Vanessa Bryant posted a photo of two empty courtside seats on Instagram in honor of her husband Kobe Bryant and their daughter Gianna during the Los Angeles Lakers' first game since their deaths on Sunday.
On Friday night, the Lakers played their first game since Bryant and his daughter died on Sunday. Bryant's wife and three daughters did not attend the game against the Portland Trail Blazers, as reported by USA Today, but her family were paid tribute at the Staples Center, the home arena of the Lakers.
The photo shows Bryant's no. 24 Lakers jersey next to his daughter's AAU no. 2 jersey with flowers on the seats in a simple and emotional tribute.
"There is no #24 without #2," she wrote. "GirlDaddy #DaddysGirl #MyBabies #OurAngels #KobeandGigi."
Prior to the game, current Lakers superstar LeBron James delivered an emotional speech in honor of Bryant and his legacy.
Donning a Bryant jersey, James' speech began by reading off the names of all the passengers that perished in the helicopter crash that killed Bryant and his daughter this past Sunday. He also opted to not read his prepared speech. "I've got something written down," he told the fans at the Staples Center. "They asked me to kinda stay on course or whatever the case maybe, but Laker-nation, man, I'd be selling you all short if I read off this s**t. So, I'm going to go straight from the heart."
"The first thing that comes to mind is all about family," James said. "As I look around this arena, we're all grieving. We're all hurt. We're all heartbroken. When we're going through things like this, the best thing you can do is lean on the shoulders of your family. From Sunday morning all the way to this point, I'd heard about Laker Nation before I got here last year about how much of a family it is, and that is absolutely what I've seen this whole week. Not only from the players, not only from the coaching staff, not only from the organization, but from everybody. Everybody that's here, this is really truly a family. I know that Kobe and Gianna and Vanessa and everybody thank you from the bottom of their hearts as Kobe said."
"I look at this as a celebration tonight," he said. "This is a celebration of the 20 years of the blood, the sweat, the tears, the broken down body, the getting up, the sitting down, the countless hours, the determination to be as great as he could be. Tonight, we celebrate the kid that came here at 18 years of age, retired at 38 and became probably the best dad we've seen over the last three years."
James concluded his speech calling Bryant a brother. "I want to continue along with my teammates to continue his legacy, not only for this year, for as long as we can play the game of basketball as long as we can play the game of basketball, because that's what Kobe Bryant would want," James said. "In the words of Kobe Bryant, 'Mamba out,' but in the words of us, 'not forgotten.' Live on, brother."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
