Brooklyn Nets Honors Kobe Bryant and Gianna With Empty Courtside Seats With Flowers

Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were honored on Wednesday night by the Brooklyn Nets at the team’s game at Barclays Center, with the team paying tribute to the late father and daughter ahead of their matchup with the the Detroit Pistons.

Before the game, a two-minute video was shown of Bryant on the basketball court and with Gianna, followed by an announcer reading the names of all nine victims who died in the helicopter crash in Southern California on Sunday, Jan. 6. The screen was also lit up with the numbers 8 and 24, the jersey numbers Bryant wore during his 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. At the end of the tribute, a spotlight shined on two courtside seats adorned with purple and yellow flowers, which were the same seats Bryant and Gianna sat in when they attended a Dec. 21 game.

On Monday, Gianna was honored with an empty seat at the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team’s exhibition game. The team placed a number two jersey on the chair as well as a bouquet of flowers. They shared a tweet writing that Gianna is “forever” a UConn Husky, calling the teen by her nickname, “Mambacita.” Bryant had previously been heard saying that Gianna was “hell-bent” on attending the school.

The Los Angeles Kings also paid tribute to Bryant, Gianna and the other victims during their Wednesday night game at the Staples Center. The team played a video of the late NBA star and held a 24-second moment of silence.

Both Bryant and his daughter will surely be honored on Friday night when the Los Angeles Lakers play their first game since the crash. The NBA canceled the Lakers’ Jan. 28 game against the Los Angeles Clippers and will reschedule it for a later date, and the team is scheduled for a home game on Jan. 31 at the Staples Center against the Portland Trail Blazers.

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