Vanessa Bryant Shares Emotional Tribute On Gigi's 17th Birthday

Vanessa Bryant is remembering her daughter on what should have been her 17th birthday.

Early Monday morning, the mother of four took to Instagram to tribute her late daughter Gigi in a series of birthday posts celebrating the young athlete, whom she shared with late husband Kobe Bryant.

She captioned the first upload, which features shots Gigi riding a carousel and walking though what looks to be an amusement park:

“Happy 17th birthday, baby girl. I love you and miss you so much, sweet Angel. #GigiBryant #Mambacita #Wings #2”

Gigi Bryant tribute — (c) Vanessa Bryant/Instagram

Soon after, support and lots of birthday wishes flooded the comments, with the official Lakers IG account writing, “Happy Birthday, Gigi,” followed by purple and yellow hearts. Also there to wish the late teen a happy birthday was Ciara, Khloé Kardashian, Taraji P. Henson, La La Anthony, Storm Reid, and many, many more.

So sweet!

Vanessa followed up her first post with another, this time of Gigi with her sisters Natalia, 20, and Bianka, 6, which she captioned:

“Happy birthday, sweet Gigi! We love you to the moon and back infinity +1. Forever & Always. ”

She then rounded out the series of uploads with a third, this time of the girls and herself, tenderly writing:

“Te Amo Mambacita Happy birthday, baby girl.”

Gigi Bryant tribute 3 — (c) Vanessa Bryant/Instagram

We can’t believe it’s already been over three years since Gigi and Kobe, as well as the eight others on board, tragically lost their lives in that fateful helicopter crash. Our hearts still break for all of the surviving family members and loved ones.

In a fourth post uploaded a few hours after her first three, Vanessa shared a touching video in honor of her daughter, where her friends, former coaches, and NBA players talked about what “playing Gigi’s way” means to them. To start off, WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu explained:

“Playing Gigi’s way to me means completely devoting yourself to the process of being the absolute best player and the best person that you can be.”

NBA standout Giannis Antetokounmpo added that “playing not selfish,” and “playing with joy,” is what playing Gigi’s way means to him.

Watch the full tribute compilation (below):

Vanessa Bryant and Nike's tribute video in honor of Gigi Bryant ❤️#PlayGigisWay pic.twitter.com/Lmoj1nVNBJ

— Kobe Highlights & Motivation (@kobehighlight) May 1, 2023

We love it!

On top of all that, just last Friday, Vanessa also debuted the Mambacita Nike basketball shoes, which she noted all the proceeds from will go to Mamba and Mambacita Sports — a foundation dedicated to honoring the father and daughter’s legacy.