Gianna Bryant Honoured With Jersey From UConn Women's Team She Aspired To Join

The University of Connecticuts womens basketball team honored Gianna Bryant at a game Monday night, the day after she and her father Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash.

Gianna, who was 13 when she died, had aspired to play for the NCAA team, and attended several UConn Huskies games with her dad, who once said she was hellbent on attending the college.

In the wake of the tragic accident in Calabasas, California, that killed the pair and seven other people on Sunday, the UConn womens team paid tribute to Gianna before their game against Team USA.

Mambacita is forever a Husky, they wrote, using the name Bryant had planned for his daughter to carry on his Black Mamba legacy on the court.

They set aside a No. 2 jersey the number Gianna wore on a courtside seat.

Mambacita is forever a Husky pic.twitter.com/3wdAbdK0Ye

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Mambacita is forever a Husky pic.twitter.com/3wdAbdK0Ye
UConn Women's Hoops (@UConnWBB) January 27, 2020

In August, Bryant had shared images of his daughters team, the Mambas, at a training session with some UConn players.

In a 2018 interview, Bryant said his daughter idolized Chicago Sky player Gabby Williams, who was drafted to the WNBA after attending UConn.

My daughter loves Gabby Williams, absolutely loves Gabby, loves [all of them], Bryant said, according to the Hartford Courant . She watches their interviews, watches how they play and learns not just in wins, but in tough losses, how they conduct themselves. Its great, as a parent, to be able to see my daughter pull inspiration from them.

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