Vanessa Bryant posts heartbreaking birthday message to Kobe

On the occasion of what would have been Kobe Bryant’s 43rd birthday, his widow, Vanessa, offered a poignant message for her late husband.

Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in a January 2020 helicopter crash was a shattering moment for the basketball world, but obviously it was even more painful for his widow.

That’s because Vanessa Bryant lost not only her husband in the crash that killed eight others, but her daughter Gianna as well.

Kobe Bryant’s memory has continued to be celebrated in a variety of ways, with his widow offering continued recognition of his legacy. That includes raising the couple’s three surviving children.

Married in 2001, Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Bryant first met two years earlier and were married for more than 18 years at the time of Kobe Bryant’s death.

Other contemporaries of Kobe Bryant have offered their own tributes to the late legend, but the emotions expressed by his widow clearly are the most prominent of any of the remembrances offered.