Saturday marked the 19-year wedding anniversary of Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Bryant. With the former Los Angeles Lakers star dying on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash, Vanessa was unable to spend the day with her husband. However, she did receive a surprise gift in the form of flowers.
Vanessa posted a photo on her Instagram account Saturday evening, showing off a surprise gift that she had received. NBA player Pau Gasol and his wife, Cat, had sent over a massive bouquet of roses as an anniversary gift. The Spanish basketball player won two NBA Championships with Bryant during their time together with the Los Angeles Lakers. He and Cat wanted to show support for their friend with this gift on what many believed to be a difficult day.
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“Anniversary flowers from my Kobe. [heart emoji][broken heart emoji][praying hands emoji] Thank you @nataliabryant #GiannaBryant #BiankaBryant #CapriBryant @jeffleatham @catmcdonnell7 @paugasol,” Vanessa wrote in the caption of her post. Gasol responded by saying, “We love you V!”
According to Entertainment Tonight, Vanessa spent the anniversary at home with her three daughters. The family is currently in quarantine due to the COVID-19 outbreak and Los Angeles’ stay-at-home order, but the source said that would have changed the plans. “Vanessa still would have done something private with her girls.”
While remaining at home, Vanessa celebrated her anniversary with multiple posts on Instagram. She revisited an old interview from 2001 in which Bryant described how he knew she was the one. This discussion took place the same year they exchanged vows and featured Bryant proclaiming that Vanessa caught his heart.
“You know, it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly makes a person the one for you, but you just know,” Bryant said. “I mean, love is a funny thing. I can’t explain it, and I don’t understand it. But all I know is that she caught my heart. And I just knew that she was the one.”
In addition to the video, Vanessa also shared a throwback photo of her and Bryant cuddling together. She was sitting on his lap while the late NBA icon kissed her on the cheek. Vanessa captioned the photo by saying that she wished Bryant was there to hold her in his arms. “Happy 19th wedding anniversary baby. I miss you so much,” she wrote on Saturday.
