Vanessa Bryant, wife of the late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, shared a tribute on Instagram on his birthday Friday—the day before “Mamba Day.”
Former L.A. shooting guard Kobe Bryant, an 18-time All-Star and five-time champion who played all of his 20 pro seasons with the Lakers, adopted the “Mamba” nickname back in the early 2000s as a way to separate his professional and personal life.
In January 2020, he and his daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, tragically died in a helicopter accident in Calabasas, California. All nine people onboard perished in the crash that day.
Four years earlier, in 2016, then-Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti declared August 24— the day after Kobe Bryant’s birthday—as Kobe Bryant “Mamba” Day. The date also honors his iconic jersey numbers, 8 and 24, which align with the 8/24 date. Following his death, the Orange County Board of Supervisors officially declared August 24 as “Kobe Bryant Day.”
On August 23, what would have been Kobe Bryant’s 46th birthday, Vanessa Bryant posted a photo of her and him on Instagram with the caption, “Happy birthday @kobebryant. I love you for now, forever & for always. ❤️” The photo was accompanied by the song “No Ordinary Love” by Sade.
Several celebrities and athletes commented heart emojis in support, such as Kris Jenner, Ciara, and LaLa, among others.
Vanessa Bryant also posted several Instagram reels to her story, many of them featuring murals of Kobe and Gigi throughout Los Angeles. A few days ago, she posted a flyer of the second annual Mamba League Invitational basketball tournament, drawing high school players from around the country. Nike’s two-day tournament was “inspired by The Mamba Mentality, while celebrating Kobe’s enduring legacy.”
(Ringo Chiu via AP
On Saturday, Santa Monica Pier’s iconic 90-foot Ferris wheel will light up in honor of Mamba Day, according to the local ABC7 station. It will spell out “LA + ❤ + 24” and “LA + ❤ + 8,” highlighting the player’s numbers. The lights will flicker between various patterns and displays of gold and purple colors, the city’s basketball team’s colors.
Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, the family’s charity lead by Vanessa, which works to provide funding for sports programming for underserved athletes, announced the nonprofit’s L.A. Royal collection in “celebration of Kobe’s upcoming 46th birthday & Mamba Day” last week.
Newsweek reached out to Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation for comment via email on Saturday.
On August 2, the Lakers and the Bryant family unveiled a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena depicting both Kobe and Gianna the way they looked at the last Lakers game they both attended courtside, a December 29, 2019, win over the Dallas Mavericks.