The WNBA is mourning the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other victims in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. Gianna was aspiring to be a basketball star like Bryant and it led to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaking out on the tragedy. She told PEOPLE the league is “devastated” over the loss of the nine victims and they plan to honor Gianna as well as her teammates – Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester who also died in the crash – in the near future.
“Our next big tentpole for the WNBA is our draft in April, so we’ll clearly be honoring those three young 13-year-old basketball players — the future of our game,” she said.
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Engelbert went on to talk about the loss of Bryant and what he meant for women’s basketball.
“We’re devastated over that loss and Kobe was a huge advocate for the WNBA,” she added.
“I’ve been telling people that he’s the only NBA player that reached out and came to see me at the WNBA offices since I started as the commissioner six months ago. The first thing he said to me was, ‘Cathy, I spent four hours every day on girls sports and I love it.’”
“We talked for two hours about his commitment to the WNBA, the women, the players and obviously his commitment to his team that he was coaching,” Engelbert continued. “[It’s] just really a loss and a loss of a big advocate.”
Bryant’s wife, Vanessa recently posted a series of photos and videos of Gianna’s jersey retirement ceremony at Harbor Day School in Newport Beach. Vanessa revealed why she will miss most about Gianna.
“My Gianna,” she wrote. “God I miss you. I’ve been so lucky to have woken up to see your gorgeous face and amazing smile for 13 years. Wish it would’ve been until my last breath. Mommy loves you to the moon and back. Infinity plus 1.”
Gianna’s music teacher spoke at the ceremony and he talked about how much of a leader she was.
“I taught Gianna since she was in the fifth grade,” he said. “This is a person who never slung mud. Talking bad about others — I never heard her do that. She was always above that.” The student council faculty advisor shared the story of Gianna’s run for student council. “We gave her one assignment and she ran with it as quickly and as eagerly as anyone I’ve ever seen. Gianna was an amazing leader in our student council. We will always remember her will to make things better and to strive for excellence.”
