna took exception: ‘She’s like, ‘Oy, I got this,’ Bryant recalled
In the images taken a day before their deaths the 18-time NBA All-Star talks to Gianna and a group of her peers about their game. He seems to be guiding the youngsters
A heartbreaking video of the father-daughter duo attending a basketball game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Brooklyn Nets on December 21 resurfaced soon after the crash
Officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene near Las Virgenes Rd and Willow Glen St in Calabasas after a group of mountain bikers spotted the smoke.
The helicopter carrying Bryant flew through thick fog and appeared to get into trouble above the LA Zoo where it circled at a very low altitude. Air traffic control audio suggests conditions were worsening shortly before the crash.
A flight plan indicated the helicopter, reportedly registered to Island Express Holding Corp., took off from John Wayne Airport in Orange County at 9.06am PST and the last signal was received from the aircraft at 9.45am. It was expected to land at San Gabriel Valley Airport in El Monte.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the helicopter was a Sikorsky S-76. A body is covered, left, while another sits at right at the scene of a helicopter crash that killed former NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant Sunday
The 41-year-old former Los Angeles Lakers basketball star’s private Sikorsky S-76 struck a hillside amid heavy fog and immediately caught fire at around 10am. Officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene near Las Virgenes Rd and Willow Glen St in Calabasas after a group of mountain bikers spotted the smoke