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In the arena, as performers prepared, a video of Gianna’s basketball highlights – and some of Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester who also died in the crash – played accompanied by hip-hop tracks. They were also given a 30-page booklet that felt much like a family photo album, with some well-known images of Bryant as a Laker spliced alongside shots of the Bryants during holidays or together at Disneyland. The intimate tone was set from the beginning: As fans who were lucky enough to get tickets through the online selection process streamed in the door, they were given Bryant-themed shirts and pins. Words caught in his throat from the beginning: “I don’t think any of us could have imagined this – everywhere you go, you see his face, his number, Gigi’s face, Gigi’s number, everywhere, at every intersection.” Others, like Phil Jackson and father Joe Bryant, were shown on screen with their eyes shut in solemn meditation.Įven the day’s host, Jimmy Kimmel, found it difficult to keep from stammering as he made his opening comments and read the name of the crash victims. Many of the NBA stars who attended – James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis – wore dark glasses even in the low-lit arena, hiding reddened and tear-stained eyes. The stature Bryant achieved in life was represented in part by the attendees who gathered on the floor of Staples Center, where he built his career on the hardwood, and how many of those figures showed their grief as the ceremony proceeded. “And as I look in this arena and across the globe, a piece of you died. “When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died,” Jordan said. The grief poured out like the 33,643 roses enveloping the main stage – one for every point he scored in his NBA career. There were also speeches from WNBA star Diana Taurasi, Oregon phenom Sabrina Ionescu and UConn coach Geno Auriemma, representing some of the brightest luminaries in women’s basketball where Gianna hoped to make her mark.Īn event attended by both basketball stars and high-wattage entertainment figures also featured musical numbers by Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera, representing the scope of Bryant’s impact and the depth of his loss. The event featured moving addresses from some of Bryant’s most accomplished peers, like Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal. “He had to bring them home to have them together.” “God knew they couldn’t be on this earth without each other,” she said. She lingered, painfully, on the moments that she will never get to see with either of them – driving lessons, college and weddings among them – but took whatever small measure of comfort she could that they were together at the end.
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Her voice cracked as she talked about Gianna’s smile, which took up her whole face, and her laughter: “It was infectious, it was pure and genuine.” She recited all the pet names she and Kobe called each other, and how she and the girls playfully chastised him after the first time he was late picking them up from school in his retirement. It was a starkly personal portrait: She told stories of how Gianna would kiss her every day, even when she was asleep after long nights with newborns. She called Kobe a doting husband who had plans to travel the world with her and become “fun grandparents.” She described her daughter as “pure joy,” a bright pupil who knew multiple languages and loved to bake, and a goofy, caring sister to her three surviving siblings, Natalia, Bianka and Capri. There were no words more powerful than those of Vanessa Bryant, the grieving wife and mother who spoke for the first time since Kobe (age 41), Gianna (age 13) and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas a month ago. It was the most intimate look the many millions of mourners across the world have ever gotten at the Lakers legend and his family, whose larger-than-life public image was brought down to earth with revealing stories by those who knew him best. These were the sides of Kobe Bryant, and by extension, his daughter Gianna Bryant, that were revealed even to some of his most ardent fans on Monday as both were memorialized in a “Celebration of Life” ceremony at Staples Center.
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The “soulmate” who made extravagant gestures for his wife, including buying the movie prop notebook and Rachel McAdams’ dress from the romantic film, “The Notebook.” And the “girl dad” who consulted the best minds in basketball as he set to coach his daughter’s team. The “best friend” who played tireless rounds of tennis with Rob Pelinka and greeted his children with a loving embrace. The “little brother” who texted Michael Jordan at odd hours to talk about footwork and the triangle offense. But there were sides of Kobe Bryant most could never see. LOS ANGELES - The world knew him as the Black Mamba, a brilliant and relentless competitor and an aspiring entertainment mogul.