Vanessa Bryant has yet to speak publicly since her husband, Kobe Bryant, and daughter Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash Sunday, but yesterday she changed the profile picture on her Instagram account to one of her husband and daughter hugging.
The NBA legend and his 13-year-old daughter were two of nine people killed when the helicopter they were in crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles.
Vanessa Bryant also made her Instagram page public when she released the new profile picture. She set her account to private after the crash.
In the image, Kobe Bryant is wearing an NBA All-Star warmup shirt and Gianna is wearing a basketball jersey with the No. 24 on the back. Kobe Bryant wore No. 24 at the time the photo was taken.
Vanessa and Kobe Bryant married in 2001 and have four children together, all daughters.
Also yesterday, The Athletic reported that Lakers guard Quinn Cook is changing his number to honor Kobe and Gianna Bryant. Currently No. 2, Cook will wear No. 28 — the 8 honoring Kobe Bryant and the 2 honoring Gianna. The younger Bryant wore No. 2 and Kobe Bryant wore both 8 and 24 in his career. The Lakers retired both numbers after Bryant’s retirement and both hang from the Staples Center rafters.
The University of Connecticut women’s basketball team honored Gianna earlier this week by placing a No. 2 jersey on its bench. Gianna had said she wanted to one day play at UConn.
Numerous players have asked the NBA to forgo its customary requirement for players to give the league months of notice for number changes so they can honor Kobe Bryant, and thus far the league has done so.
The NBA postponed Tuesday’s scheduled game between the Lakers and Clippers — what would have been the Lakers’ first game since the crash. Instead, the Lakers are scheduled to return to the court on Friday at home against Portland.
Reporters at the Lakers’ facility yesterday posted photos of a soft light being shone on Bryant’s Nos. 8 and 24 painted on the walls.
—Field Level Media
