Gianna Bryant
Gianna Maria Onore Bryant (known as GiGi) was born on the 1st May 2006 in Orange County, California. She was the daughter of the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant and widow Vanessa Bryant. She has three sisters the eldest being Natalia Bryant and the two little ones are Bianka Bryant and Capri Bryant. She was heavily influenced by her father and therefore took an interest in basketball. She was a standout basketball player playing for Harbor Day School in Newport Beach, California. She also played at the Mamba Sports Academy, where she was coached by her father. She desired to play in the WNBA and wished to go to the University of Connecticut to play for the basketball team Huskies. Her grandfather Joe Bryant was coach of the Los Angeles Sparks and he was also a former NBA player. She and her father often
enjoyed watching basketball games together and it was their way of bonding. Kobe was seen a couple of times breaking down the plays to his daughter as they watched the games on the sidelines. The pair wanted to change peoples views on women in sports for the better and they greatly supported women's basketball teams and went to quite a few matches. She loved the game of basketball. She showed the same passion, enthusiasm and interest as her father ( the Black Mamba- Kobe Bryant) did. She was therefore called the Mambacita. Her dream of becoming a WNBA star was short lived as she passed away on January 26th 2020 at 9.47 am at the age of 13. She died along with 8 others including her father Kobe Bryant.
At 9:06 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on January 26, 2020, a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter departed from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, with nine people aboard: Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, six family friends, and the pilot. The helicopter was registered to the Fillmore-based Island Express Holding Corp., according to the California Secretary of State business database. The group was travelling to Camarillo Airport in Ventura County for a basketball game at Bryant's Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks.
Due to light rain and fog that morning, the Los Angeles Police Department helicopters and most other air traffic were grounded. The flight tracker showed that the helicopter circled above the L.A. Zoo due to heavy air traffic in the area. At 9:30 a.m. the pilot contacted the Burbank Airport's control tower, notifying the tower of the situation and was told he was "flying too low" to be tracked by radar. At that time, the helicopter experienced extreme fog and turned south towards the mountains. At 9:40 a.m. the helicopter climbed rapidly from 1,200 to 2,000 feet (370 to 610 m), flying at 161 knots (298 km/h; 185 mph).
At 9:45 a.m., the helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain in Calabasas, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and began burning. Bryant, his daughter, and the other seven occupants were killed. Initial reports indicated that the helicopter crashed in the hills above Calabasas in heavy fog. Witnesses reported hearing a helicopter struggling before crashing.
The cause of the crash is still unknown, as the helicopter was not equipped with a black box. The Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and the FBI have launched investigations into the crash. On January 28, Bryant's identity was officially confirmed using fingerprints. The following day, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner stated that the official cause of death for him and the eight others on the helicopter was blunt force trauma.
In the helicopter there were 8 passengers (including two of her teammates and their parents, one of the her coaches and her father) and the pilot. Unfortunately there were no survivors. The names of those that were lost on that tragic day were: Kobe Bryant, Gianna (Gigi) Bryant, Alyssa Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, John Altobelli, Payton Chester, Sarah Chester, Christina Mauser and Ara Zobayan.
On February 7, Gianna and Kobe Bryant were buried in a private funeral in Pacific View Memorial Park in the Corona del Mar neighborhood of Newport Beach, California. Their graves were unmarked to protect their privacy. A public memorial service was held on February 24 (2/24, marking both Kobe's and Gianna's jersey numbers) at Staples Center with Jimmy Kimmel hosting.
In the 2020 WNBA draft Gianna Bryant will be honoured along with her two teammates (that also passed away on 01/26/2020) Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester. Her father Kobe Bryant will also be honoured as he was a great supporter of the WNBA
References[edit]
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