Almost two weeks after Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were killed in a fatal helicopter crash, his wife, Vanessa Bryant, posted a touching tribute about her late husband. “#MyBestFriend #TheBestDaddy Miss you so much,” the 37-year-old captioned a photo of the 41-year-old basketball legend via Instagram on Wednesday, February 5. “#Handsome #Sweet #Funny #Silly #LovingHusband. Miss you saying, ‘Bonjourno Principessa/Reina,’” a nod to Bryant’s Italian heritage.

Of course, Vanessa’s followers flooded her comments section with uplifting messages. One person wrote, “Sending you lots of love and strength,” while another echoed, “@VanessaBryant you are already one of the strongest women on earth. May love continue to grow within you.” A third person chimed in, writing, “We lose things, but we got to keep pushing. Stay strong. We all miss them.”

Kobe Bryant Wearing Black With Vanessa Bryant
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Other celebrities also took to Instagram to console Vanessa during this difficult time. Courtney Lopez wrote, “Can’t get you off of my mind,” while Kyle Richards left a heart emoji and praying hand emoji. Vanessa also uploaded an old interview of the former MVP on social media.

Kobe, Gianna, Payton Chester, 13, Alyssa Altobelli, 14, Keri Altobelli, 36, John Altobelli, 57, Christina Mauser, 38, Sarah Chester, 46, and Ara Zobayan, 50, were on the way to Thousand Oaks on January 26 for basketball practice at Bryant’s Mamba Academy, but they never made it to their final destination. Since then, people all over the world have posted tributes to Bryant — who is survived by his wife, Vanessa, and their three daughters: Natalia, Bianka and Capri — and the eight other victims.

This is hardly the first time Vanessa has spoken out about her late husband and daughter. “We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful and wonderful daughter and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka and Capri,” she began on January 29 — two days after the accident. “We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately.”

She continued, “I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon.”

Kobe Hugging Vanessa Bryant in a Red Top
Courtesy of Kobe Bryant/Instagram

On January 31, the Los Angeles Lakers played for the first time Bryant’s tragic death, and they laid out a jersey with his number in addition to one in honor of Gianna. “There is no #24 without #2,” Vanessa captioned the photo on Instagram. #GirlDaddy #DaddysGirl #MyBabies #OurAngels #KobeandGigi.”

We are thinking of everyone during this difficult time.

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