Vanessa Bryant Shares Heartfelt Tribute to Gianna Bryant on Her 14th Birthday

Vanessa Bryant shared a message to late daughter Gianna Bryant on Friday, her 14th birthday.

By Jess Cohen May 01, 2020 4:24 PMTags
Watch: How Gianna Bryant Is Being Honored After Her Death

Vanessa Bryant has shared a message to daughter Gianna Bryant on what would've been her 14th birthday.

On Friday, Vanessa took to Instagram to share a photo of Gigi, along with a tribute to her baby girl.

"Happy 14th Birthday to my sweet baby girl, Gianna. Mommy loves you more than I can ever show you," Vanessa wrote. "You are part of MY SOUL forever. I miss you so much everyday. I wish I could wake up and have you here with me. I miss your smile, your hugs and your giggles. I miss EVERYTHING about YOU, Gigi. I LOVE YOU so much!!!!!!!"

Vanessa's eldest daughter, Natalia Bryant, also paid tribute to her little sister on Instagram, writing, "Happy 14th Birthday Gigi! I miss your smile everyday but I know you're always smiling down on us from heaven with daddy. I LOVE YOU."

It's been just over three months since Gianna and dad Kobe Bryant passed away. The father-daughter duo were two of nine people who died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif.

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Gianna Bryant's Life in Photos

Vanessa's close friend La La Anthony also took to Instagram to celebrate the late 14-year-old

"Happy Birthday Gigi we celebrate you today and everyday!! Kiyan can't wait to get back on the court and play hard in your honor!!" the 38-year-old wrote on Instagram, alongside a picture of her son wearing red in honor of Gianna. "We love you so much!#PlayGigisWay #mambacita."

La La also posted an Instagram Story of herself wearing a red bracelet with Gianna's name and her nickname "Mambacita" on it. 

The bracelets as well as the color red were, according to Vanessa, to "commemorate Gigi's birthday today." She added, "please consider wearing red, caption an act of kindness or show how you will play Gigi's way since she always gave everything she did her all and led with kindness."

Earlier this month, Vanessa reflect on the passing of her husband and daughter in a post on social media.

In a post to commemorate Mamba Day, which honors Kobe's final NBA game before retiring in 2016, Vanessa wrote, "My husband worked his ass off for 20 years. Gave it his all. All he wanted was to spend time with our girls and me to make up for lost time. He wanted to be there for every single milestone and special moment in our girls lives. He only got to enjoy 3 years and 9 months of retirement."

"We had 2 more daughters, he won an Oscar, he opened Granity studios, he became a 5x best selling author and coached Gianna's basketball team in that time. She worked hard and gave her all 7 days a week just like her daddy," Vanessa continued.

"I wish I could back to that morning, every day," Vanessa added. "I wish they had a normal local game on 1/26. Life truly isn't fair. This is just senseless."

Celebrate Gianna with a look back at her life in photos