In the wake of the deaths of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, a new video has emerged, showing teammates of the 13-year-old basketball star retiring her jersey in a heartfelt ceremony. In the clip that was posted online via Vanessa Bryant‘s Instagram, a memorial to the late teen is seen, while a group of her classmates sing the Maroon 5 song, “Memories” in her honor. On Jan. 26, Bryant’s private helicopter crashed in the hills of Calabasas, killing the father and daughter pair, as well as the pilot, and six other passengers.
๐๐ญ #heartbroken #Gianna #Memories @adamlevine pic.twitter.com/EJ00uWmIev
โ Romi#Memoriesโ (@CaffeineMiss) February 6, 2020
Many are still taking to social media, weeks later, to mourn the passing of the NBA icon and his daughter, with Lakers player Quinn Cook recently tweeting, “Still heartbroken but man Kobe and Gianna, this one will never not hurt. RiP DAD!”
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“Hearing Gianna’s advisor say that they still call her name in attendance every day and all 40 kids say “here” has me in SHAMBLES bro,” another user said.
Gianna Bryant’s coach shares a story about Gigi wanting to play on the boy’s basketball team.
“She definitely represented the Mamba Mentality”
(via vanessabryant | IG) pic.twitter.com/Xe4DpdkpKo
โ Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 6, 2020
In addition to the clips and photos shared to Twitter, Gianna’s mother Vanessa โ Bryant’s widow โ also shared some videos and images from the ceremony on Wednesday night.
“My Gianna. God I miss you. I’ve been so lucky to have woken up to see your gorgeous face and amazing smile for 13 years,” she wrote in the caption of one of her posts. “Wish it would’ve been until my last breath. Mommy loves you to the moon and back. Infinity plus 1. #2 #Mambacita #GigiBryant.”
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While she appears to have disabled the comments on some of the posts, there are others where fellow Instagram users have been able to share their thoughts and feelings, with Real Housewives star, Kim Zolciak Biermann writing: “V my heart bleeds for you and your beautiful girls. Been constantly and consistently praying for you all. The world is with you and we all are wrapping our arms around you.”
In a later post, Vanessa shared a photo of Gianna’s jersey framed, and wrote, “My Gigi. I love you! I miss you. You’ve taught us all that no act of kindness is ever too small. Mommy is still and will ALWAYS be so proud of you mamacita.”