Vanessa Bryant says Kobe wanted to use retirement to 'make up for lost time'
To mark Mamba Day, the fourth anniversary of Kobe Bryant's final NBA game, his widow, Vanessa Bryant, shared footage of his final moments on the court.
In her caption, Vanessa Bryant reflected on the "senseless" deaths of her husband and their daughter, 13-year-old Gianna, who were killed in a helicopter crash in January.
Noting that the NBA legend, nicknamed "The Black Mamba," "worked his ass off for 20 years," she explained that he'd hoped to use his retirement to focus on family.
"All he wanted was to spend time with our girls and me to make up for lost time," she wrote. "He wanted to be there for every single milestone and special moment in our girls' lives."
Kobe Bryant, 42, and Gianna -- known as Gigi -- were among the nine victims killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 in Southern California. At the time, they were en route to a basketball game at Bryant's Mamba Academy.
Like her famous father, Gigi loved to play basketball, and, according to Vanessa Bryant, "she worked hard and gave her all 7 days a week just like her daddy."
"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," Vanessa Bryant wrote. "I wish I could back to that morning, every day. I wish they had a normal local game on 1/26. Life truly isn’t fair."
Kobe Bryant is survived by his wife and three daughters: Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 9 months.
