Kobe Bryant could also be generally known as one of many biggest professional basketball gamers of all time, however he was additionally thought of the “MVP of woman dads” by his beloved daughters — Natalia, Gianna, Bianka and Capri.
Kobe and his spouse, Vanessa Bryant, grew to become mother and father for the primary time when Natalia was born in January 2003, and their brood of ladies continued to develop from there. “Guys hold teasing me,” the Lakers star as soon as advised Further. “My buddies say, ‘It takes an actual man to make a boy.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, it takes a king to make a princess.’ ”
The baller doted on his “little princesses” and taught them the worth of laborious work. “It’s not the vacation spot, it’s the journey,” defined Kobe at his retirement ceremony in 2017. “And in case you guys can perceive that, then what you’ll see is you received’t accomplish your goals. Your goals received’t come true. One thing better will, and in case you guys can perceive that, then I’m doing my job as a father.”
The Bryant household modified without end when Kobe and his second daughter, Gianna, died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020, in Calabasas, California. Within the years since their tragic deaths, Vanessa has credited her daughters Natalia, Bianka and Capri as being her “mild within the darkness.” She advised ipromiseyoumedia in 2021, “My women assist me smile by means of the ache. They offer me energy.”
“Serving to my women navigate by means of this heartache is vital to me,” she added. “Ensuring that they know that they’re beloved, supported and vital is what motivates me.”
And the reminiscence of their father helps encourage the ladies, too. “Being his daughter is without doubt one of the biggest joys of my life, and I hope to proceed to embody and cherish the various classes he has taught me,” Natalia shared at Kobe’s 2023 handprint ceremony.
“Kobe did a superb job [raising his daughters],” buddy and teammate Byron Scott advised ipromiseyoumedia of Kobe’s legacy as a caring dad. “He beloved his women. I’ve by no means seen a father show the love that he displayed for his women as a lot as I noticed Kobe.”
Learn on for the whole lot to find out about Kobe and Vanessa Bryant’s daughters.
Natalia Diamante Bryant, 21
Kobe and Vanessa grew to become mother and father for the primary time after they welcomed daughter Natalia into the world on Jan. 19, 2003. Ever since she was a child, Natalia was a fixture at her father’s video games, both sitting together with her mother on the sidelines or babbling on Kobe’s lap throughout post-game interviews.
Natalia adopted her mother’s footsteps into the style business and introduced her partnership with IMG fashions in 2021 when she turned 18. “Ever since I can keep in mind, I needed to mannequin” Natalia stated in an announcement shared on IMG’s Instagram account on the time. “There’s a lot to study, however I really feel this can be a nice alternative for me to study and specific myself creatively.”
Her mother shared a touching message following the announcement. “Daddy could be so comfortable that you just’re pursuing your modeling profession now that you just’re 18,” Vanessa captioned a photograph. “You are lovely in and out. We love you.”
Natalia made her runway debut in September 2023 on the Versace present throughout Milan Trend Week, and she or he advised Vogue the expertise was “so particular.” Earlier that 12 months, she labored for an additional superstar: Beyoncé! The pushed star was revealed to be an intern for the Renaissance World Tour.
When she’s not working, Natalia is a daily school pupil on the College of Southern California, the place she enrolled in 2021. Whereas drop-off day was “tough” for mother Vanessa, she couldn’t have been extra pleased with her daughter. “Your laborious work and dedication was so price it. You pushed by means of essentially the most excruciating ache conceivable and also you succeeded,” Vanessa captioned an Instagram publish in March 2021.
Although it’s been laborious, Natalia has stated speaking about her father and his well-known “Mamba Mentality” brings her pleasure. “I really like speaking about my dad,” she advised Teen Vogue in 2021. “It is bittersweet, however I take pleasure in speaking about him greater than it is unhappy for me.”
And when issues get powerful, she will at all times depend on her assist system at dwelling. “I spend time with the individuals I really like, like my household,” she advised Elle in October 2023. “I hang around with my buddies, or hearken to my favourite music. I do issues that convey me peace and that put me in a a lot better headspace. I feel it’s vital to give attention to the optimistic points life has to supply.”
Most just lately, Natalia appeared on the February 2024 cowl of City & Nation, the place she opened up about her life as a movie pupil and her budding modeling profession. “I feel it’s enjoyable to have my foot in each worlds,” she advised the outlet. “They’re each collaborative, and also you meet so many various individuals.”
She additionally shared that she is concentrated on being “the perfect model of me that I presumably can” and “understanding that there’s no expectation that I ought to have for every stage of life.” Natalia defined, “I simply have to know that I’ve to continue learning, as a result of there’s no end line. You simply need to hold pushing and being the perfect individual you may be and soaking the whole lot up like a sponge… The job’s by no means completed.”
Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant
Kobe and Vanessa’s second daughter, Gianna, was born on Might 1, 2006, three years after her huge sister. From a younger age, Gianna — who was lovingly generally known as Gigi — needed to comply with her dad’s footsteps into basketball. Kobe even coached his daughter’s workforce at his Mamba Sports activities Academy and supported her goals of becoming a member of the WNBA.
“[Gianna]’s fairly fierce. She loves enjoying, she loves capturing,” he advised Further in July 2017. “She got here to me final summer time and requested if I’d educate her the sport just a little bit, so she actually simply began enjoying, however she picked up issues innately.”
Even after he retired, he beloved sharing the game along with his mini-me, and the duo even watched his first post-retirement Lakers sport collectively. “We simply had a lot enjoyable as a result of it was the primary time I used to be seeing the sport by means of her eyes,” he recalled on the Showtime Basketball podcast All of the Smoke in 2020. “It wasn’t me sitting there, you understand, as an athlete or a participant or one thing like that, and you understand it is like about me, and I do not like that. It was her, she was having such a superb time.”
The duo shared greater than only a love for basketball — additionally they had comparable personalities. Even when Gigi was 3, Kobe noticed himself in her huge character whereas enjoying Sweet Land collectively. “I simply play the sport, I win — and the child goes ape s—,” he advised The New Yorker in 2014. “She knocked the board over. ‘Baaaaaaa!’ I used to be, like, ‘S—, the child’s like me. Rattling it.’ ”
Gianna was simply 13 when she died within the helicopter crash alongside her father. The duo was on their strategy to the Mamba Sports activities Academy in Thousand Oaks when the pilot misplaced management amid thick fog. Seven different individuals died within the crash.
Kobe and Gianna had been laid to relaxation collectively on Feb. 7, 2020, at Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona Del Mar, California. A touching public memorial service was held on Feb. 24, 2020, at Staples Middle that was attended by well-known buddies like Beyoncé, Michael Jordan, Christina Aguilera, Shaquille O’Neal and extra.
Vanessa has honored her daughter in some ways since her loss of life, together with attending a jersey retirement ceremony at her daughter’s faculty, relaunching Kobe’s basis because the Mamba & Mambacita Sports activities Basis, and dedicating a basketball court docket in California’s Wilson Park to her daughter and husband.
She’s additionally saved Gigi’s reminiscence alive by celebrating milestones like her eighth grade commencement and birthdays on Instagram.
Forward of what would have been Gigi’s 18th birthday, Vanessa shared images on Instagram of a particular version Nike Kobe 8 shoe that was designed in her late daughter’s honor. The “Mambacita” design featured a black, white, and gold butterfly theme.
In August 2024, a bronze statue of Kobe and Gianna was unveiled outdoors the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles. The sculpture depicts the father-daughter duo hugging and is titled “Lady Dad.”
Bianka Bella Bryant, 7
Vanessa and Kobe welcomed their third baby — daughter Bianka Bella — on Dec. 5, 2016. The pair waited 16 days to share the primary picture of their bundle of pleasure, who appeared swaddled in a tender pink blanket.
“@vanessabryant and I are past excited to welcome our latest child woman, Bianka!!” Kobe wrote within the caption of the publish, the place he additionally shared that she was born weighing 7 lbs., 5 oz. and measured 20 inches.
Bianka was solely 4 years previous when her father died, however his good buddy and former teammate Pau Gasol stepped as much as educate her the sport her dad beloved a lot. In 2021, Vanessa shared Instagram images and movies of her two youngest daughters enjoying basketball with the retired baller. “Uncle @paugasol” she captioned the publish.
In August 2023, Bianka joined her mother and sister Natalia at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and acquired a particular shock: a hug from the tremendous star! “We love you @taylorswift ❤️,” Vanessa captioned a photograph of the touching second.
Vanessa usually sings Bianka’s praises on social media, too. On Bianka’s seventh birthday in 2023, Vanessa celebrated the event on Instagram, saying her daughter brings “a lot mild and pleasure into our lives.”
Capri Kobe Bryant, 5
Kobe introduced he and Vanessa had been anticipating one other child on New Yr’s Day 2019 with a publish that learn, “New 12 months, new child Mamba on the best way.”
“Vanessa and I are past excited to announce that we predict one other #mambacita to go together with Natalia, Gianna and Bianka,” he wrote, including the hashtags #blessed #bryantbunch #daddysprincesses and #love.
Their youngest was born six months in a while June 20, 2019, and shared a reputation together with her father: Capri Kobe. “We’re past excited that our child woman ‘Koko’ has arrived!! #bryantbunch #4princesses #blessed,” Bryant captioned a picture that exposed his new child’s identify and delivery date. He shared the primary picture of Capri two weeks later, swaddled in pink like her older sister.
“She has been our greatest child,” he joked to Further about Koko in September 2019. “She sleeps like six hours. She’s an absolute sweetheart.”
The older women embraced their new little sister. “[They] assist round the home tremendously,” he added. “Bianka completely loves her — the one problem we have now is she desires to kiss her an excessive amount of.”
Whereas Kobe died earlier than his daughter’s first birthday, Vanessa posted a candy tribute to her husband on the milestone, sharing a photograph of him cradling their daughter. “Pleased 1st Birthday Capri! Mommy, Daddy, Nani, Gigi and BB love you SO a lot!!!” she wrote. “God Bless you candy princess. ❤️ Capri Kobe Bryant a.okay.a. ‘Koko-Bean’ named after her dearly missed daddy, Kobe Bean Bryant ❤️.”
Capri reminds her mother a number of Kobe. In a single candy picture, Vanessa even referred to as youngest “daddy and Gigi’s twin.”
“It is the KOBE stare for me ~ Capri Kobe,” she laughed.
Now 5 years previous, Capri has continued to make recollections together with her mother and sisters. She celebrated her 4th birthday at Disney World and visited the Central Park Zoo with Vanessa and Bianka a number of months later. She even joined the Bryant women at Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour cease in Los Angeles in September 202.
