Bigger than basketball.
I took the below video in May of 2019. Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were in attendance as the WNBA Las Vegas Aces took on the Los Angeles Sparks. You can see how full of joy she appeared to be — how amused she was by either her dad being recognized or seeing the two of them on the Jumbotron, perhaps both, as though this hadn’t happened a thousand times before.
I remember smiling at how beautiful this daddy-daughter sighting was and Kobe having brought her to the game.
Many would say this is nothing and that Kobe was just doing what a father should do. Well, I’d say many don’t know what it’s like to grow up fatherless. To us, it’s something. Small gestures in the eyes of others represent monumental gaps in the timeline of our lives.
I played basketball in college and never had a father come or take me to a game. I doubt he even knew that I was on a team. In witnessing relationships such as Kobe and Gigi’s, you start to understand what you’ve missed.
