Vanessa Bryant remembered her husband, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, and their daughter Gianna on the sixth anniversary of their deaths by sharing a tribute on Instagram.
On January 26, the mother of four posted a photo to her Instagram Stories showing Kobe standing behind Gianna as they celebrated the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2009 NBA championship victory. The image captured a tender moment from the title celebration, with Vanessa adding two red heart emojis at the bottom.
For the unversed, the day marked six years since Kobe, Gianna, and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, while traveling to a youth basketball game. Kobe was 41 at the time of his death. Gianna, known as Gigi, was 13.
The other victims included Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser, John Altobelli, his wife Keri Altobelli, and their daughter Alyssa Altobelli.
The tragedy stunned the sports world and sparked an outpouring of tributes worldwide, honoring Kobe Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and longtime Los Angeles Lakers star, as well as Gianna, who was emerging as a promising young basketball player with dreams of playing professionally.
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Vanessa Bryant and Kobe Bryant were married for 24 years. They shared four daughters: Natalia, Bianka, Capri, and Gianna. Since the tragedy, Vanessa has regularly marked anniversaries and milestones connected to Kobe and Gianna through social media posts and public acts of remembrance.
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In November 2025, Vanessa released Mamba & Mambacita Forever, a book documenting more than 100 murals and personal stories created in honor of Kobe and Gianna around the world.
The project was announced ahead of the fifth anniversary of their deaths and was designed to preserve public artworks that might otherwise be lost over time.
“As difficult as it was to work on this book due to the painful reminder it represents, I’m glad I did it,” Vanessa told PEOPLE in October.
She added, “The murals of Kobe and Gianna are all so beautiful, but the majority of them are outside and will unfortunately fade or get damaged by the elements like most murals do over time. I wanted to make sure we preserved them.”
“This book gives us an opportunity to look back on them forever,” she added, noting that it also allows friends, family, and fans to keep those tributes close, displayed in their homes or offices.
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Public memorials have also been created in Los Angeles. In August 2024, the Los Angeles Lakers and Vanessa Bryant unveiled a bronze statue titled Girl Dad outside Crypto.com Arena.
The tribute honors Kobe Bryant’s identity as a devoted father, a role he often highlighted and embraced in the years following his retirement from professional basketball.
