The Bryant family celebrated an exciting but poignant day over the weekend. They marked what is lovingly known as Mamba Day with the Mamba Day Tournament.
The kids’ basketball tournament seems to have been held yesterday, a day after April 13, which is the anniversary of the late Kobe Bryant’s final NBA game in 2016.
The legend went out with a major hurrah, scoring 60 points (six. zero.) — including the game-winning shot — against the Utah Jazz.
It’s an especially special event for the basketball community since Kobe’s tragic death in 2020, when he and his daughter Gianna, along with seven other people, died in a fatal helicopter crash.
Vanessa posted videos and photos from the special tournament, including one that we loved where she’s twinning with her young daughters, Bianka, 7 and Capri, 4.
The three sit courtside with WNBA player Sabrina Ionescu and are wearing comfy white sweatsuits. Ionescu, Bianka, and Vanessa all looked so joyful, while Capri was caught with an unimpressed look on her face. (It happens!)
“Lil’ Mambas ❤️❤️,” Vanessa captioned the post that has garnered 117 thousand likes in half a day.
Followers loved the sweet candid. “❤️❤️❤️,” Khloe Kardashian commented as a simple show of support for the girls on a bittersweet day.
Vanessa and Kobe’s oldest daughter, Natalia, was not seen in the photos. We’re unsure if the 21-year-old was at the event, but we know she and her mom attended an Oscars viewing party together. The duo looked stunning in their glittery jewel-toned gowns.
Last March, Natalia gave an emotional speech before her family unveiled Kobe’s handprints and footprints in front of the TCL Chinese Theater.
“Most people knew [Kobe] as a basketball player or a storyteller. I got to know and love him as my dad,” she said. “And let me tell you,” she continued, “he’s the MVP of girl dads to say the least.”
She went on to reveal some of the special memories they shared and the lessons he taught her that she hopes to “to continue to embody and cherish.”
So we know that even if she wasn’t able to attend the Mamba Day Tournament and match with her mom and sisters, we know he’s constantly in her heart.
