Five years ago, Capri Bryant lost her father, Kobe Bryant, and big sister, 13-year-old Gianna Bryant, in a deadly helicopter crash that claimed the lives of several others. Capri was not even a year old at the time, and since then, she’s grown up without her father.
In the years since his death, Kobe’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, has honored his memory and made sure his surviving daughters—Capri, 6, Bianka, 8, and 22-year-old Natalia Bryant—never forget their father and how much he loved them. And judging by what Vanessa, 43, recently shared online, the “Black Mamba” spirit is alive and well.
Vanessa Bryant’s Daughter Capri, 6, Poses Just Like Late Father Kobe Bryant
Earlier this month, Vanessa posted a photo of her youngest daughter in what appears to be a home gym. The 6-year-old Capri stands in a pair of plaid pajama pants with her left wrist bandaged up in a cast. In the picture, the little girl holds a basketball in her right hand, looking up towards the sky.
Clearly, the pose brought back a memory for Vanessa, who shared a side-by-side photo with the shot of Capri. In the other pic, a young Kobe stands in a pair of plaid pajama pants under his Lakers practice uniform. His right hand wrapped up with a basketball sitting in his left hand. He’s gazing up, presumably at the basket on the end of the court.
“Like father, like daughter,” Vanessa captioned the side-by-side.
Fans reacted to Vanessa’s post with love. Ciara fondly called out “KoKo Bean.” La La Anthony left a pair of heart emojis. Khloe Kardashian left a string of alternating purple and yellow hearts, the colors of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kobe Bryant was famously a “girl dad,” proud that he and Vanessa had fathered four daughters. “My friends say, ‘It takes a real man to make a boy,'” he told Extra in 2017. “I’m like, ‘Dude, it takes a king to make a princess.’”
In August 2024, Crypto.com Arena—home of the Los Angeles Lakers, the team Kobe played for throughout his NBA career—unveiled a sweet tribute to the late star. The franchise unveiled “Girl Dad” near the arena’s 11th Street entrance. The bronze statue depicts Kobe with his arm around Gianna as angel wings drape them both.
Designed by Karon Davis and created by the artists of the Rotblatt Amrany Studio, the statue honors the Bryant family’s support for women and girls in sports. “The tribute represents Kobe and Gianna’s exceptional basketball legacy and the uplifting relationship Kobe shared with all four of his daughters,” said the Lakers in a press release.