Vanessa Bryant shares snaps of daughters Capri and Bianka visiting dad Kobe’s Hall of Fame exhibit

Vanessa Bryant shared some sweet snaps of her youngest daughters visiting their late father Kobe’s exhibit at the Basketball Hall of Fame.

 Capri, 22 months, and Bianka, 4, had huge smiles on their faces as they posed in front of iconic images and memorabilia from their father’s storied NBA career. 

Kobe is being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts on Saturday but also got his own stand-alone tribute called Kobe: A Basketball Life which Vanessa, 39, and her three children visited.

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This comes nearly a year and a half after Kobe and daughter Gianna – AKA Gigi – tragically died in a helicopter accident along with seven others on January 26, 2020. 

The two youngest honored their older sister Gigi by wearing the tie-dyed Mambacita-branded sweat suits which were recently released by Vanessa.

The athleisure was launched in conjunction with brand Dannijo, by Vanessa in honor of her late daughter Gianna and husband Kobe.  

NBA star Kobe was nicknamed the Black Mamba, and his daughter earned the nickname Mambacita as she was a fledgling basketball star in her own right at the time of her death.

The 600-square-foot exhibit was co-designed by Vanessa as this is the first time something like this has happened since Michael Jordan – who will be joining Vanessa on stage to honor the late star at the Hall of Fame  – was inducted in 2009.

The immersive space will feature Kobe’s accomplishments on-and-off of the basketball court as there will be memorabilia including a portion of hardwood from his Lower Merion High School court which he played on and replicas of the five championship rings he won with the Los Angeles Lakers.

As if that wasn’t already enough there were several game-worn jerseys and even the Nike Kobe I sneakers which he scored 81-points wearing in January 2006.

 His Oscar-winning animated short film Dear Basketball will also be on display.

Vanessa also shared an emotional photo – taken by eldest daughter Natalia, 18 – of herself with her eyes closed in front of a photo of Kobe at the exhibit.

She captioned the image to her 14.7million followers: ‘Love you always. [heart emoji] @kobebryant [camera emoji]: @nataliabryant’

Kobe – who will be inducted alongside rivals Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan – is part of one of the most legendary Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame classes in history.

He has definitely earned the honor as he is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all-time as he lead the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA championships including two NBA Finals MVPs and a single season MVP in 2008.

Kobe made the rare jump from the high school to the NBA in 1996 and had one of the most storied careers in the sport as an 18-time NBA All-Star, as he won four MVPS, and made 11 All-NBA first teams. 

Kobe met Vanessa in 1999 when she 17 and was working as a background model on a music video. The couple got engaged six months later and married in 2001.  

They welcomed daughters Natalia in 2003, Gianna in 2006, Bianka in 2016 and Capri in 2019.      

Kobe and daughter Gianna, a youth basketball standout, had been on their way to the Mamba Academy for basketball practice when their helicopter crashed at around 10am. The seven other people on board were also tragically killed.

The pilot – named locally as Ara Zobayan – was trying to turn the aircraft when it smashed into hills of Las Virgenes Canyon, which is home to celebrities including the Kardashians.

Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Kerry, and their daughter Alyssa were also among dead.