Natalia Bryant is honoring her dad Kobe Bryant's legacy.
In honor of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, the model shared a video of the late NBA player speaking out about the importance of mental health awareness.
"First, I think it's getting over the stigma of it being something that is embarrassing or a sign of weakness. It is not a sign of weakness," Kobe said in the clip from mental health organization Why We Rise's 2019 campaign. "I think that's step one. Then, it's opening up and sharing that experience with others. That's how you build a community of strength."
The late NBA legend added, "By getting others to open up and share their journey and share their stories you wind up inspiring each other."
In the one-minute video, Kobe shared that he has seen "too many kids get too discouraged" by their mental health journeys taking time and not happening overnight, sharing, "That's not how it works, you do it step by step. One foot in front of the other. Day by day."
The former Laker also got candid on how he viewed confronting mental health issues.
"Accept the challenge. We accept every other challenge that is presented in front of us, mental health is no difference," he said. "Let's face the challenge individually but understand we're facing that challenge collectively."
Kobe, who passed away in February 2020 in a helicopter crash, spoke often about the mental health of athletes. In April 2018, he reflected on why it's such an important conversation for athletes to have.
"I think the most important thing is for us to be aware of what's going on in here," he told former college Volleyball player and student-athlete mental health advocate Victoria Garrick during an interview at the University of Southern California. "Not that it's bad, good and different but it's awareness and once you're aware of it, then you can choose to walk hand-in-hand with it or you can choose to fight it but you're making that decision."
In July 2020—six months after his death—Kobe's company Granity Studios released the young adult novel, Geese Are Never Swans, which is about a young athlete on their mental health journey. The book, written by psychologist Eva Clark, includes Victoria's organization, The Hidden Opponent, as a resource to raise awareness for student-athlete mental health.