Vanessa Bryant shares powerful, emotional words at Kobe and Gianna Bryant Memorial | CBS Sports HQ

and now I would like to introduce you to the person who invited us all here today to 24 because he knew we needed it and we can't celebrate the lives of Kobe and Gigi and all the people we lost without honoring the woman that Kobe and Gigi loved. most please welcome Vanessa Bryant thank you very much everyone for being here thank you very much to us too love you first I would like to thank everyone for coming today the outpouring of love and support my family has felt from around the world . It has been very encouraging. Thank you very much for all your prayers.

I'd like to talk about Coby and Gigi, but I'll start with my baby first. My baby Chiana Bryant is an incredibly sweet and gentle soul, she was always thoughtful, she always kissed me goodnight and kissed me good morning. There were a few times when she was absolutely tired of being up with Bianca and Capri and I thought she had left for school without saying goodbye to her. I texted her to say no, kiss and Gianna responded with mom. I kissed you. but you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you up she knew how much her morning and evening kisses meant to me and she was so thoughtful remembering to kiss me every day she was daddy's girl but I know she loved her mom and she always told me and showed me how much she loved her. loved was one of my best friends loved to bake loved to put a smile on everyone's face last August she made a beautiful birthday cake for her dad it had fondant and it looked like this it had blue agate crystals Kobe's birthday cake looked like professionally decorated she made the best chocolate chip cookies she loved watching cooking shows and Cupcake Wars with me and she loved watching Survivor and NBA games on TV with her dad.

She also loved watching Disney movies with her sisters Gigi was very competitive like her dad but Gianna had a sweet grace her smile was like sunlight her smile took up her entire face like mine Kobe always said she was me she had my fire my personality and sarcasm she was tender and loving on the inside she had the best laugh, it was contagious, it was pure and genuine. Kobe and Gianna naturally gravitated toward each other. He had Kobe's ability to listen to a song and memorize all the lyrics after listening to the song a few times.

Her secret talent was an amazing athlete, she was great at gymnastics, soccer, softball, dance and basketball, she was also an amazing dancer, she loved swimming, dancing, doing cartwheels and jumping in our pool and Gigi loved her dances. tiktok. Gigi was confident, but no. In an arrogant way, she loved helping and teaching things to other people at school. She offered men's basketball coaches to help give the men's basketball team some tips such as the triangle offense. She was very similar to her father and they both liked helping people learn new things. and master them, they were excellent teachers.

Gigi was very sweet, she always made sure everyone was okay, she was our shepherd, she always kept our family together, she loved family traditions, family movie night and geib night on holidays were important to her, did she? Did you always take care of them? everyone she was very in tune with our feelings and wanted the best for us Gianna was smart, she could read, speak and write Mandarin, she knew Spanish, she had great grades and kept them up while becoming an amazing basketball player, she was president of spirit school in the student council she was assistant director of her school play just like her older sister she was looking forward to graduating from eighth grade and moving on to high school with her older sister Natalia.

I'm very happy that you were given the opportunity to know that. she was accepted into the same high school she was very happy Gianna made us all proud and still does Gianna never tried to settle she was always herself she was a good person a leader a teacher dressed in a white t-shirt black leggings a jean jacket White high-top converse and a flannel tied around her waist with straight hair was her favorite style, she had so much style and rhythm since she was a baby, she gave the best hugs and the best kisses, she had beautiful soft lips like her dad.

She hugged me and hugged me so hard that I could feel that she loved me. She loved the way she looked at me while she hugged me. It was like she was soaking me completely. We love each other very much. I miss her so much. she was so energetic I couldn't keep up with her energy she was laughing Natalia and I on a track when she was about six we let her have a head start she still abandons us I miss her sweet kisses I missed her intelligence I miss her sarcasm her wit and that adorable cunning side smile followed by a smile and a laugh we share the same cat that ate the canary smile Gigi was a sweetheart, she brightened my day every day.

I miss looking at her beautiful face, she was always so good. a rule follower, I knew I could always count on her to do the right thing, she was the most loving daughter, a thoughtful little sister and a silly big sister, she would happily help carry the little ones' diaper bags or play with them, she would He liked to help me with Bianca and Capri Bianca. I loved going to the playground swimming and jumping on the trampoline with Gigi. She used to tell Gigi that she thought Koko considered her her favorite sister. Capri was smiling from ear to ear when Gigi walked into the room and Capri reminds me a lot of Gianna. the same and they just smile with their whole face pure joy we won't be able to see GG go to high school with Natalia and ask her how her day was we didn't have the chance to teach her how to drive a car I won't be able to tell her how beautiful she looks his wedding day.

I will never get to see my baby walk down the aisle, father-daughter dance with her dad, dance with me on the dance floor or have her own babies, Gianna. She would have been an amazing mom, she was very motherly since she was very little. Gigi probably would have become the best player in the WNBA. She would have made a big difference. She would have made a huge difference for women's basketball. Gigi was motivated to change. the way everyone viewed women in

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, she wrote articles in school defending women and wrote about how the unequal pay gap between the NBA and WNBA leagues wasn't fair and I really feel like she made positive changes for female players. of the WNBA and now says that they knew Gigi's goal.

She would eventually play in the WNBA. I am still very proud of Gianna, she made a difference and was kind to everyone she met and during the 13 years she was here on earth, her classmates shared many good memories about Gianna with us and those stories reminded me of that. that Gianna loved and showed everyone that no act of kindness is too small to make a difference in someone's life. She was always considerate of others in her feelings. She was a beautiful, kind, happy, silly, thoughtful and loving daughter and sister, she was so full. she of life and she had so much more to offer this world.

I can't imagine life without her mom Natalia Bianca Capri and dad I love you so much Gigi. I will miss your sweet handmade cards, your sweet kisses, and your beautiful smile. I miss you all every day. I love you, okay? Oh, to my soulmate, Kobe was known as a fierce competitor on the basketball court, the greatest of all time, a writer, an Oscar winner and the Black Mamba, but to me he was Koko, my booboo, My baby boo, my daddy pimp, I was his. VB your principessa your Frog your queen mama mama and your scheming V is a fabulous key.

I couldn't see him as a celebrity or just an amazing basketball player. He was my sweet husband and the beautiful father of our children. He was mine. He was my. All Kobe and I have been together since he was 17 and a half years old. I was his first girlfriend. His first love. His wife. His best friend. His confidant and his protector. He was the most amazing husband. Kobe loved me more than he could ever express. In

words

, he was the early riser and I was a night owl. They fired me and he was ice and vice versa.

Sometimes we balanced each other. He would do anything for me. I have no idea how he deserved a man who loved and desired me. More than Kobe, he was charismatic, a gentleman, he loved, he adored and he was romantic, he was truly the romantic one in our relationship. He looked forward to Valentine's Day and our anniversaries every year, he planned special anniversary trips and a special traditional gift for each year of our marriage. he had even made my most precious gifts, he just thought out of the box, he was so thoughtful even while working hard to be the best athlete, he gave me the real notebook and the blue dress that Rachel Mcadams wore in the notebook movie when I asked him about that.

He chose the blue dress and said it was because in the scene where Ali returns to Noah we were hoping to grow old together like in the movie. We truly had an incredible love story. We loved each other with everything we were - perfectly imperfect people who made a beautiful family and raising our sweet, amazing girls a couple weeks before they passed away, Cobie sent me a sweet text message. I mentioned that I wanted to spend time together just the two of us without our kids because I'm best friends with him first, we never had the chance.

To do so we were busy taking care of our daughters and simply fulfilling our daily responsibilities, but I am grateful to have that recent message that means a lot to me. Kobe wanted us to renew our vows, he wanted Natalia to take over his company and he wanted to travel the world together, we had always talked about how fun grandparents they would be to our daughters' kids, he would have been the coolest grandpa. Koby was the MVP of Girl Dad's or MVD, he never left the toilet seat up, he always told the girls. how beautiful and intelligent they are, he taught them to be brave and to keep going when things get difficult and when Kobe retired from the NBA he took charge of dropping off and picking up our girls from school since I was at home pregnant with Bianca. and I recently babysat Capri at home, when Kobe was still playing, he used to arrive an hour early to be first in line to pick up Natalia and Gianna from school and I told him he couldn't drop the ball once he took over . late once and we definitely let him know that I was never late so we arrived an hour and 20 minutes early, after that he always knew there was room for improvement and he wanted to do better.

He happily shared the trip and enjoyed spending time in the car with our daughters. He was a loving father. A practical and present father. He helped me bathe Bianca and Capri almost every night. He sang silly songs to them in the shower and continued to make them laugh and smile as he told them. she lathered up lotion and got them ready for bed she had magical arms and could put Capri to sleep in just a few minutes she said she had it down to a science eight times down our hallway she loved taking Bianca around in fashion I'm going to watch her play in the area of the koi pond and loves taking her to the park.

His most recent visit to the koi pond was the night before he and Gigi passed away. He shared a love of movies and movie breakdowns with Natalia. He enjoyed renting movie theaters and taking Athaliah to see the newest Star Wars movie or the Harry Potter movies and they had movie marathons and he loved every second. He loved the typical tearjerkers: he liked to see stepmother, steel magnolias and little women. He had a tender heart. Kobe somehow knew where I was at all times. specifically when he was late to his games, he would worry about me if he wasn't in my seat at the start of each game and I would ask security where he was the first time after the first quarter and my smart ass would answer. tell him that he wasn't going to lose 81 points in the first 10 minutes of the game.

I think anyone with kids understands that sometimes we can't leave on time and he eventually got used to my tardiness and left. The fact that he could play at an intense professional level and still worry about making sure we got to the game safely was just another example of how family came first for him. She loved being G for his basketball coach. He told me what he wanted. he would have convinced me to play basketball so they could spend even more time together, but he also wanted her to follow her own passion. He saw Natanael play in a volleyball tournament on her birthday on January 19 and noted that she is a very smart player, he was convinced that she would have made a great card with her court vision and told me that he wanted Bianca and Capri to play a basketball when they were older so you could spend as much time with them as he did. with Gigi and Kobe they always told Bianca and Capri that they were going to grow up and play basketball and blend in now that they won't have their dad and sister here to teach them and that's really a lot, I don't understand it, but I'm not very grateful to that Kobi heard Coco say daddy, she wasn't going to be here to drop Bianca Capri off at pre-k or kindergarten.

He wasn't going to be here to tell me to calm down when we have to leave. in the kindergarten classroom or attend our daughter's doctor visits for my own moral support, he will not be able to accompany ourgirls down the hall or spinning me around on the dance floor while singing PYT to me, but I want my daughters to know that. and remember the amazing person, husband and father, he was the kind of man who wanted to teach future generations to be better and prevent them from making their own mistakes. He always liked to work and do projects to improve the lives of children.

He taught us all valuable lessons about life and

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through his NBA career, his books, the details of his show, and his puny x podcast series and we are so grateful that he left those lessons and stories behind to us, he was thoughtful and wrote the best love letters and cards, and Gigi had his wonderful ability to express his feelings and pay paper and make you feel his love through his

words

she was thoughtful like him he was so easy to love everyone naturally gravitated towards They were fun happy fools and they loved life they were so full of joy and adventure God knew they couldn't be on this earth without each other I had to bring them to heaven together baby, you take care of our chichi and I have Nani baby and Coco we continue being the best team we love and we miss you boo-boo and Gigi maybe you both rest in peace and have fun in heaven until we meet again one day we love you both and miss you forever and ever mommy