On May 1, Vanessa Bryant took to Instagram with a message no mother should ever have to write, a birthday tribute to her daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, who would’ve turned 19 today.
In a post featuring a photograph of her daughter in her basketball uniform, she wrote,
"Happy birthday, Gigi! Mommy loves and misses you more than I could ever express. I love you Gianna. ❤️19 ♉️ 5/1 #Mambacita
Gianna, also known as Gigi, earned the nickname "Mambacita," from her father, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who was known as "The Black Mamba." He even filed a trademark for her nickname on Dec. 30, 2019, less than a month before she and her father, were killed along with seven others in a helicopter crash in 2020, when Gigi was just 13-years-old.
Father and daughter were traveling to a youth basketball tournament for Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California, when the helicopter went down over Calabasas.
Since their deaths, more than 330 murals have been unveiled in their honor, across California.
Vanessa, who also shares daughters Natalia, 22, Bianka, 8 and Capri, 5, with her late husband, regularly honors Gigi and Kobe with Instagram posts, recognizing birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions.
Last year, for Father's Day, she posted a photo of all the girls with Kobe, captioning it, "Happy Father’s Day to the best daddy."