Kobe Bryant was looking out for his daughter Gianna when he filed to trademark her very own basketball nickname in December.
As per a new report from TMZ, the celebrity gossip outlet obtained paperwork filed by Kobe for the name "Mambacita" on December 30, 2019. As you know, the name is a sweet nod to his own moniker, the Black Mamba, as well as her own strengths as a budding player, who had dreams of making it to the WNBA. According to the documents, the plan was to add the name to all kinds of sportswear, including shirts, shorts, hats, jerseys, sweatpants, sweatshirts and hoodies.
If you followed the NBA giant on social media, you already know that Bryant had been referring to his 13-year-old daughter by the nickname, particularly during one Instagram post from November. "I hate seeing my #teammamba girls play against each other. This is GREAT defense by our mamba pg Alyssa Altobelli and a familiar looking fade by our 2gd the #Mambacita," he captioned the post.
The former Los Angeles Lakers' life was cut short after his helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California on Sunday (January 26), killing all nine passengers on board, including Gianna. Bryant was 41. They are survived by his wife Vanessa Bryant, as well as their children,Natalia, 17,Bianka, 3, and Capri, 7 months.
In a resurfaced interview with Alex Rodriguez, the basketball icon explained why he chose to often travel via helicopter. "Traffic started getting really, really bad," Kobe said of his days traveling to and from basketball practice. "And I was sitting in traffic and I wound up missing like a school play, because I was sitting in traffic... I had to figure out a way where I could still train and focus on the craft but still not compromise family time. So that’s when I looked into helicopters, to be able to get down and back in 15 minutes and that’s when it started."