Vanessa Bryant has a permanent reminder of late husband Kobe and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna, both of whom perished in a helicopter crash along with seven others in late January.
On Wednesday, Vanessa revealed that she got two tattoos to honor Kobe and Gianna.
Along with a video of tattoo artist Nikko Hurtado working on her wrist in February, she wrote on Instagram, “Shoutout to @nikkohurtado for coming over and helping me get my Gigi’s sweet message transferred on me. ❤️#throwbacktoFebruary.”
In another video, Hurtado is seen working on Vanessa’s neck as she recorded the session. She wrote, “I wanted my boo boo’s @kobebryant sweet message transferred on me. ❤️@nikkohurtado came through for me. Thank you! #inked #messagetransfer #BooBoo #throwback #tattooinmyhallway.”
Hurtado responded in his own post, “Truly honored to give you something to keep with you my friend. 🙏🏼.”
Vanessa hasn’t revealed what messages were inked on her body.
In February, Kobe’s sister Sharia also paid tribute to Kobe and Gianna with a tattoo, which features their jersey numbers surrounded by a snake in the shape of an infinity symbol.
The snake symbolizes Kobe’s famous nickname, “Black Mamba.”
Sharia thanked tattoo artist Peter Barrios, who wrote on Instagram, “I didn’t take my own photo out of respect but today I had the honor of tattooing a memorial tattoo on @shariawash. Thank you for laughing with me today and letting me do this for you. I will never forget our conversations. Much love and respect your family. 🙏🏾.”
At Kobe and Gianna’s memorial, Sharia was spotted in the first row with sister Shaya and their parents Pam and Joe Bryant. The family didn’t not speak but Shaquille O’Neal made sure to acknowledge them in some way. During his speech, he said, “I could tell you that what filled Kobe’s heart with the most pride was his role as a loving husband to Vanessa, daddy to Gigi, Natalia, Bianka and baby Capri, and [being] a loving son and brother. Kobe was a loyal friend and a true renaissance man.”’
Other big names to honor Kobe with a tattoo are LeBron James, Anthony Davis and The Game.
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In 2003, Kobe got a tattoo on his right shoulder to honor Vanessa. Her name was surrounded by a butterfly and crown. Years later, he would also ink their daughters’ names on his right forearm.