Kobe Bryant’s Wife Vanessa Speaks out After Lakers Tribute With Beautiful Jersey Photo

On Friday, Jan. 31, the Los Angeles Lakers paid tribute to the late Kobe Bryant before their first home game since his untimely death. The team didn’t just don Bryant’s jersey during (with either number 8 or 24 on the back) warmups and showcase a montage of the late athlete’s greatest moments with the Lakers, they also laid out Bryant’s jerseys for fans in every seat of the Staples Center. And shortly after this moving tribute, Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, spoke out about the event with a touching Instagram post of her own.

Vanessa posted a photo of the two seats that were set aside for Bryant and the couple’s daughter, Gianna Bryant, who was killed in the same helicopter crash that took the lives of her father and seven others. The seats that she showcased featured Bryant’s #24 jersey and Gianna’s #2 jersey from the Mamba Sports Academy. Both seats also contained a bouquet of roses that were laid out in honor of the father-daughter pair.

“There is no #24 without #2,” she wrote alongside a few meaningful hashtags such as “#GirlDaddy, #DaddysGirl, #MyBabies, #OurAngels, and #KobeandGigi.”

Her post comes only days after she initially broke her silence regarding the deaths of her husband and daughter.

“My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time. Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them,” she wrote on Instagram on Wednesday, Jan. 29. “We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.”

“There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now. I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved,” she continued. “We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon. I’m not sure what our lives hold beyond today, and it’s impossible to imagine life without them. But we wake up each day, trying to keep pushing because Kobe, and our baby girl, Gigi, are shining on us to light the way.”