© 2026 ABC News

Gianna, known as Gigi, earned the nickname \"Mambacita\" because of her tenacity on the basketball court, like her famous dad, Bryant, whose nickname was \"Mamba.\"

The father and daughter were on their way to a basketball game at Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California, Sunday morning when their helicopter crashed on a hillside in Calabasas. The Bryants, six other passengers -- including two of Gianna's teammates -- and the helicopter pilot were all killed in the crash.

Bryant started coaching Gianna's basketball team when he retired in 2016, ending his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) on Aug 23, 2019 at 11:40pm PDT

Gianna reportedly wanted to attend the University of Connecticut and even got a chance to meet with the school's women's basketball team when they made a visit to Los Angeles in 2017. UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma also said Gianna visited the campus in Connecticut, according to ESPN.

Kobe and Gianna meant a lot to our program. Our thoughts are with the Bryant family.

Mamba Mentality will live on forever, but they are deeply missed. 💙 pic.twitter.com/4Ib96yFxgg

— UConn Women's Hoops (@UConnWBB) January 26, 2020

The UConn team and Team USA also observed a 24-second moment of silence at Monday night's game, in honor of Bryant's No. 24. At the start of the game, Team USA held the ball for an eight-second backcourt violation in honor of Bryant's first jersey number, No. 8.

The Huskies later ran out the 24-second shot clock as a tribute to Bryant's second NBA jersey number, according to ESPN.

\"It was really emotional,\" Team USA player Breanna Stewart said Tuesday on \"Good Morning America.\" \"Every single player on that team was just hit differently. Kobe had a relationship with the women’s side [of basketball] and every single player had a story that they could share about him.\"

Stewart, a UConn alum and Seattle Storm star, said Monday's game was her first since suffering an Achilles injury in April. It was that injury, similar to one Bryant faced in his career, that gave Stewart her own story to share.

\"I got hurt overseas, in Hungary, and right when I touched down [in Los Angeles] I had a message from Kobe just letting me know he was here for me, supporting me throughout the process and letting me know that I’ll be back,\" she said. \"Throughout the entire rehab he was just someone in my corner.\"

“Every single player had a story about him to share,” @WNBA star @breannastewart will remember #KobeBryant and his daughter Gianna for being champions for female athletes. https://t.co/QAXDDGAsIJ pic.twitter.com/5s4cJTN3cf

— Good Morning America (@GMA) January 28, 2020

In addition to coaching Gianna's girls' basketball team, Bryant was known as an outspoken supporter of the WNBA and female basketball players.

When Bryant played in two Olympics for the U.S., winning two gold medals, he would sit court side at the U.S. women's games whenever he could. Just a few days before his death, Bryant said he could see a day where women could play in the NBA, the same league he dominated for 20 years.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) on Aug 10, 2019 at 10:32pm PDT

\"There's a lot of players with a lot of skill that could do it,\" he told CNN last Wednesday. \"Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Elena Delle Donne. There's a lot of great players out there, so they could certainly keep up with them.\"

Bryant was also actively involved with the WNBA through his close friend and former teammate Derek Fisher, who is now the head coach for the Los Angeles Sparks.

\"I want us to continue to push for what he was most recently striving for in terms of equity and opportunity for young girls, for girls like his daughters that are still with us,\" Fisher told \"Good Morning America\" Monday.

ABC News' Kelly McCarthy contributed to this report.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/uconn-pays-tribute-kobe-bryants-daughter-gianna-mambacita/story?id=68580988","legacySlug":"/culture/story/uconn-pays-tribute-kobe-bryants-daughter-gianna-mambacita-68580988","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"13:26","publishDate":"01-28-2020","updatedTime":"23:11","updatedDate":"01-28-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"In this March 2, 2019 photo, Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna watch a NCAA college basketball game between Connecticut and Houston in Storrs, Conn.","credit":"Jessica Hill/AP, FILE","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/kobe-gianna1-ap-ml-200127_hpMain_2_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"1/28/2020 13:26:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":68580988,"headline":"UConn pays tribute to Kobe Bryant's daughter Gigi","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_UConn Bryant tribute_200128","description":"Gianna Bryant, 13, was a basketball star following in her dad's footsteps.","duration":"9:15","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/01/200127_gma_digital_kobe_3_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["68558512","68565811","68551765"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"January 28, 2020","headline":"Kobe Bryant's unexpected death leaves the world searching for answers","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/kobe-bryants-sudden-death-leaves-world-grieving-searching-68558512","id":68558512,"image":{"alt":"Kobe Bryant's unexpected death leaves the world searching for answers","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/Bryant-Tribute-Mural_hpMain_20200127-063135_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Maria Tan/AFP via Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"January 27, 2020","headline":"Coach killed alongside Kobe Bryant in crash 'was exceptional,' husband says","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/coach-killed-alongside-kobe-bryant-crash-exceptional-husband-68565811","id":68565811,"image":{"alt":"Coach killed alongside Kobe Bryant in crash 'was exceptional,' husband says","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/Christina-Mauser-ht-flt-ps-200127_hpMain_2_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Courtesy the Mauser family","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"January 27, 2020","headline":"Kobe Bryant’s daughter, Gianna, was following in his footsteps before death","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/kobe-bryants-13-year-daughter-gianna-nba-legends-68551765","id":68551765,"image":{"alt":"Kobe Bryant’s daughter, Gianna, was following in his footsteps before death","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Sports/kobe-hugging-gianna-mo_hpMain_20200126-203816_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Chris Carlson/AP, File","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"UConn pays tribute to Kobe Bryant's daughter Gigi","description":"Gianna Bryant, 13, was a basketball star following in her dad's footsteps.","duration":"9:15","uploadDate":"01-28-2020","publication":"01-28-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/01/200127_gma_digital_kobe_3_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/01/200127_gma_digital_kobe_3_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/uconn-pays-tribute-kobe-bryants-daughter-gianna-mambacita-68580988"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133882828","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810954","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"UConn pays tribute to Kobe Bryant's daughter Gigi","pubTime":"08:26","pubDate":"01-28-2020","modTime":"18:11","modDate":"01-28-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":68580988,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"Chris Cirillo ","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"UConn pays tribute to Kobe Bryant's daughter Gigi","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_UConn Bryant tribute_200128","videoId":68580988,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/uconn-pays-tribute-kobe-bryants-daughter-gianna-mambacita-68580988"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/68580988","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/68580988","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};