Kobe Bryant’s daughter, Natalia, turned 19-years-old on Wednesday, and her birthday was commemorated with a post that was shared to the Instagram account of her mother, Vanessa.
The 39-year-old reality television personality also wrote a short message in her picture’s caption that partially read: ‘It’s your GOLDEN birthday!!! We love you SO much!!!!
‘The post comes just a few days before the second anniversary of death of the late basketball star Kobe and his daughter, Gianna. Several of the social media personality’s friends took to the comments section of the post to make their well wishes known.
Ciara shared a birthday message that read: ‘HBD Nani Boo! We love you so much!’ Viola Davis made a point of adding two heart emojis after the end of her statement, which read: ‘Happy happy birthday Ms Natalia!! The best is yet to come.’
La La Anthony expressed that she was excited to see Natalia mature, as she wrote: ‘My Nani is growing up!! Wow. Love her so much.
‘The father and daughter duo, as well as six other passengers and a pilot, passed away when their aircraft crashed into the side of a hill near Calabasas, California on January 26, 2020.
It was later determined by the National Transportation Safety Board that the cause of the incident was pilot error. Many figures from the sports and entertainment industries shared tributes to the late basketball player and his daughter immediately following the tragic crash.
The incident occurred on the same day as the 62nd annual Grammy Awards, and many artists dedicated their performances to Bryant during the event. Vanessa filed a wrongful death lawsuit against several parties, including helicopter company Island Express, the month after the crash.
It was later revealed that several deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had taken photos at the crash site and shared them on private devices.
The former model eventually filed a separate lawsuit against the Department over the sharing of the pictures. Vanessa previously spoke about working through her grief by focusing on her daughters during an interview with People that was published last year.
During the sit-down, she expressed that ‘I’m extremely proud of Natalia’, whom she described as ‘my right-hand woman.’
She went on to remark that she had taken on the role of a comforting figure with her daughters following the tragic losses of Kobe and Gianna.
‘Helping my girls navigate through this heartache is important to me. Making sure that they know that they are loved, supported and important is what motivates me,’ she said.
During the sit-down, she expressed that ‘I’m extremely proud of Natalia’, whom she described as ‘my right-hand woman.’
She went on to remark that she had taken on the role of a comforting figure with her daughters following the tragic losses of Kobe and Gianna.
‘Helping my girls navigate through this heartache is important to me. Making sure that they know that they are loved, supported and important is what motivates me,’ she said.
