La La Anthony Reveals Why She Talk to Vanessa Bryant ‘Every Day: And Why She Will Always Do

La La Anthony is grateful for her close circle of friends amid a year of crazy and ups and downs — but there is one special person she talks to “every day.” The actress and TV personality tells PEOPLE in a new interview that she has daily check-ins with her longtime friend, Vanessa Bryant, and details how she is keeping in touch with other close confidants during the pandemic.

 

 

“I talk to [Vanessa] every day,” Anthony, 39, says of Bryant — whose daughter, Gianna, died in the Calabasas helicopter crash in January alongside dad Kobe Bryant. “I talk to her every single day. And I just always say, ‘Continue to send her great energy and pray for her.’ That’s important and just trying to be a great friend. But when you’re friends with somebody, you don’t have to try, you just do.”

 

 

 

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Anthony, who shares 13-year-old son Kiyan with Carmelo Anthony, has said she’s known as “Auntie La La” to Bryant’s daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka Bella, 3½, and 16-month-old Capri Kobe, and called her closest friends — including stars like Ciara — her “family.”

 

 

“Good friends are hard to find. So when you find them, you hang on to them no matter what. So it’s great that during this time we’ve been able to stay connected and I only have one child, but our kids have been able to stay connected,” says Anthony, who recently partnered with SIMPLE Moblie — which is helping all of those separated amid the holiday season stay connected with their $50 unlimited plan.

 

 

“During this time, you really realize what’s important. Then you start weeding out the things that you’ve spent so much time stressing over that you’re like, ‘This doesn’t even matter right now.’ So it’s been great to have just cool girlfriends to talk to and laugh with. Some days you might want to cry because of the state of the world. It’s been great to have people in my life that I know I can call and rely on no matter what,” she says.