Kobe Bryant's Wife Vanessa Pays Tribute to Basketball Legend and Daughter Gianna in Upcoming Book

Vanessa Bryant will release a new book this summer commemorating her late husband, Basketball legend Kobe Bryant, and daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant. Mamba and Mambacita forever (MCD) is scheduled to hit shelves on August 19, 2025, a few days before August 24, the day designated as “Kobe Bryant Day” in Los Angeles and Orange County. Kobe and Gianna were tragically killed in a helicopter crash in 2020.

The volume will honor Kobe's legacy as well as Gianna, a talented athlete passionate about promoting women's sports. By collecting images and stories of tributes to the father-daughter duo that have appeared around the world in Mamba and Mambacita foreverVanessa is “ensuring that the Kobe and Gianna Bryant murals will live on even after the more monumental murals themselves have all collapsed,” according to a press release. “Overall, what emerges is the story of a man who became even more than he himself could have imagined, an avatar of determination, discipline and competitiveness. »

Vanessa collaborated with the photographer Andrew D. Bernstein on the book. Bernstein also worked with Kobe on his 2018 tome, The Mamba Mentality.

Kobe was just 41 years old and already a legend after two decades of excellence with the Los Angeles Lakers when the helicopter carrying him, 13-year-old Gianna, and several other players and parents from the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team Gianna crashed in Calabasas, California in January. December 26, 2020. All nine people on board, including the pilot, died in the accident.

After the tragic accident, Vanessa founded the Mamba & Mambacita Foundation in honor of her late family members. The organization works to promote access to sports for children through a variety of channels. When Vanessa won a settlement in her lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for invasion of privacy after footage of the fatal helicopter crash was made public, she donated the $16 million dollars that had been granted to him at the foundation. Last week, the foundation donated 8,000 items of clothing and sneakers to distribute to those affected by the California wildfires.