Kobe Bryant crash: Vanessa Bryant posts heartbreaking message to late daughter Gigi on what would have been her 18th birthday

Vanessa Bryant and daughter Gianna in 2017. Photo / Getty

The widow of Kobe Bryant has posted a heartbreaking message for her late daughter Gianna on what would have been her 18th birthday.

Gianna and her father Kobe Bryant, the former Lakers star, five-time NBA champion and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, were traveling with seven others to a youth basketball game when the helicopter they were aboard crashed into hills in Calabasas west of Los Angeles on Jan. 26, 2020.

Federal safety officials blamed pilot error for the crash.

On Wednesday, Vanessa Bryant posted on Instagram writing: “Happy birthday to my gorgeous girl, Gigi! I love you. I miss you. I’m so proud of you.”

“2024 was your year. You would have been graduating high school and choosing which college to go to. (I would have been trying my hardest to convince you to stay close to home).

“I’m proud of the change in sports you and daddy worked so hard on,” Vanessa Bryant added. “You continue to motivate me and inspire young women and girls daily. I love you always, mommy.”

In August 2022, a federal jury found that Los Angeles County must pay Vanessa Bryant US$16 million (NZ$25.9m) for emotional distress caused by deputies and firefighters sharing photos of the bodies her husband and daughter taken at the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed them.