I still remember the game.
The Lakers managed to pull away with a win against the Dallas Mavericks on December 19, 2019. LeBron James became the ninth player in NBA history to reach 9,000 assists the night before his birthday.
But not all of the eyes were on James.
Sporting a bright orange WNBA hoodie, Kobe Bryant, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, were in attendance at Staples Center for what would be the last time.
I still have that video on my phone of him and Gianna walking right past me in my row and entering the tunnel toward the exit. With one hand waving to the crowd as he exited, the other hand on Gianna’s shoulder. Chilling, heartbreaking watching that video play now.
On the one year anniversary of Kobe and Gianna’s death, along with seven others in the horrific helicopter crash, memories of Bryant’s complicated and brilliant legacy still resonate with me, and will for the rest of my life.
Two years before that game, I sat in those same seats and watched his two jerseys, No. 8 and No. 24 be retired to the rafters as his family looked on from courtside. During his speech, he looked directly to his family, his wife Vanessa, daughters Natalia, Gianna, Bianka and toddler Capri standing there before him.
“Those times when you don’t feel like working, you’re too tired, you don’t want to push yourself but you do it anyway, that is actually the dream,” he said.
He went on to say that if they understand that, he is doing his job as a father.
In June 2010, I watched him, along with 18,000 other people in Staples Center, secure his fifth championship ring in a riveting game seven against the Boston Celtics.. I saw the beads of sweat drop from his face, embracing a hug with his family in a cloud of purple and gold confetti. I saw him receive his Most Valuable Player award in 2008, with my dad in the seat beside me waving around our yellow “MVP” posters.
The memories that Bryant has brought my family and I is unlike any other payment I could receive. He brought me closer to my dad, whom I share the love and passion for the game with. He was the reason my family and I sat around the TV every other night during the NBA season.
Throughout that game against the Mavericks, I would look over at him and he would be talking to Gianna and pointing at the court, giving her advice. When I saw that, I saw a splitting image of my dad and I.
Basketball bonded us together. Whether that was watching games on TV, going to Staples Center or him yelling at me from the sidelines during my own games, he would be there, just how Kobe was for his daughter.
Like Kobe, my dad is a girl dad.
Kobe embodied what it meant to be a doting girl dad to his four daughters. He became a champion of women’s sports, he won an Oscar in 2018 for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball and was an inspiration to young athletes all over the world. He produced books, movies, podcasts for young children — many of them for young girls, specifically.
When I reflect on this tragedy, I look back on the memories he brought my family and I, Laker nation, and people across the world. I look back on when he won that fifth championship, or his jersey retirement game, or the last game he attended at Staples with Gianna. I think about how he didn’t just champion the WNBA, but set the foundation for the advancement of girls’ and womens’ basketball at all levels.
No other achievement, however, was bigger than him being the best girl dad he could’ve possibly been.
Above all, it gives me a little bit of comfort and solace knowing that Kobe Bryant died doing what he did best and loved the most: being a father.
Follow Carly on Twitter @carlyebisuya.
