Vanessa Bryant has led the Kobe Bryant birthday tributes with a touching message about her late husband, who would have celebrated his 42nd birthday this past Sunday.
“To my baby~ Happy birthday. I love you and miss you more than I can ever explain. I wish you and Gigi were here to celebrate YOU! I wish I could make you your fav food or a birthday cake with my Gigi. I miss your big hugs, your kisses, your smile, your loud ass deep laugh,” she shared on Instagram.
“I miss teasing you, making you laugh and bursting your bubble. I miss you sitting on my lap like my big baby that you are. I think about your tenderness and patience all the time. I think about everything you would do in situations to help me deal with everything thrown my way.”
His friends and fellow basketball players also joined together to share their birthday messages for Bryant, who died on 26 January 2020 in tragic plane crash which also claimed the life of 13-year-old daughter Gigi.
In a video posted on Players Tribune, Dwayne Wade talked of how he and his fellow teammates looked up to Bryant. “No mistake about it we were trying to make him proud. We knew coming into the game that he was the one.”
LeBron James shared a throwback video a birthday celebration with his friend Kobe Bryant, saying “Miss you man!!”
http://blockquote%20class=instagram-media%20data-instgrm-permalink=https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPbFklgT85/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading%20data-instgrm-version=12%20style=%20background:#FFF;%20border:0;%20border-radius:3px;%20box-shadow:0%200%201px%200%20rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0%201px%2010px%200%20rgba(0,0,0,0.15);%20margin:%201px;%20max-width:540px;%20min-width:326px;%20padding:0;%20width:99.375%;%20width:-webkit-calc(100%%20-%202px);%20width:calc(100%%20-%202px);div%20style=padding:16px;%20a%20href=https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPbFklgT85/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading%20style=%20background:#FFFFFF;%20line-height:0;%20padding:0%200;%20text-align:center;%20text-decoration:none;%20width:100%;%20target=_blank%20div%20style=%20display:%20flex;%20flex-direction:%20row;%20align-items:%20center;%20div%20style=background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%2050%;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2040px;%20margin-right:%2014px;%20width:%2040px;/div%20div%20style=display:%20flex;%20flex-direction:%20column;%20flex-grow:%201;%20justify-content:%20center;%20div%20style=%20background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%204px;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2014px;%20margin-bottom:%206px;%20width:%20100px;/div%20div%20style=%20background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%204px;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2014px;%20width:%2060px;/div/div/divdiv%20style=padding:%2019%%200;/div%20div%20style=display:block;%20height:50px;%20margin:0%20auto%2012px;%20width:50px;svg%20width=50px%20height=50px%20viewBox=0%200%2060%2060%20version=1.1%20xmlns=https://www.w3.org/2000/svg%20xmlns:xlink=https://www.w3.org/1999/xlinkg%20stroke=none%20stroke-width=1%20fill=none%20fill-rule=evenoddg%20transform=translate(-511.000000,%20-20.000000)%20fill=#000000gpath%20d=M556.869,30.41%20C554.814,30.41%20553.148,32.076%20553.148,34.131%20C553.148,36.186%20554.814,37.852%20556.869,37.852%20C558.924,37.852%20560.59,36.186%20560.59,34.131%20C560.59,32.076%20558.924,30.41%20556.869,30.41%20M541,60.657%20C535.114,60.657%20530.342,55.887%20530.342,50%20C530.342,44.114%20535.114,39.342%20541,39.342%20C546.887,39.342%20551.658,44.114%20551.658,50%20C551.658,55.887%20546.887,60.657%20541,60.657%20M541,33.886%20C532.1,33.886%20524.886,41.1%20524.886,50%20C524.886,58.899%20532.1,66.113%20541,66.113%20C549.9,66.113%20557.115,58.899%20557.115,50%20C557.115,41.1%20549.9,33.886%20541,33.886%20M565.378,62.101%20C565.244,65.022%20564.756,66.606%20564.346,67.663%20C563.803,69.06%20563.154,70.057%20562.106,71.106%20C561.058,72.155%20560.06,72.803%20558.662,73.347%20C557.607,73.757%20556.021,74.244%20553.102,74.378%20C549.944,74.521%20548.997,74.552%20541,74.552%20C533.003,74.552%20532.056,74.521%20528.898,74.378%20C525.979,74.244%20524.393,73.757%20523.338,73.347%20C521.94,72.803%20520.942,72.155%20519.894,71.106%20C518.846,70.057%20518.197,69.06%20517.654,67.663%20C517.244,66.606%20516.755,65.022%20516.623,62.101%20C516.479,58.943%20516.448,57.996%20516.448,50%20C516.448,42.003%20516.479,41.056%20516.623,37.899%20C516.755,34.978%20517.244,33.391%20517.654,32.338%20C518.197,30.938%20518.846,29.942%20519.894,28.894%20C520.942,27.846%20521.94,27.196%20523.338,26.654%20C524.393,26.244%20525.979,25.756%20528.898,25.623%20C532.057,25.479%20533.004,25.448%20541,25.448%20C548.997,25.448%20549.943,25.479%20553.102,25.623%20C556.021,25.756%20557.607,26.244%20558.662,26.654%20C560.06,27.196%20561.058,27.846%20562.106,28.894%20C563.154,29.942%20563.803,30.938%20564.346,32.338%20C564.756,33.391%20565.244,34.978%20565.378,37.899%20C565.522,41.056%20565.552,42.003%20565.552,50%20C565.552,57.996%20565.522,58.943%20565.378,62.101%20M570.82,37.631%20C570.674,34.438%20570.167,32.258%20569.425,30.349%20C568.659,28.377%20567.633,26.702%20565.965,25.035%20C564.297,23.368%20562.623,22.342%20560.652,21.575%20C558.743,20.834%20556.562,20.326%20553.369,20.18%20C550.169,20.033%20549.148,20%20541,20%20C532.853,20%20531.831,20.033%20528.631,20.18%20C525.438,20.326%20523.257,20.834%20521.349,21.575%20C519.376,22.342%20517.703,23.368%20516.035,25.035%20C514.368,26.702%20513.342,28.377%20512.574,30.349%20C511.834,32.258%20511.326,34.438%20511.181,37.631%20C511.035,40.831%20511,41.851%20511,50%20C511,58.147%20511.035,59.17%20511.181,62.369%20C511.326,65.562%20511.834,67.743%20512.574,69.651%20C513.342,71.625%20514.368,73.296%20516.035,74.965%20C517.703,76.634%20519.376,77.658%20521.349,78.425%20C523.257,79.167%20525.438,79.673%20528.631,79.82%20C531.831,79.965%20532.853,80.001%20541,80.001%20C549.148,80.001%20550.169,79.965%20553.369,79.82%20C556.562,79.673%20558.743,79.167%20560.652,78.425%20C562.623,77.658%20564.297,76.634%20565.965,74.965%20C567.633,73.296%20568.659,71.625%20569.425,69.651%20C570.167,67.743%20570.674,65.562%20570.82,62.369%20C570.966,59.17%20571,58.147%20571,50%20C571,41.851%20570.966,40.831%20570.82,37.631/path/g/g/g/svg/divdiv%20style=padding-top:%208px;%20div%20style=%20color:#3897f0;%20font-family:Arial,sans-serif;%20font-size:14px;%20font-style:normal;%20font-weight:550;%20line-height:18px;%20View%20this%20post%20on%20Instagram/div/divdiv%20style=padding:%2012.5%%200;/div%20div%20style=display:%20flex;%20flex-direction:%20row;%20margin-bottom:%2014px;%20align-items:%20center;div%20div%20style=background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%2050%;%20height:%2012.5px;%20width:%2012.5px;%20transform:%20translateX(0px)%20translateY(7px);/div%20div%20style=background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20height:%2012.5px;%20transform:%20rotate(-45deg)%20translateX(3px)%20translateY(1px);%20width:%2012.5px;%20flex-grow:%200;%20margin-right:%2014px;%20margin-left:%202px;/div%20div%20style=background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%2050%;%20height:%2012.5px;%20width:%2012.5px;%20transform:%20translateX(9px)%20translateY(-18px);/div/divdiv%20style=margin-left:%208px;%20div%20style=%20background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%2050%;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2020px;%20width:%2020px;/div%20div%20style=%20width:%200;%20height:%200;%20border-top:%202px%20solid%20transparent;%20border-left:%206px%20solid%20#f4f4f4;%20border-bottom:%202px%20solid%20transparent;%20transform:%20translateX(16px)%20translateY(-4px)%20rotate(30deg)/div/divdiv%20style=margin-left:%20auto;%20div%20style=%20width:%200px;%20border-top:%208px%20solid%20#F4F4F4;%20border-right:%208px%20solid%20transparent;%20transform:%20translateY(16px);/div%20div%20style=%20background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2012px;%20width:%2016px;%20transform:%20translateY(-4px);/div%20div%20style=%20width:%200;%20height:%200;%20border-top:%208px%20solid%20#F4F4F4;%20border-left:%208px%20solid%20transparent;%20transform:%20translateY(-4px)%20translateX(8px);/div/div/div%20div%20style=display:%20flex;%20flex-direction:%20column;%20flex-grow:%201;%20justify-content:%20center;%20margin-bottom:%2024px;%20div%20style=%20background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%204px;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2014px;%20margin-bottom:%206px;%20width:%20224px;/div%20div%20style=%20background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%204px;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2014px;%20width:%20144px;/div/div/ap%20style=%20color:#c9c8cd;%20font-family:Arial,sans-serif;%20font-size:14px;%20line-height:17px;%20margin-bottom:0;%20margin-top:8px;%20overflow:hidden;%20padding:8px%200%207px;%20text-align:center;%20text-overflow:ellipsis;%20white-space:nowrap;a%20href=https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPbFklgT85/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading%20style=%20color:#c9c8cd;%20font-family:Arial,sans-serif;%20font-size:14px;%20font-style:normal;%20font-weight:normal;%20line-height:17px;%20text-decoration:none;%20target=_blankA%20post%20shared%20by%20LeBron%20James%20(@kingjames)/a%20on%20time%20style=%20font-family:Arial,sans-serif;%20font-size:14px;%20line-height:17px;%20datetime=2020-08-23T17:56:32+00:00Aug%2023,%202020%20at%2010:56am%20PDT/time/p/div/blockquote%20script%20async%20src=//www.instagram.com/embed.js/script
Alex Rodriguez paid tribute to his 20-year-long friendship with the late basketballer. “Legends are missed, but never forgotten,” he shared. “Nobody, and I mean nobody, worked harder and more passionately to be great, day in and day out. As a player, as a coach, as a mentor, as a husband and as a father,” he added. “On what would be his 42nd birthday, I ask that everyone please say a prayer for Vanessa and his family. Love you, Kobe. 💜💛”
WNBA player Sabrina Ionescu shared a video of her mentor showing how he helped and inspired her. “Thank you for teaching me to be better,” she wrote.
http://blockquote%20class=instagram-media%20data-instgrm-captioned%20data-instgrm-permalink=https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPdTEaD0tQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading%20data-instgrm-version=12%20style=%20background:#FFF;%20border:0;%20border-radius:3px;%20box-shadow:0%200%201px%200%20rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0%201px%2010px%200%20rgba(0,0,0,0.15);%20margin:%201px;%20max-width:540px;%20min-width:326px;%20padding:0;%20width:99.375%;%20width:-webkit-calc(100%%20-%202px);%20width:calc(100%%20-%202px);div%20style=padding:16px;%20a%20href=https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPdTEaD0tQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading%20style=%20background:#FFFFFF;%20line-height:0;%20padding:0%200;%20text-align:center;%20text-decoration:none;%20width:100%;%20target=_blank%20div%20style=%20display:%20flex;%20flex-direction:%20row;%20align-items:%20center;%20div%20style=background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%2050%;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2040px;%20margin-right:%2014px;%20width:%2040px;/div%20div%20style=display:%20flex;%20flex-direction:%20column;%20flex-grow:%201;%20justify-content:%20center;%20div%20style=%20background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%204px;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2014px;%20margin-bottom:%206px;%20width:%20100px;/div%20div%20style=%20background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%204px;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2014px;%20width:%2060px;/div/div/divdiv%20style=padding:%2019%%200;/div%20div%20style=display:block;%20height:50px;%20margin:0%20auto%2012px;%20width:50px;svg%20width=50px%20height=50px%20viewBox=0%200%2060%2060%20version=1.1%20xmlns=https://www.w3.org/2000/svg%20xmlns:xlink=https://www.w3.org/1999/xlinkg%20stroke=none%20stroke-width=1%20fill=none%20fill-rule=evenoddg%20transform=translate(-511.000000,%20-20.000000)%20fill=#000000gpath%20d=M556.869,30.41%20C554.814,30.41%20553.148,32.076%20553.148,34.131%20C553.148,36.186%20554.814,37.852%20556.869,37.852%20C558.924,37.852%20560.59,36.186%20560.59,34.131%20C560.59,32.076%20558.924,30.41%20556.869,30.41%20M541,60.657%20C535.114,60.657%20530.342,55.887%20530.342,50%20C530.342,44.114%20535.114,39.342%20541,39.342%20C546.887,39.342%20551.658,44.114%20551.658,50%20C551.658,55.887%20546.887,60.657%20541,60.657%20M541,33.886%20C532.1,33.886%20524.886,41.1%20524.886,50%20C524.886,58.899%20532.1,66.113%20541,66.113%20C549.9,66.113%20557.115,58.899%20557.115,50%20C557.115,41.1%20549.9,33.886%20541,33.886%20M565.378,62.101%20C565.244,65.022%20564.756,66.606%20564.346,67.663%20C563.803,69.06%20563.154,70.057%20562.106,71.106%20C561.058,72.155%20560.06,72.803%20558.662,73.347%20C557.607,73.757%20556.021,74.244%20553.102,74.378%20C549.944,74.521%20548.997,74.552%20541,74.552%20C533.003,74.552%20532.056,74.521%20528.898,74.378%20C525.979,74.244%20524.393,73.757%20523.338,73.347%20C521.94,72.803%20520.942,72.155%20519.894,71.106%20C518.846,70.057%20518.197,69.06%20517.654,67.663%20C517.244,66.606%20516.755,65.022%20516.623,62.101%20C516.479,58.943%20516.448,57.996%20516.448,50%20C516.448,42.003%20516.479,41.056%20516.623,37.899%20C516.755,34.978%20517.244,33.391%20517.654,32.338%20C518.197,30.938%20518.846,29.942%20519.894,28.894%20C520.942,27.846%20521.94,27.196%20523.338,26.654%20C524.393,26.244%20525.979,25.756%20528.898,25.623%20C532.057,25.479%20533.004,25.448%20541,25.448%20C548.997,25.448%20549.943,25.479%20553.102,25.623%20C556.021,25.756%20557.607,26.244%20558.662,26.654%20C560.06,27.196%20561.058,27.846%20562.106,28.894%20C563.154,29.942%20563.803,30.938%20564.346,32.338%20C564.756,33.391%20565.244,34.978%20565.378,37.899%20C565.522,41.056%20565.552,42.003%20565.552,50%20C565.552,57.996%20565.522,58.943%20565.378,62.101%20M570.82,37.631%20C570.674,34.438%20570.167,32.258%20569.425,30.349%20C568.659,28.377%20567.633,26.702%20565.965,25.035%20C564.297,23.368%20562.623,22.342%20560.652,21.575%20C558.743,20.834%20556.562,20.326%20553.369,20.18%20C550.169,20.033%20549.148,20%20541,20%20C532.853,20%20531.831,20.033%20528.631,20.18%20C525.438,20.326%20523.257,20.834%20521.349,21.575%20C519.376,22.342%20517.703,23.368%20516.035,25.035%20C514.368,26.702%20513.342,28.377%20512.574,30.349%20C511.834,32.258%20511.326,34.438%20511.181,37.631%20C511.035,40.831%20511,41.851%20511,50%20C511,58.147%20511.035,59.17%20511.181,62.369%20C511.326,65.562%20511.834,67.743%20512.574,69.651%20C513.342,71.625%20514.368,73.296%20516.035,74.965%20C517.703,76.634%20519.376,77.658%20521.349,78.425%20C523.257,79.167%20525.438,79.673%20528.631,79.82%20C531.831,79.965%20532.853,80.001%20541,80.001%20C549.148,80.001%20550.169,79.965%20553.369,79.82%20C556.562,79.673%20558.743,79.167%20560.652,78.425%20C562.623,77.658%20564.297,76.634%20565.965,74.965%20C567.633,73.296%20568.659,71.625%20569.425,69.651%20C570.167,67.743%20570.674,65.562%20570.82,62.369%20C570.966,59.17%20571,58.147%20571,50%20C571,41.851%20570.966,40.831%20570.82,37.631/path/g/g/g/svg/divdiv%20style=padding-top:%208px;%20div%20style=%20color:#3897f0;%20font-family:Arial,sans-serif;%20font-size:14px;%20font-style:normal;%20font-weight:550;%20line-height:18px;%20View%20this%20post%20on%20Instagram/div/divdiv%20style=padding:%2012.5%%200;/div%20div%20style=display:%20flex;%20flex-direction:%20row;%20margin-bottom:%2014px;%20align-items:%20center;div%20div%20style=background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%2050%;%20height:%2012.5px;%20width:%2012.5px;%20transform:%20translateX(0px)%20translateY(7px);/div%20div%20style=background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20height:%2012.5px;%20transform:%20rotate(-45deg)%20translateX(3px)%20translateY(1px);%20width:%2012.5px;%20flex-grow:%200;%20margin-right:%2014px;%20margin-left:%202px;/div%20div%20style=background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%2050%;%20height:%2012.5px;%20width:%2012.5px;%20transform:%20translateX(9px)%20translateY(-18px);/div/divdiv%20style=margin-left:%208px;%20div%20style=%20background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20border-radius:%2050%;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2020px;%20width:%2020px;/div%20div%20style=%20width:%200;%20height:%200;%20border-top:%202px%20solid%20transparent;%20border-left:%206px%20solid%20#f4f4f4;%20border-bottom:%202px%20solid%20transparent;%20transform:%20translateX(16px)%20translateY(-4px)%20rotate(30deg)/div/divdiv%20style=margin-left:%20auto;%20div%20style=%20width:%200px;%20border-top:%208px%20solid%20#F4F4F4;%20border-right:%208px%20solid%20transparent;%20transform:%20translateY(16px);/div%20div%20style=%20background-color:%20#F4F4F4;%20flex-grow:%200;%20height:%2012px;%20width:%2016px;%20transform:%20translateY(-4px);/div%20div%20style=%20width:%200;%20height:%200;%20border-top:%208px%20solid%20#F4F4F4;%20border-left:%208px%20solid%20transparent;%20transform:%20translateY(-4px)%20translateX(8px);/div/div/div/a%20p%20style=%20margin:8px%200%200%200;%20padding:0%204px;%20a%20href=https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPdTEaD0tQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading%20style=%20color:#000;%20font-family:Arial,sans-serif;%20font-size:14px;%20font-style:normal;%20font-weight:normal;%20line-height:17px;%20text-decoration:none;%20word-wrap:break-word;%20target=_blankWriting%20this%20with%20tears%20in%20my%20eyes,%20I%20miss%20you%20more%20and%20more%20everyday.%20Thank%20you%20for%20teaching%20me%20to%20be%20better.%20Every.%20Single.%20Day.%20Happy%20Birthday%20Boss!!%20🐍%20Love%20you%20and%20Gigi%20forever🤍/a/p%20p%20style=%20color:#c9c8cd;%20font-family:Arial,sans-serif;%20font-size:14px;%20line-height:17px;%20margin-bottom:0;%20margin-top:8px;%20overflow:hidden;%20padding:8px%200%207px;%20text-align:center;%20text-overflow:ellipsis;%20white-space:nowrap;A%20post%20shared%20by%20a%20href=https://www.instagram.com/sabrina_i/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading%20style=%20color:#c9c8cd;%20font-family:Arial,sans-serif;%20font-size:14px;%20font-style:normal;%20font-weight:normal;%20line-height:17px;%20target=_blank%20Sabrina%20Ionescu/a%20(@sabrina_i)%20on%20time%20style=%20font-family:Arial,sans-serif;%20font-size:14px;%20line-height:17px;%20datetime=2020-08-23T18:15:40+00:00Aug%2023,%202020%20at%2011:15am%20PDT/time/p/div/blockquote%20script%20async%20src=//www.instagram.com/embed.js/script
