Getty Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Bryant
The unfortunate death of Kobe Bryant at age 41 has shocked the world and is only further dismaying due to the fact that his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant was also on board the fatal helicopter crash, along with her teammate Alyssa Altobelli and Altobelli’s parents John and Keri.
However, some new information has added an extra tinge of sadness to this already heartbreaking story. TMZ reports that Bryant had also filed a trademark for his daughter Gigi’s nickname “Mambacita.” This nickname further cements the fact that Bryant had fully intended for his daughter to follow in his footsteps and carry on his legacy. You can hear more about that in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, below.
Moving to “Mambacita” Mentality
Hundreds upon thousands of athletes have taken up Bryant’s inspiring catchphrase “Mamba Mentality.” Anyone from Lebron James to Saquon Barkley have shown their respect for the all-time great. James even paid homage to Bryant by writing “Mamba4Life” on his shoes the night that he surpassed him for third on the all-time scoring list.
Bryant Had Already Brought Out the “Mambacita” Nickname
This trademark definitely didn’t come out of the blue. Bryant had been using the “Mambacita” nickname with his daughter on social media for some time. In fact, in one Instagram post from November of 2019, Bryant used the hashtag #Mambacita in a video that included another teammate and fatality from the helicopter crash, Alyssa Altobelli. You can see the clip, below.
Fans have since taken up the hashtag to pay homage to Bryant and his daughter on Twitter and Instagram. Users have shared hundreds of thousands of posts with the hashtag #Mambacita to give their thoughts, prayers, and favorite memories of the two. Take a look at a few, below.
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