In a 2018 interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the 41-year-old spoke about his basketball-loving daughter and her aspirations to play in the WNBA.
“This kid, man,” Bryant said. “The best thing that happens is when we go out and fans will come up to me and she’ll (Gianna) be standing next to me and they’ll be like ‘Aye, you gotta have a boy. You and V gotta have a boy, have somebody to carry on the tradition, the legacy.’ And she’s like, ‘I got this.’”
Kobe Bryant dead at 41: Sports world pays tribute to basketball legend
A post shared by Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) on Mar 2, 2019 at 9:22pm PST
The proud father filled his Instagram with Gianna’s basketball highlights.
Bryant would even play her one-on-one.
A post shared by Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) on Jun 24, 2018 at 6:12pm PDT
He could often be seen coaching Gianna, even while attending NBA games together.
A post shared by Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) on Sep 17, 2017 at 11:20pm PDT
Bryant’s relationship with Gianna went beyond the basketball court. He said she was the reason he made the film “Dear Basketball,” which won an Academy Award.
“My daughter gave me the best piece of advice. I was a little worried about turning this into a film. I’d never done something like that before,” Bryant said after winning the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 2018. “We were in the house and talking about it as a family and my little 11-year-old Gianna goes, ‘Well Dad, you always tell us to go after our dreams so … man up.’ She’s 11. Man up. So I had to man up and go for it.”
