There will be more painful anniversaries to come. Their wedding day. His birthday. The day he lost his life. But the day Kobe Bryant played his final game – April 13, 2016 (otherwise known as “Mamba Day”) – is up there, too, and Vanessa Bryant chose it to remember her husband.
In an Instagram post accompanied by video of his final game in which he torched the Jazz for 60 points, Vanessa reflected on the deep pain that is still there, because of what they wanted to do together after his playing days were over.
“My husband worked his ass off for 20 years,” she wrote. “Gave it his all. All he wanted was to spend time with our girls and me to make up for lost time. “He wanted to be there for every single milestone and special moment in our girls lives.”
Bryant passed away, along with 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash on the way to one of Gianna’s basketball games.
Vanessa in the post also listed Bryant’s accomplishments off the court. The birth of their two youngest daughters, Bianka (3) and Capri (nine months), his Oscar, being a best-selling author and coaching Gianna’s basketball team.
“I wish I could back to that morning, every day,” she said. “I wish they had a normal local game on 1/26. Life truly isn’t fair. This is just senseless.”
