Kobe’s daughter “Gigi” was “hellbent” on playing for Gino Auriemma’s Lady Huskies of UConn

Kobe and Gigi practicing many years ago

Photo property of Washington Post

… and she may have helped keep their marriage intact

He was taking the time to be a teacher, not a superstar, and he was finding joy in the version of the game played by girls and women. Bryant might not have wanted to be an NBA coach, but he was happy to patiently bring the hardwood lessons he had learned to Gigi’s side.

Cindy Boren, "Kobe Bryant had left basketball behind. His daughter 

Gigi brought him back,” Washington Post, Jan. 27, 2020

Children can help bring out things in parents that some wish had remained buried.

That was the case with Kobe Bryant, the famous Los Angeles Lakers player who had retired from the NBA game after 20 years and had hoped to leave the game behind him.

Enter daughter Gigi, the child who perished in the helicopter crash on Sunday that killed her, her father, and seven others as they were flying to an AAU basketball tournament.

In 2018, Kobe spoke about his second daughter and the intensity of her dreams to excel in basketball — under the tutelage of her future NBA Hall of Fame father, and to allow him to forget about having a male child,

In a 2018 interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Bryant, the father of four daughters, spoke with special pride about Gigi. “This kid, man,” he said. “The best thing that happens is when we go out and fans come up to me, and she’ll be standing next to me and they’ll be like: ‘You’ve got to have a boy. You and [wife Vanessa] have got to have a boy, someone to carry on the tradition, the legacy.’ And she’s like, ‘Oh, I got this.’ ”

Cindy Boren, Washington Post, Jan. 27, 2020

In fact, she knew exactly where she wanted to play college basketball and even professionally. So, how did this develop?

Retirement took him to coaching

When he retired from the Lakers, the native Pennsylvanian told everyone that he had no desire to coach in the National Basketball Association. In fact, he did not even attend Lakers’ games — or anyone’s games. 

Gigi and Kobe at a basketball game

The love is evident

Photo property of LA Times

Then, of course, Gigi wanted to excel, and everyone told Kobe that she had to play against the best competition, which would entail participating on an AAU traveling team.

That was where they were going when the helicopter apparently either encountered mechanical failure that was exacerbated by heavy fog — or something else happened. According to the L.A. Times,

Bryant was scheduled to coach Sunday in a game against the Fresno Lady Heat at his Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks and was en route there when the helicopter crashed. The tournament, called the Mamba Cup, featured boys’ and girls’ travel teams from fourth through eighth grades. Bryant’s daughter Gianna, who attended Harbor Day School in Newport Beach, was scheduled to play.

Hannah Fry, et. al., “Kobe Bryant helicopter crash,” Jan. 27, 2020

Kobe had been coaching his daughter’s team for two years, and it had energized him to the point where he was encouraging his daughter to pursue those dreams. And, she made her dreams clear to such an extent that the former Lakers star had attended games of the UConn Lady Huskies, coached by his friend, the legendary Geno Auriemma.

“Hellbent” on playing for UConn

According to a Hartford Courant story in 2018, the paper, which covers UConn basketball, pointed out that Bryant had encouraged his daughter to chase that dream,

Bryant has been a supporter of UConn women’s basketball and friend of coach Geno Auriemma for a while, bringing his family to games when he gets the chance. The last game they attended was at the Final Four when Notre Dame defeated the Huskies on a last-second shot in overtime.

“My daughter loves Gabby Williams, absolutely loves Gabby, loves [all of them],” Bryant told The Courant in April, referring to Williams, who has since graduated. “She watches their interviews, watches how they play and learns — not just in wins, but in tough losses, how they conduct themselves. It’s great, as a parent, to be able to see my daughter pull inspiration from them.”

Gianna Bryant, 12, got to visit the UConn locker room last year when the team played UCLA, taking pictures with the team and Auriemma.

“Listen, everything that Geno is telling them is what I’d be saying, anyway,” Kobe Bryant said when asked about advice he has given to the UConn team. “We both have the same mind-set. So there’s nothing for me to really say [most times], other than to just be a dad and enjoy them adopting my daughter as if she’s their little sister.”

Kelli Stacy, “NBA Legend Kobe Bryant Says His Daughter Is 

'Hellbent' On Playing For UConn,” Oct. 26, 2018

Gigi, then not quite a teenager, had part of her dream realized in the 2017-18 season when her father took her to a UConn game,

Gianna Bryant, 12, got to visit the UConn locker room last year when the team played UCLA, taking pictures with the team and Auriemma.

“Listen, everything that Geno is telling them is what I’d be saying, anyway,” Kobe Bryant said when asked about advice he has given to the UConn team. “We both have the same mind-set. So there’s nothing for me to really say [most times], other than to just be a dad and enjoy them adopting my daughter as if she’s their little sister.”

Kelli Stacy, Hartford Courant, Oct. 26, 2018

Later, Auriemma told reporters that the joy for him was watching Kobe be a parent who desired to stay in the background, not the superstar pushing his kid to others,

“You know what's great?” Auriemma said in April. “He lets his daughters be the center of attention. He just stays in the background, like, ‘I’m not trying to be Kobe Bryant today.’ But for sure [players are in awe]. Everybody is. I mean, he’s Kobe Bryant. Think about it. Jordan, Kobe, LeBron. And in [UConn players’] lifetime, it’s just Kobe and LeBron. They don’t even remember Michael.”

Kelli Stacy, Hartford Courant, Oct. 26, 2018

Conclusion

The sad part of this story is that Gigi never saw her dreams of a basketball future come to fruition, but the positive side of it is that people were able to see what those in Kobe’s home area did:

He was, first and foremost, a dedicated father whose love for his family was apparent to anyone who came across him, friends say.

L.A. Times, Jan. 27, 2020

Kobe and Vanessa experienced a rocky part to their marriage a number of years ago. Not to delve into the personal aspect, but after they reconciled, they had two more children, both girls. Perhaps Kobe desired intensely to have close relationships with his children, and that was part of the change.

No one knows, except that to learn of that close relationship with Gigi has helped cement Kobe’s legacy as a quality human being.