See Vanessa Bryant's Response to the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant Tribute

From Harper's BAZAAR

Last Sunday, Lakers' star Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other people died in a helicopter crash in Southern California. Bryant's wife, Vanessa, with whom he shared three other daughters, Bianka (3), Natalia (17), and Capri (seven months), spoke out earlier this week about how the family is doing following their loss.

On Friday, at the first Los Angeles Lakers game since Kobe and Gianna died, the players paid tribute by draping every seat with a No. 24 or No. 8 jersey, Bryant and Gianna's numbers, respectively. Fans cheered "MVP," and Usher sang "Amazing Grace" as he stood in front of two floral displays featuring the jerseys.

Ahead of the game, Vanessa shared a photo of the tribute and wrote, "There is no #24without #2 ❤️#GirlDaddy#DaddysGirl #MyBabies ❤️❤️ #OurAngels #KobeandGigi"

The other victims of the crash were Gianna’s basketball teammate Alyssa Altobelli and her parents Keri and John Altobelli; basketball assistant coach Christina Mauser; Gianna's basketball teammate Payton Chester and her mother Sarah Chester; and the helicopter's pilot, Ara Zobayan. On January 20, Vanessa shared her message of grief and sadness following the accident.

View this post on Instagram

My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time. Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them. We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri. We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now. I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon. I’m not sure what our lives hold beyond today, and it’s impossible to imagine life without them. But we wake up each day, trying to keep pushing because Kobe, and our baby girl, Gigi, are shining on us to light the way. Our love for them is endless — and that’s to say, immeasurable. I just wish I could hug them, kiss them and bless them. Have them here with us, forever. Thank you for sharing your joy, your grief and your support with us. We ask that you grant us the respect and privacy we will need to navigate this new reality. To honor our Team Mamba family, the Mamba Sports Foundation has set up the MambaOnThree Fund to help support the other families affected by this tragedy. To donate, please go to MambaOnThree.org. To further Kobe and Gianna’s legacy in youth sports, please visit MambaSportsFoundation.org. Thank you so much for lifting us up in your prayers, and for loving Kobe, Gigi, Natalia, Bianka, Capri and me. #Mamba #Mambacita #GirlsDad #DaddysGirls #Family ❤️

A post shared by Vanessa Bryant 🦋 (@vanessabryant) on Jan 29, 2020 at 4:59pm PST

Vanessa wrote:

"My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time," she wrote. "Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them. We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe—the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna—a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri. We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now. I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon."

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