Next month, late superstar Kobe Bryant will be posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and his widow Vanessa could not be more pleased.
People magazine reports that after the Saturday announcement, Vanessa and their daughter Natalia, 17, made an appearance on ESPN to comment on the good news.
“It’s an incredible accomplishment and honor and we’re extremely proud of him, she said. “Obviously, we wish that he was here with us to celebrate, but it’s definitely the peak of his NBA career, and every accomplishment that he had as an athlete was a stepping stone to be here. So we’re incredibly proud of him.”
ESPN
Vanessa and Natalia made a rare appearance on ESPN to celebrate the news.
“There’s some solace in knowing that he was probably going to be a part of the 2020 Hall of Fame class,” she went on.
The other inductees will be Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan.
Kobe and his 13-year-old daughter with Vanessa, Gianna, perished in a January 26 helicopter crash that also took the lives of seven others. They had been heading to a basketball game.