Snoop Dogg and Kobe Bryant fans are praising the rapper for acknowledging Bryant's parents, Pam and Joe Bryant, at the celebration of life ceremony honoring the late NBA player and his daughter Gianna on Monday. Although Pam and Joe did not speak and were not mentioned by speakers at the event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Snoop took to Instagram to mention the two of them and the grief they must be going through, even amid their complicated relationship with their son.
"Sending love and prayers to momma and Poppa Bean Bryant," Snoop, whose real name is Calvin Cordozard Broadus Jr., captioned a photo of Bryant's parents at the event, using Bryant's "Bean" nickname.
"Thank u for giving us Kobe we love y'all and praying for your strength as parents to keep moving on from the Broadus family," he wrote.
Fans immediately took to the comments on the post to react to seeing Bryant's parents at the somber event.
"Thank you for honoring his parents. I was disappointed no one was sending love to them and his sisters. The end of the day, they are his parent and everyone should have honored them [because] they are hurting too," one user wrote.
Joe and Pam sat in the same row as Bryant's wife Vanessa Bryant, who sat next to her mother Sofia and her and Kobe's eldest daughter, Natalia. At the beginning of the ceremony, Joe hugged Bryant's former teammate Shaquille O'Neal, Entertainment Tonight reports.
Although Bryant had a rocky relationship with his parents, it appeared to be on its way up at the time of his death. Family friend Wayne Slappy told the Daily Mail that he saw Bryant hug his dad at a recent basketball camp in California.
Bryant reportedly had a falling out with Joe and Pam in 2013 after they attempted to sell some of his basketball memorabilia without his knowledge. He told ESPN in 2016, "Our relationship is s—. I say, 'I'm going to buy you a very nice home,' and the response is, 'That's not good enough?' Then you're selling my s—?"
Continue on to see Bryant and Snoop fans' reactions to Snoop's post about Joe and Pam.