Vanessa Bryant paid tribute to her late husband, Kobe Bryant, on a very special day for the basketball legend.
Kobe played his final NBA game against the Utah Jazz on April 13, 2016, and ever since then, April 13 has been designated as “Mamba Day” for his fans, referencing his iconic nickname. Yesterday, Kobe’s widow took to her respective Instagram account to share a heartbreaking message acknowledging her late husband’s 20-year NBA career as a Los Angeles Laker and shared a video of highlights from his last game ever.
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Vanessa talked about how her husband was beginning to enjoy his retirement with her and their four daughters before he passed away tragically due to a helicopter crash on January 26 alongside their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other victims.
“My husband worked his a** off for 20 years. Gave it his all,” Vanessa wrote. “All he wanted was to spend time with our girls and me to make up for lost time. He wanted to be there for every single milestone and special moment in our girls lives. He only got to enjoy 3 years and 9 months of retirement.”
“We had 2 more daughters, he won an Oscar, he opened Granity studios, he became a 5x best selling author and coached Gianna’s basketball team in that time,” she continued. “She worked hard and gave her all 7 days a week just like her daddy. I wish I could back to that morning, every day. I wish they had a normal local game on 1/26. Life truly isn’t fair. This is just senseless.”
Despite the loss, Vanessa has been determined to remain strong for her three daughters – 17-year-old Natalia, 3-year-old Bianka, and 9-month-old Capri. On Sunday, April 12, Vanessa shared a series of photos of her family celebrating Easter together.