Vanessa Bryant was spotted at Barclays Center watching her friend Sabrina Ionescu — the three-pointer phenom for the New York Liberty — beat the Chicago Sky.
Sitting courtside with her three daughters on Tuesday, June 10, Kobe Bryant’s widow wore a red coat with matching stilettos and bandana for her first public appearance since firmly squashing pregnancy rumors. After the pregnancy chatter swept social media, Vanessa posted an Instagram Story denying the rumors on Sunday, June 1, according to E! News.
Vanessa, 43, and daughters Natalia Bryant, 22, Bianka Bryant, 8, and Capri Bryant, 5, were all smiles as they waved to the camera in a Wednesday, June 11 Instagram post shared by the WNBA, NBA, and NY Liberty.
“Beautiful family,” wrote one commenter. “Kobe is watching over." A second fan added, “And Gigi.”
LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and rising basketball star daughter Gigi Bryant, 13, tragically died in a helicopter crash in January 2020. The father-daughter duo first got to know Ionescu when she was a college athlete playing for the Oregon Ducks.
A second WNBA post showed Ionescu — who led the Liberty to an 85–66 win with 23 points and seven assists — giving Bianka a huge hug and posing for photos. The Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, who led her team with a season-high 17 points and 11 rebounds, also greeted the family. In a third post shared by the Chicago Sky and WNBA, Reese was shown hugging Vanessa and her daughters.
“Love you, love you,” Ionescu told Vanessa in the fourth and final post, which also showed the Liberty star hugging Coco Gauff and holding a Liberty jersey that was given to the recent French Open winner at the game.
“Special moments postgame between Sabrina, the Bryants, and Coco 🧡,” read the caption for the post shared by both the WNBA and the New York team.
The comments section was immediately flooded with red heart and heart-eyes emojis.