In 2018 Kobe Bryant founded The Mamba Sports Foundation to make a positive impact on young people through sports. The name was inspired by Bryant’s nickname on the court, Black Mamba.
His widow, Vanessa Bryant has announced the name will be changed to The Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation to honor both her late husband and daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant. Mamabacita was the name the 13-year-old earned on the basketball court.
On Thursday, Bryant made the announcement on Instagram, writing, “Because there is no #24 without #2, we have updated the Mamba Sports Foundation to now be called the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation. Our mission remains the same – and stronger than ever – to provide opportunities to young people through sports. Thank you all for the outpouring of support and your kind donations to date as we carry forth Kobe and Gigi’s legacy. We hope to empower young athletes in a world they left us all to help shape.”
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Gianna’s basketball skills were evident by ninth grade, she was expected to carry on her fathers legacy on the court. Check out the clip below from early January where she can be seen mastering her father’s fadeaway jumper.
Kobe Bryant, 41, Gianna, 13, and seven other people were killed on January 26 while taking a helicopter to the Mamba Academy for basketball practice in nearby Thousand Oaks. The aircraft crashed in Calabasas and killed everyone on board.
Kobe and Gianna were laid to rest at a private funeral in Corona Del Mar, California on February 7, the Los Angeles Times reported.
On February 24, a public memorial is scheduled to take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Kobe and Vanessa Bryant would have celebrated their nineteenth wedding anniversary this April.
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Vanessa Bryant Changes Name Of Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Sports Foundation was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
