It has been four years since the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant. To commemorate and celebrate her daughter’s life and contribution to the game of basketball, Vanessa Bryant, in conjunction with Nike, is honoring Gianna with the upcoming release of a new colorway of the Nike Kobe 8 “Mambacita” shoes.
The mother-of-four shared posts of the shoes on her official Instagram account, captioning one of the carousels of images, “MAMBACITA 5/1/2006 GIGI.”
Nike also shared a touching reel of the shoe design in which they began, “Gigi changed the game. Forever.”
The post continued, “On 5.1 we celebrate Gianna “Gigi” Bryant’s 18th birthday and the transformational impact she had on highlighting women’s sports with the release of the Kobe 8 Protro ‘Mambacita’. Available on SNKRS in select regions. Profits benefit the @mambamambacitasports Foundation.”
The new shoes feature a black, white, and gold butterfly theme. The 41-year-old businesswoman, philanthropist, and model also shared shared Nike’s Instagram reel with her social media followers as well.
As mentioned in the Nike post, profits from the new colorway shoes will benefit the Mambacita Sports Foundation. The Mambacita Sports Foundation is a nonprofit organization that Bryant created that is dedicated to supporting underserved child athletes.
Gianna “Gigi” Bryant died alongside her father in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA. Kobe and GiGi were two of nine total victims in the fatal accident. Vanessa Bryant, at the time, joined the families of the other victims and sued the helicopter owners for failing to meet recommended safety regulations that may have been able to prevent the horrendous crash.
In addition to Gianna, Vanessa and Kobe Bryant share three other daughters: Natalia, Bianka, and Capri Kobe.
The special edition shoes will be available for purchase on Gianna’s birthday, May 1.
Photo: Nike Instagram; Vanessa Bryant Instagram
