Vanessa Bryant Speaks at A Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant

[Applause] [Applause] now I'd like to introduce a person who invited us all here today on to 24 because she knew we needed it we cannot 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 [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] thank you thank you all so much for being here thanks so much to us love you too first I'd like to thank everyone for coming today the outpouring of love and support that my family has felt from around the world has been so uplifting thank you so much for all your prayers I'd like to talk about both Coby and Gigi but I'll start with my baby girl first my baby girl [Applause] chiana Bryant is an amazingly sweet and gentle soul she was always thoughtful she always kissed me goodnight and kissed me good morning there were a few occasions where I was absolutely tired from being up with Bianca and Capri and I thought she had left to school without saying goodbye I text and say no kiss and Gianna would reply with Mama I kissed you but you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you she knew how much her morning and evening kisses meant to me and she was so thoughtful to remember to kiss me every day she was daddy's girl but I know she loved her mama and she would always tell me and show me how much she loved me she was one of my very best friends she loved to bake she loved putting a smile on everyone's face last August she made a beautiful birthday cake for her daddy it had fondant and looked like it had blue agate crystals Kobe's birthday cake looked like it was 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 MBA games on TV with her daddy she also loved watching Disney movies with her sisters Gigi was very competitive like her daddy but Gianna had a sweet grace about her her smile was like sunshine 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 infectious it was pure and genuine Kobe and Gianna naturally gravitated towards each other she had Kobe's ability to listen to a song and have all the lyrics memorized after listening to the song a couple of times it was their secret talent she was an incredible athlete she was great at gymnastics soccer softball dance and basketball she was an incredible dancer too she loved to swim dance do cartwheels and jumps into our swimming pool and Gigi loved her tick-tock dances gigi was confident but not in an arrogant way she loved helping and teaching other people things at school she offered the boys basketball coaches to help give the boys basketball team some pointers like the triangle offense she was very much like her daddy and that they both liked helping people learn new things and master them they were great 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 game night on vacations were important to her did you always looked out for everyone she was very much in tune with our feelings I wanted the best for us Gianna was smart she knew how to read speak and write Mandarin she knew Spanish she had great grades and kept them up all while becoming an incredible basketball player she was president of school spirit on student council she was director's assistant for her school play just like her big sister she was looking forward to graduating eighth grade and moving on to high school with her big sister Natalia I'm so happy she was given the opportunity to know that she was accepted to the same high school she was really happy Gianna made us all proud and she still does Gianna never tried to conform she was always herself she was a nice person a leader a teacher wearing a white tee black legging a denim jacket white high-top converse and a flannel tied around her waist with straight hair was her go-to style she had so much swag and rhythm ever since she was a baby she gave the best hugs and the best kisses she had gorgeous soft lips like her daddy she would hug me and hold me so tight I could feel her love me I loved the way she looked up at me while hugging me It was as if she was soaking me all in we love each other so much I'm miss so much she was so energetic I couldn't keep up with her energy she lapped Natalia and I on a track once she was about six years old we let her have a head start she's still bestest hmm I miss her sweet kisses I missed her cleverness I miss her sarcasm her wit and that adorable sly side smile followed with a grin and a burst of laughter we shared the same cat that ate the canary grin Gigi was sunshine she brightened up 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 thoughtful little sister and silly big sister she happily helped carry the littles diaper bag or played with them she liked helping me with Bianca and Capri Bianca loved going to the playground swimming and jumping on the trampoline with Gigi I used to tell Gigi that I thought Koko considered her her favorite sister Capri would smile from ear to ear when Gigi walked into the room and Capri reminds me a lot of Gianna they look alike and just smile their whole face pure joy we will not be able to see GG go to high school with Natalya and ask her how her day went we didn't get the chance to teach her how to drive a car I won't be able to tell her how gorgeous she looks on her wedding day I'll never get to see my baby girl walk down the aisle have a father-daughter dance with her daddy danced on the dance floor with me or have babies of her own Gianna would have been an amazing mommy she was very maternal ever since she was really little Gigi would have most likely become the best player in the WNBA she would have made a huge difference [Applause] she would have made a huge difference for women's basketball gigi was motivated to change the way everyone viewed women in sports she wrote papers in school defending women and wrote about how the unequal pay difference for the NBA and WNBA leagues wasn't fair and I truly feel she made positive changes for the WNBA players now says they knew Gigi's goal was to eventually play in the WNBA I'm still so proud of Gianna she made a difference and was kind to everyone she met in the 13 years she was here on earth her classmates shared many fond memories about Gianna with us and those stories reminded me that Gianna loved and showed everyone that no act of kindness is ever too small to make a difference in someone's life she was always always always considered of others in their feelings she was a beautiful kind happy silly thoughtful and loving daughter and sister she was so full of life and had so much more to offer this world I cannot imagine life without her mommy Natalia Bianca Capri and daddy 11 so much Gigi I will miss your sweet handmade cards your sweet kisses and your gorgeous smile I miss you all of you every day [Applause] okay for my soulmate mm-hmm 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 Coco my booboo my baby boo my papi chulo I was his VB his green super sob is Reina his Queen mama mama and his whiskey menisci fabulous ki I couldn't see him as a celebrity nor just an incredible basketball player he was my sweet husband and the beautiful father of our children he was mine he was my everything Kobe and I have been together since I was 17 and a half years old I was his first girlfriend his first love his wife his best friend his confidante and his protector he was the most amazing husband Kobe loved me more than I could ever Express or put into words he was the earlybird and I was an idol I was fire and he was ice and vice versa at times we balanced each other out he would do anything for me I have no idea how I deserved a man that loved and wanted me more than Kobe he was charismatic a gentleman he was loving adoring and romantic he was truly the romantic one in our relationship and looked forward to Valentine's Day and our anniversaries every year he planned special anniversary trips and a special traditional gift for every year of our marriage he even had made my most treasured gifts he just thought outside the box so I was so thoughtful even while working hard to be the best athlete he give to me the actual notebook and the blue dress rachel mcadams wore in the notebook movie when i asked him why he chose the blue dress he said it was because it's a scene when Ali comes back to Noah we had hope to grow old together like the movie we really had an amazing love story we loved each other with our whole being two perfectly imperfect people making a beautiful family and raising our sweet and amazing girls a couple weeks before they passed Cobie sent me a sweet text I mentioned how he wanted to spend time together just the two of us without our kids because I'm his best friend first we never got the chance to do it we were busy taking care of our girls and just doing our regular everyday responsibilities but I'm thankful I have that recent text it means so much 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 would be the fun grandparents to our daughters children he would have been the coolest grandpa Kobe was the MVP of girl dad's or MBD he never left the toilet seat up he always told the girls how beautiful and smart they are he taught them how to be brave and how to keep pushing forward when things get tough and we could be retired from the NBA he took over dropping off and picking up our girls from school since I was at home pregnant with Bianca and just recently home nursing Capri when Kobe was still playing I used to show up an hour early to be the 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 he was late one time and we most definitely let him know that I was never late so he showed up one hour and 20 minutes early after that he always knew there was room for improvement and wanted to do better he happily did carpool and enjoyed spending time in the car with our girls he was a doting father a father that was hands-on and present he helped me bathe Bianca and Capri almost every night he would sing them silly songs in the shower and continue making them laugh and smile as he lathered them lotion and got them ready for bed he had magic arms and could put Capri to sleep in only a few minutes he said he had it down to a science eight times up and down our hallway he loved taking Bianca to fashion I are going to watch her play in the koi pond area and love taking her to the park their most recent visit to the koi pond was the evening before he and Gigi passed he shared a love of movies and the breakdown of films with Natalia he enjoyed renting out theatres and taking Athaliah to watch the newest Star Wars movie or Harry Potter films and they would have movie marathons and he enjoyed every second of it he loved her typical tearjerkers too he liked watching stepmom steel magnolias and Little Women he had a tender heart coby's somehow knew where I was at all times specifically when I was late to his games he would worry about me if I wasn't in my seat at the start of the of each game and would ask security where I was at the first time out of the first quarter and my smart ass would tell him that he wasn't going to drop 81 points within the first 10 minutes of the game I think anyone with kids understands that sometimes we can't make it out the door on time and eventually he was used to my tardiness and balled out the fact that he could play on an intense professional level and still be concerned by making sure we made it to the game safely it was just another example of how family came first to him he loved being Gianna's basketball coach he told me he wished he would have convinced Natalia to play basketball so that they could have spent even more time together but he also wanted her to pursue her own passion he watched Natalya play in a volleyball tournament on her birthday on January 19th and he noticed how she's a very intelligent player he was convinced she would have made a great point card with her vision of the court and he told me that he wanted Bianca and Capri to take a basketball when they get older so he could spend just as much time with them as he did with Gigi and Kobe always told Bianca and Capri that they were going to grow up and play basketball and mix they ass up now they won't have their daddy and sister here to teach them and that is truly a loss I do not understand but I'm so thankful Kobe heard Coco say dad he isn'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 get a grip V when we have to leave the kindergarten classroom or show up to our daughter's doctor's visits for my own moral support he isn't going to be able to walk our girls down the aisle or spin me around on the dance floor while singing PYT to me but I want my daughters to know and remember the amazing person husband and father he was the kind of man that wanted to teach the future generations to be better and keep them from making his own mistakes he always liked working and doing projects to improve kids lives he taught us all valuable lessons about life and sports through his MBA career his books his show detail and his puny x' podcast series and we're so thankful he left those lessons and stories behind for us he was thoughtful and wrote the best love letters and cards and Gigi had his wonderful ability to express her feelings and to Paik paper and make you feel her love through her words she was thoughtful like him they were so easy to love everyone naturally gravitated towards them they were funny happy silly and they loved life they were so full of joy and adventure God knew they couldn't be on this earth without each other he had to bring them home to heaven together babe you take care of our chichi and I got nanny bebe and Coco we're still the best team we love and miss you boo-boo and Gigi may both rest in peace and have fun in heaven until we meet again one day we love you both and miss you forever and always mommy [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Channel: Los Angeles Lakers

Views: 5,991,411

Keywords: Lakers, NBA, Basketball, Los Angeles, Showtime, LakeShow, LA, Sports, National Basketball Association

Id: h1XyizBzC8c

Length: 22min 14sec (1334 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 24 2020