Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna’s special connection

Aside from being a father to Gigi, Kobe had three other daughters with his wife Vanessa: Natalia, 17, Bianka, three, and seven-month-old Capri. Kobe’s older daughters were interested in the sport, especially Gigi, who wanted to become a legend like her father.

Since her early childhood, Gigi proved to have a great passion for basketball – she was her daddy’s number one fan!

Hugs and adorable father-daughter moments were a constant on the court, and little by little Gigi became introduced to the world of basketball. The former NBA player opened his school, the Mamba League, where his sport was taught. His daughter was one of the many students who attended, and within years she became one of the best.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kobe shared how his fans insisted that he and Vanessa should have a son so that his basketball legacy could continue. However, he believed on the contrary.

“When we go out and fans will come up to me and she’ll be standing next to me and they’ll be like ‘hey you gotta have a boy, you and V gotta have a boy, man, somebody to carry on the tradition, the legacy,’ and she’s like, ‘Oh no, I got this. You don’t need a boy for that!’”

Although the sports star retired in 2016, he remained interested in the rehearsals, especially his daughter’s, whom he sweetly called Mambacita.

According to Kobe, his daughter, who played with the Los Angeles Lady Mamba team, longed to go to the University of Connecticut and dreamed of being part of the women's basketball team.

To encourage his daughter’s career in basketball, Kobe took her to meet the stars of the colleges that practiced that sport. In this photo, Kobe and Gianna appear alongside Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon.

Gigi's accomplishments captivated her father, who would take to social media to share how proud of her he was.