Remembering Kobe Bryant’s Journey: E! News Rewind
Kobe Bryant’s legendary Lakers career was behind him, the stats safely secured for his eventual inclusion in the NBA Hall of Fame, his two numbers retired, his five championship rings under lock and key. All that was squared away.
But he was still coming into his own as a family man when he was killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020.
Compounding the tragedy, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant was with him, as were two of her youth basketball league teammates, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, Alyssa’s parents John and Keri Altobelli, and Payton’s mom, Sarah Chester. All died, along with assistant coach Christina Mauser and pilot Ara Zobayan, and the world—for the most part just going about its business at the time—stopped to mourn.
For years, Kobe had traveled via helicopter the way most people hop into their cars and drive, the superstar athlete turned entrepreneur, author, producer and girls basketball coach not wanting to waste precious time stuck in L.A. traffic. They had been on their way to a tournament at the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, about 82 miles away from the Bryant home in Newport Beach. Gigi’s love of the game and promising talent had served as a bridge back to basketball for Kobe, who retired in 2016.
Within hours after the unbelievable news washed over the Southland, the courtyard outside what was then Staples Center (“the house Kobe Bryant built,” as Alicia Keys put it while hosting the 2020 Grammys hours after the crash) filled with fans wearing their No. 24 and No. 8 jerseys.
Flowers, candles and other mementos carpeted the ground. For days, buildings were awash in purple and gold lights, murals started to appear all over the city, and bus signs lit up with “R.I.P. Kobe” in between destinations.
As Kobe’s life was being examined from every angle, there was an ESPN segment that particularly stood out amid all the rest, one that paid tribute to an aspect of Kobe’s life that both highlighted his best qualities and which countless people could actually relate to.
As she recalled meeting Kobe backstage at an event when she was eight months pregnant in 2018, SportsCenter anchor Elle Duncan spoke of how he immediately asked her how far along she was and what was she having. When Duncan told him she was having a girl, he gave her a high five and gushed, “Girls are the best!” She asked if he had any advice, and Kobe told her, “Just be grateful that you’ve been given that gift because girls are amazing.”
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Asked if he wanted more children, the father of then only three—Natalia, now 21, Gigi and Bianka, now 7—said that wife Vanessa Bryant was up for trying again. As for what he would do if he became a dad to four girls, Kobe told Duncan, “I would have five more girls if I could.” Read More