She was just a kid who loved her family, her friends and playing and watching basketball. She had her whole life ahead of her, and she does not deserve to be remembered for the way she died. Gigi woke up Sunday morning to go play basketball, like any other day. Gigi in Mickey Mouse ears on her dad’s lap at a Pop-Up Disney event. Gigi jumping for joy with her teammates after beating a rival. Also, Gigi last Halloween dressed as the Tin Man in her family’s Wizard of Oz themed night. And there’s Gigi in a blue-and-gold uniform dribbling the ball down the court before sinking an impossible fadeaway baseline jumper over the outstretched hands of three opponents. The ball is dropping through the net toward her outstretched right hand as her raven hair flies in the wind behind her. And there’s Gigi in high heels standing under a basketball hoop looking up at it. There’s Gigi standing proudly in a jean jacket next to her friend, with perhaps her first cell phone jutting out of her pocket. Gigi’s social media presence was sparse (she was only 13 after all), but she was a frequent subject on her famous father’s Instagram. Good luck the rest of the way 💪🏾 #mambamentality #wizenardĪ post shared by Kobe Bryant on at 9:22pm PST Thank you Gampel, Thank you Coach Geno and Cd for the warm welcome. Had a great trip to for senior night and the retirement of basketball legend with my baby Gigi. Gigi did visit UConn to watch her beloved Huskies play last March during their Senior Day. But Kobe said that Gigi’s heart was set on playing basketball at UConn. When Gigi was 12 years old, Reggie Miller tried to convince her dad to send her to UCLA, Miller’s alma mater. …This S*** can’t be real… this the first moment I was able to meet Gianna Maria, she’s been to only 3 games this year… 2 of them were mine… She told me I was her favorite player to watch🙏🏽 I can’t believe this😢😭 When Gigi and her dad flew to Atlanta to watch Young play, Young joked that he was just as excited to meet Gigi as she was to meet him because he had been watching her highlight reels.Ī few hours after Gigi’s death, Young tweeted: Gigi’s favorite players were Trae Young, Luka Doncic, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James.īy all accounts, she was developing into a fine basketball player in her own right. But it was Gigi’s love for the game that got him watching again. Kobe told the Showtime Basketball podcast “All the Smoke” that after he retired he had stopped watching basketball. “The best thing that happens is when we go out and she’ll be standing next to me and fans will come up to me like ‘Hey, you gotta have a boy, you and (Vanessa) gotta have a boy - somebody to carry on the legacy and the tradition’ and (Gigi) will be like ‘Oy, I got this. During an interview on Jimmy Kimmel’s television show recently, Kobe said of Gigi that she “for sure” wanted to play in the WNBA someday. She began playing competitive ball year-round, with her father helping to coach her team.

As Gigi grew into a young teenager, her love for basketball transcended watching her dad.

Gigi bryant