Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant (May 1, 2006 – January 26, 2020), also known as Gigi Bryant and Mambacita, was an American student-athlete and the daughter of former professional basketball player

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

. Along with her father and seven others, she died in a helicopter crash in 2020 at age 13.

Life

President Barack Obama Buys Girl Scout Cookies from Natalia Bryant in the Oval Office - DPLA - 2df46c3416874089087c65643777df8b

Gianna "Gigi" Bryant was born on May 1, 2006, the daughter of

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

Hall-of-Famer athlete Kobe Bryant and businesswoman, philanthropist and model

Vanessa Bryant Vanessa Marie Bryant (born Vanessa Urbieta Cornejo; May 5, 1982) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the widow of American professional basketball player Kobe Bryant. With her husband, she founded the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant ...

. She had an older sister, Natalia, and two younger sisters, Bianka and Capri. Bryant often accompanied her father, sitting with him at the 2008 NBA Finals press conference and playing on the court during warm-ups at the 2016 All-Star Game. In 2020, a video went viral of the pair talking intensely in the stands while watching a basketball game. The ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...

'' reported, by 2018, when she was only 11, that college basketball coaches were asking her father to encourage her to attend their colleges and join their teams. She attended Harbor Day School in

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

, where she played on the school basketball team and was a member of the student council. She also played basketball for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' noted, in June 2018, that, having just turned 12, she was already taller than her mother, and speculated that, by the time she was grown, she might be close to the height of her father. They stated, "That size with Bryant's skill is an absolutely terrifying combination for a young dynamo who clearly has the ability to dominate the flow of a game on the court." On December 30, 2019, Bryant's father Kobe made a trademark application for "''Mambacita''", her sports nickname (derived from his, "The Black Mamba") on her behalf.

Death

Bryant, her father and seven other people died on January 26, 2020, in a helicopter crash at

Calabasas, California Calabasas (, ; Spanish language in California, Spanish for "winter squash, squashes") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States.John Altobelli) and Payton Chester. A postmortem revealed that the cause of death for all nine people was

blunt trauma A blunt trauma, also known as a blunt force trauma or non-penetrating trauma, is a physical trauma due to a forceful impact without penetration of the body's surface. Blunt trauma stands in contrast with penetrating trauma, which occurs when a ...

and the manner of death was an accident.

Tributes and funeral services

On February 7, Bryant and her father were buried in a private funeral in Pacific View Memorial Park in the

Corona del Mar Corona del Mar (Spanish for "Crown of the Sea") is a seaside neighborhood in the city of Newport Beach, California. It generally consists of all the land on the seaward face of the San Joaquin Hills south of Avocado Avenue to the city limits, a ...

neighborhood of Newport Beach, California. A public memorial service was held on February 24 (2/24, marking both Kobe's and Gianna's jersey numbers) at

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...

with

Jimmy Kimmel James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967), known professionally as Jimmy Kimmel, is an American television host, comedian, writer, voice actor, and producer. He has been the host and executive producer of '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-n ...

hosting. Speakers at the service included Vanessa, Jordan, and

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

, along with

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

guard

Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for 20 seasons, spending her entire career with the Phoenix Mercury. Taurasi is widely ...

and

Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. He holds the NCAA basketball records for wins and winning percentage with a mi ...

, Taurasi's coach at

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, where Bryant had been aspiring to play.

Legacy

Basketball

In the 2020 WNBA draft, Bryant, Altobelli, and Chester were made honorary draft picks. WNBA commissioner

Cathy Engelbert Catherine M. Engelbert (born November 14, 1964) is an American administrator, accountant, and businesswoman who has been the commissioner of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) since 2019. Before joining the WNBA, she had been with ...

said, "These athletes represented the future of the WNBA. Players who were following their passions, acquiring knowledge of the game, exhibiting skills that were way beyond their years. They represented the next generation of stars in our league, maybe what might have been called the 'Mambacita Generation'." The

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

said, "Gianna Bryant was going to carry on a basketball legacy". Russ Davis, the women's basketball coach at Vanguard University in Southern California. "It's hard to predict her future, but with the way she was improving and the way she understood the game, she was going to have a bright one." Bryant's school, Harbor Day School, retired her jersey, #2. Bryant was expected to play for the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

UConn Huskies women's basketball The UConn Huskies women's basketball team is the college basketball program representing the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut, in the NCAA Division I women's basketball competition. They currently play in the Big East Conference. ...

; the team saved a seat for her at the game following her death, where they placed flowers and a UConn jersey bearing her No. 2 on the bench. UConn also posted to twitter, "Mambacita is forever a Husky." In 2022, the WNBA introduced an award named the Kobe & Gigi Advocacy Award: it is given out yearly to "honor someone in the basketball space for their continued advocacy for girls and women's basketball around the country." On what would have been her 18th birthday in 2024, the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation hosted a basketball camp called "Play Gigi's Way".

Brand name

In May 2022, on what would have been Bryant's 16th birthday, Nike released the "Mambacita Sweet 16" shoe. It was black and white, meant to "symbolize Gigi Bryant's impact on basketball and her goal to build a better, more inclusive future for the game," Nike said. In May 2024,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

released a new colorway of the Nike Kobe 8 "Mambacita" sneaker in honor of what would have been Gianna's 18th birthday. Profits will benefit the Mambacita Sports Foundation, dedicated to supporting underserved child athletes. Nike added butterflies meant to show the "transformational impact she had on highlighting women's sports".

Artworks

Numerous murals were painted around

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, honoring Kobe and "Gigi" Bryant. On the second anniversary of their death, January 26, 2022, a bronze statue of Gianna and her father was placed for one day at the site of the crash. The sculptor, Dan Medina, said that he was working on a life-size version of the work and hoped to site it in downtown Los Angeles. In February 2024, when a Statue of Kobe Bryant was installed at his team's basketball court, Gianna's mother Vanessa Bryant said that two more statues were planned for that site including "one with our beautiful daughter Gianna". A statue depicting her and her father embracing was unveiled on August 2, 2024, near Crypto.com Arena. The pose was inspired by various moments from 2019 of the two sitting courtside at numerous

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

games and one

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), ...

game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Gianna 2006 births 2020 deaths American sportspeople of Mexican descent American women's basketball players Accidental deaths in California Basketball players from Orange County, California Burials at Pacific View Memorial Park Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents in the United States Deaths from fire in the United States Bryant family African-American children 21st-century American sportswomen Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2020