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Widow to former NBA superstar Kobe, Vanessa Bryant is celebrating what would have been her late daughter's 17th birthday3 years after her untimely death.
Taking to her official Instagram page the business mogul, philanthropist, and model penned a sweet yet emotional message to her late daughter Gianna 'Gigi' Bryant who lost her life in a plane crash on the 26th of January 2020 alongside her father, celebrated basketball giant Kobe Bryant.
Vanessa shared a cute photo of Gigi smiling broadly as she happily rode a horse at a carousel at Disneyland.
Captioning the photo she wrote, "Happy 17th birthday, baby girl," before adding "I love you and miss you so much, sweet Angel. #Gigi Bryant #Mambacita #Wings #2" And accompanying the post with a red love emoji.
Vanessa Bryant went on to share several other photos of Gigi showing off her infectious smile. In one it was Vanessa with her 3 girls all looking like a poster card of a gorgeous family.
She captioned the photo, "Te Amo Mambacita ❤️, Happy birthday baby girl. We love you to the moon and back infinity +1. Forever & Always. ❤️."
Gigi's birthday marks the release of the Kobe IV Protro "Mambacita" a special colourway of the NBA superstar's signature shoe that will benefit the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation.
Announcing the launch Vanessa shared a photo of the boxed shoes along with Gigi's jersey and captioned the post, "celebrating my Gigi, Mambacita. #Play Gigi's way #Birthday Princess 5/1/06 proceeds benefit #Mambacita Sports."
Speaking about the new Nike IV Protro Vanessa shared a video highlighting the inspiration behind the shoes design and how it embodied her late daughter.
"It was important to celebrate Gigi's legacy behind these shoes. Every detail is intentional, Gigi's jersey number in gold nods to her legacy beautifully.
The black and white colours reflect her Mamba uniform colours. The gingham print at the back of the shoe symbolizes the gingham flannels Gigi loved to wear around the waist. We included Gigi's name on the heel and shoe lace tips and the red swoosh on the outer sole is for the red ribbon Gigi wore in her hair for school pictures." Vanessa sweetly narrated.
"When you lace on the Kobe IV Protro 'Mambacita' the gold mambacita heart on the sock liner is a reminder to play with joy, curiosity and competitiveness while never taking any opportunity for granted just like Gigi." Vanessa captioned the video of the new shoe they'd launched.
Kobe and Gigi were among the nine passengers who died in the tragic 2020 helicopter crash in Calabas California.
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