Vanessa Bryant lost daughter Gigi and basketball legend husband Kobe Bryant just one year ago.
And the mother-of-four shared some special snapshots of her late loved ones on Thursday, celebrating her daughter’s love for the University Of Connecticut women’s basketball team.
Vanessa, 38, chose a very touching photo to start off the set, sharing an image of a beaming Kobe and Gigi both wearing red, white and blue UConn shirts.
Memories: Vanessa Bryant shared a touching snap of late daughter Gigi and husband Kobe Bryant on Thursday, celebrating their love for University Of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team a little over a year after the pair’s passing
Another snap showed a pint-sized Gigi – full name Gianna – and the lifelong Laker with Coach Geno Auriemma and his team.
Vanessa thanked the 2021 UConn team for supporting girls sports in another Instagram that quoted a slogan Gigi invented.
‘When you think you can’t UCONN!”~ Gianna “Gigi” Bryant #Mambacita #2’ she wrote.
‘#playgigisway Thank you @uconnwbb Thank you for donating basketballs to local girls clubs in honor of my Gigi. @mambamambacitasports.’
Gigi was 13 when she died along with her father and seven others in a January 26, 2020 helicopter crash.
Team work! Another snap showed a pint-sized Gigi – full name Gianna – and the lifelong Laker with Coach Geno Auriemma and his team
MVPs: Vanessa thanked the 2021 UConn team for supporting girls sports in another Instagram, writing: ‘When you think you can’t UCONN!”~ Gianna “Gigi” Bryant #Mambacita #2 #playgigisway Thank you @uconnwbb Thank you for donating basketballs to local girls clubs in honor of my Gigi. @mambamambacitasports’
She had dreams of going to University Of Connecticut, which has one of the nation’s top women’s basketball programs.
Kobe’s wife and Gigi’s mother Vanessa also took to Instagram to pay tribute to her loved ones on Tuesday.
She revealed she had received a beautifully written letter from one of 13-year-old Gianna’s best friends, Aubrey, and wrote in the caption: ‘My Gigi is INCREDIBLE and I truly appreciate your thoughtful letter.
‘She loves you so much. I miss my baby girl and Kob-Kob so much, too. [heart emoji] I will never understand why/how this tragedy could’ve happened to such beautiful, kind and amazing human beings.
Strength: Vanessa also took to Instagram to pay tribute to her late loved ones earlier this week, sharing a poignant letter from her late daughter Gianna’s friend
Kob, we did it right: Vanessa captioned the letter post with these moving words
Love: Vanessa posted Aubrey’s letter with permission after she wrote that Gi had changed her life for the better
Missed: A mass of cards, flowers and other memorabilia was placed by fans outside of LA’s Staples Center in memory of the basketball legend
In memorian: One year on, fans gathered to pay their respects
‘It still doesn’t seem real. Kob, we did it right. Gigi, you still make mommy proud. I love you!’
Sharing the letter on the anniversary of her daughter and husband’s death, Vanessa wrote: ‘Today I received this sweet letter from one of Gianna’s best friends, Aubrey.
‘I love you Aubz (as my Gigi would call you). Thank you so much for beautifully sharing some of your memories of my Gigi with me and allowing me to share them here on my ig.’
Tragic: It comes after Vanessa bravely shared her struggle with grief ahead of the anniversary of losing Kobe and their other daughter Gianna, who both tragically died in a helicopter crash last year on January 26 in California (pictured together in 2016)
Kobe met Vanessa in 1999 when she 17 and was working as a background model on a music video. The couple got engaged six months later and married in 2001.
They welcomed daughters Natalia in 2003, Gianna in 2006, Bianka in 2016 and Capri in 2019.
Kobe and daughter Gianna, a youth basketball standout, had been on their way to the Mamba Academy for basketball practice when their helicopter crashed at around 10am. The seven other people on board were also tragically killed.
The pilot – named locally as Ara Zobayan – was trying to turn the aircraft when it smashed into hills of Las Virgenes Canyon, which is home to celebrities including the Kardashians.
Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Kerry, and their daughter Alyssa were also among dead.
So sad: Prior to his tragic death, Kobe had called Vanessa his ‘Queen’ and their daughters ‘princesses’ in a touching Instagram post to mark 20 years since they first met in November 2019