Tag: Kobe Bryant

  • It’s impossible to imagine life without them: Kobe Bryant’s widow Vanessa opens up

    It’s impossible to imagine life without them: Kobe Bryant’s widow Vanessa opens up

    Vanessa Bryant made her first public comment on Wednesday since the helicopter crash that killed her husband Kobe Bryant, one of their daughters and seven others, taking to Instagram to thank people for the global outpouring of support since the tragedy.

    She also announced the formation of a fund to help support the other families that were affected by the crash.

    “Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them,” Vanessa Bryant wrote. “We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri. We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately.”

    The Bryants would have celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary this April. They had four daughters including Gianna, the 13-year-old who died in the crash.

    “There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now,” Vanessa Bryant wrote. “I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B77K8XWDY7O/

    It was the first statement from the Bryant family since the crash. The Los Angeles Lakers — the team that Bryant spent 20 years with, winning five championships — held a media availability Wednesday as well, the team’s first since learning of Bryant’s death.

    The Lakers were to play against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, a game the NBA postponed out of respect to Bryant, the other victims and the grieving process. The Lakers will next play on Friday, at home against Portland.

    “I’m not sure what our lives hold beyond today, and it’s impossible to imagine life without them,” Vanessa Bryant wrote. “But we wake up each day, trying to keep pushing because Kobe, and our baby girl, Gigi, are shining on us to light the way. Our love for them is endless — and that’s to say, immeasurable. I just wish I could hug them, kiss them and bless them. Have them here with us, forever.”

    There has been no announcement on funeral or memorial plans yet for Kobe and Gianna Bryant. Vanessa Bryant asked for a continued respect of her family’s privacy as they begin to “navigate this new reality.”

  • Basketball legend Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash; Mehwish, Mahira express shock

    Basketball legend Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash; Mehwish, Mahira express shock

    NBA legend Kobe Bryant died Sunday when a helicopter he was riding in crashed and burst into flames in thick fog, killing all nine people on board including his teenage daughter.

    According to reports, Bryant, 41, was travelling with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers and crew when their Sikorsky S-76 helicopter slammed into a rugged hillside in Calabasas, west of Los Angeles. They had been expected at the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks for a basketball game.

    Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players in history, an iconic figure who became one of the faces of his sport during a glittering two-decade career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

    Dozens of firefighters and paramedics battled across steep terrain to reach the flaming wreckage at the crash site but found no survivors, officials said.

    The National Transportation Safety Board said an 18-strong team of investigators would be sent to California to probe the causes of the crash.

    Bryant’s death sent shockwaves throughout the world and left fans stunned. Tributes to Bryant flooded in from former US presidents, pop stars and athletes from different sports. Local celebrities including Mehwish Hayat, Mahira Khan and Hamza Ali Abbasi mourned Bryant’s death.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B7y9EDTBxPA/

    His complete devotion to his daughter also made headlines. He is quoted as saying “The best thing that happens is when we go out and fans would come up to me and she’ll (Gianna) be standing next to me and they’ll be like, ‘You’ve gotta have a boy … You gotta have somebody to carry on your tradition, the legacy.’ “She’s like, ‘Oy, I got this. Don’t need no boy for that.’ I’m like, that’s right. Yes, you do, you got this.”

    Son of former NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, the Lakers legend was born in Philadelphia in 1978. The five-time NBA champion began his career in 1996 straight out of high school and lasted until his retirement in 2016. He also was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, helping spark the US squad of NBA stars to titles in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.

    Bryant bowed out of the NBA in 2016, scoring 60 points in his final appearance before his adoring fans at the Staples Center. It was a fairytale farewell to a sporting career that had begun two decades earlier.