During Lakers Night, Natalia was accompanied by her friends Vanessa, Bianka, and Capri.
On Friday night at Dodger Stadium, the Bryant family honored the lives of Kobe and Gigi Bryant by celebrating their legacy. Natalia Bryant, Kobe and Gigi’s daughter, took the lead in the festivities and threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Lakers Night at Chavez Ravine was attended by Natalia, Vanessa, Bianka, and Capri, but it was Natalia who demonstrated her throwing prowess to the crowd. Capri and Bianka also attended. Natalia took her place in front of the pitching mound, dressed in a white Dodgers jersey that had Kobe Bryant’s number 8 on the front and his number 24 on the back, and threw out the first pitch of the game. Natalia’s ball was caught by Dodgers player Mookie Betts, who at the time was wearing a Kobe Lakers shirt over the top of his Dodgers outfit.
After Natalia’s pitch, there was an extremely adorable moment when 6-year-old Bianka was handed the microphone and asked to say the famous line that the late Vin Scully shouted for almost seven decades before to the start of every Los Angeles Dodgers game: “It’s time for Dodger baseball!” The moment was incredibly charming, and it was a moment that everyone will remember for a long time.
Not everyone on the field was sporting a Dodgers or Kobe Bryant jersey like the Bryant brothers, however. Natalia was doing her thing in front of the mound as the rest of the Dodgers team was in the dugout wearing Kobe shirts and watching Natalia. Following the ceremonial first pitch, the Los Angeles Dodgers gave the Mambacita family a contribution of one hundred thousand dollars to the Mambacita Sports Foundation.
After the game, the Dodgers put on their last drone show of the year, which included an incredible recreation of Kobe Bryant making his statement after his final game in April of 2016. In less than four years’ time, in January of 2020, a helicopter disaster claimed the lives of Kobe, Gigi, and seven other people. Gigi was just 13 years old when Kobe was 41.
In the beginning of this year, the public forecourt of the TCL Chinese Theatre was outfitted with a permanent exhibition of Kobe’s hand and footprint. Kobe was the first athlete in the history of the illustrious theater to ever have his hands and feet inscribed in the building’s cement.
In the video footage, Vanessa is heard saying, “As you are aware, Kobe spent his entire 20-year NBA career playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.” “Ever since moving to this city and becoming a member of the Lakers organization, he has had the distinct impression that he is right at home here in the City of Angels.”
She continued by saying, “On behalf of the Lakers, my daughters and I, I am so honored that, right in the center of Los Angeles, in front of the place known as ‘The House That Kobe Built,’ we are going to unveil his statue so that his legacy can be celebrated for all of eternity.” I look forward to seeing you there!
The news of the pregnancy was broken only one day after Vanessa had commemorated what would have been Kobe’s 45th birthday.