Devastating letter from Gianna’s best friend as Bryant’s remembered a year on

A year on from the death of Kobe Bryant has left a flood of tributes but one written by his late daughter’s best friend is devastating.

Fans still deeply mourn the loss.

The NBA world gathered together again this week in memory of Kobe and Gianna Bryant, marking a year since their tragic deaths in a helicopter accident.

In a year that included the COVID-19 suspension, bubble life and the most perfect Lakers championship win in memory of the former LA superstar, the league took the time to remember Bryant’s legacy.

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Basketball fans gathered across Los Angeles on Tuesday to remember Kobe, with fans laying flowers and Lakers memorabilia at a makeshift memorial outside the Staples Center, the arena where Bryant became a city icon during a two-decade playing career.

Bryant, 41, his daughter and fellow passengers died on January 26 last year when the helicopter they were travelling in slammed into a hillside in Calabasas in foggy conditions.

Players, including Steph Curry and Joel Embiid, wore special shoes in remembrance of the legend.

Steph Curry’s shoes.

But one tribute will break your heart all over again as Vanessa Bryant shared a letter she received from one of Gianna’s best friends, which includes the line: “You have probably heard this, but if I ever become a mum, I hope my daughter turns out exactly as yours did.”

Vanessa added in the post: “I miss my baby girl and Kob-Kob so much, too. I will never understand why/how this tragedy could’ve happened to such beautiful, kind and amazing human beings. It still doesn’t seem real.”

The post garnered nearly 2.5m likes on Instagram.

On the court, Lakers star LeBron James said last weekend he was still struggling to with Bryant’s death.

“Man, it’s a saying that says, ‘Time heals all’,” James said. “And as devastating and as tragic as it was and still is to all of us involved with it, only time (will help). And it takes time.

“Everyone has their own grieving process. Everyone understands that everyone individually is different. Everyone is going to grieve differently.

Kobe and Gigi – together forever.

“All you can do as a friend or a loved one or anyone in our brotherhood or our familyhood that we have here in the Lakers organisation is to put an arm around someone when they need it.”

Find out everything else that happened this week in the NBA with Kayo’s Weekly Jam.

Originally published as Devastating letter from Gianna’s best friend as Bryant’s remembered a year on