Kobe Bryant Spent Day Before His Death on a Father-Daughter Date With 3-Year-Old Bianka
Kobe Bryant's final days before his untimely death Sunday in a helicopter crash alongside [...]
Kobe Bryant's final days before his untimely death Sunday in a helicopter crash alongside 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other victims were filled with quality family time, including a daddy-daughter outing with 3-year-old Bianka. The NBA legend, a father of four with wife Vanessa Bryant, was spotted Saturday evening playing with Bianka at the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach, walking through the stores and observing the koi pond, according to footage obtained by TMZ.
Bryant, also father to 17-year-old Natalia, and 7-month-old Capri, is remembered now as a doting father and family man following his tragic death alongside daughter Gianna, with the helicopter's planned destination being the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks for basketball games with his daughter and a number of other young athletes. Helicopters became a regular way of commuting for Bryant, he revealed in a 2018 interview on Barstool Sports' The Corp With A-Rod and Big Cat, so that he could be a more present father.
"Traffic started getting really, really bad, right? And I was sitting in traffic, and I wound up missing, like, a school play because I was sitting in traffic," Bryant said at the time. "I had to figure out a way where I could still train and focus on the craft but still not compromise family time."
The former Los Angeles Lakers player said he would then fly back to Orange County after practice to "get back in carpool line" and pick up his kids.
"My wife was like, 'Listen, I can pick them up.' I'm like, 'No, no, no. I want to do that,'" he said, explaining that a life spent on the road left him appreciative of all the time he could spend with his kids.
"Because, like, you have road trips and times when you don't see your kids, man," he said. "So like every chance I get see them and spend time with them, even if it's 20 minutes in the car, like, I want that. Right? So that would be my routine."
Photo credit: Kevin Winter , Getty
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