Vanessa Bryant Shares Heartfelt Birthday Message For Late Daughter Gigi On Her 19th Birthday

Vanessa Bryant shared a loving tribute on Instagram for her late daughter Gianna "Gigi" Bryant on what would have been her 19th birthday on Thursday.

Gigi tragically passed away alongside her father, Kobe Bryant, in January 2020, and Vanessa has shared many tributes for her daughter that honors her strength, spirit, and memory.

Today, Thursday, May 1, Vanessa shared a tribute on Instagram to honor her late daughter.

She captioned a photo of Gigi in her basketball uniform, "Happy birthday, Gigi! Mommy loves and misses you more than I could ever express. I love you Gianna." She also included #Mambacita, her age 19, and her birthday 5/1. Vanessa also shared the photo to her Instagram Story.

Many people dropped into the comment section of her Instagram post to share birthday wishes and red hearts for Gigi.

Vanessa is also mom to Natalia, 22, Bianka, 8, and Capri, 5.

Earlier today, Nike released the new Nike Kobe 9 EM "Mambacita" sneakers in honor of Gigi's birthday.

The Gigi edition of the popular Kobe 9 Protro features a black and white colorway, Gigi's name and No. 2 on the back of the shoes, and "Mambacita" branding on the tongue. Proceeds from the sale of Gigi's line benefit the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation.

Nike also released jerseys in honor of Gigi at the same time of the sneaker release on the SNKRS app.

Last year on May 1, Nike released a sneaker in honor Gigi's 18th birthday.

"Gigi changed the game. Forever. On 5.1 we celebrate Gianna 'Gigi' Bryant's 18th birthday and the transformational impact she had on highlighting women's sports with the release of the Kobe 8 Protro 'Mambacita,'" Vanessa wrote on social media alongside a video featuring the shoe.

Nike's website shared a description of the shoe that explains more about the design of the shoe, as well as Gigi's impact on the game.

"Arriving on her 18th birthday, the colorway is inspired by her youth basketball team's uniform while the butterfly pattern nods to Gigi's transformational impact on the game," the shoe description reads.

"Personal touches, like Gigi's name and number on the heel, remind you to play with joy, curiosity and competitiveness while never taking any opportunity for granted, just like Gigi. And when it’s time to step on the court, the golden 'Mambacita' heart and wings let you carry Gigi’s passion for sport into the future."

Earlier this week, a page dedicated to Kobe and Gigi's murals shared the sad news that one of the murals in downtown LA was vandalized. A GoFundMe page that was set up to raise funds to restore the mural over time got a donation in the amount of $5,000 from Lakers star, Luka Doncic after word got out about the mural's destruction.

"It was always important to give back to the community," Doncic said after Lakers practice, according to the Associated Press. "They gave me so much, so I just want to give back."

Doncic joined the Lakers a few months ago when he was traded from the Dallas Mavericks. Bryant spent his entire 20-year career with the Lakers.

According to Newsweek, Doncic also said, "Kobe is L.A. He and Gigi mean so much to this city, to the Lakers organization and to me personally. I'm happy to do anything to help make sure he and his daughter are honored."

Vanessa recently announced that a book highlighting the various Kobe and Gigi murals around the world will be released later this year.

"Kobe and Gianna Mural book highlighting a selection of murals in their honor coming 8/19/25," she captioned a photo of the book on her Instagram page.

The Kobe & Gianna Bryant Mural's Instagram page also shared news about the soon-to-be released book.

"Honored to contribute to this special book, highlighting artists and murals around the world paying tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant. You can preorder the book now at our bio link," they captioned a photo of the book. "Mamba and Mambacita Forever book releases this fall."