Even though there was a sea of team jerseys for the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LIV in Miami, the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant was still being remembered. Pregnant singer Ciara, 34, wore the Lakers superstar’s number 24 gold jersey to the big game on Feb. 2, 2020. Her baby bump was visible just underneath the number, in a series of Instagram photos CiCi shared during the Super Bowl. She paired Kobe’s jersey with wide-legged black pants and pair of gold shades. She and her husband, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, 31, announced they are expecting their second child on Jan. 30. Even though they wrote “number three” in their Instagram pic captions, since Russell is a loving stepdad to Ciara’s five-year-old son Future Zahir Jr. by rapper Future.
Russ also represented Kobe at the Super Bowl. The “Beauty Marks” singer showed two selfies of the couple in the stands at the game. Russell donned Kobe’s number eight jersey that Mamba wore for the first half of his storied 20 year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. The day after Kobe’s passing, Russ shared an Instagram photo of the two men running to hug each other and wrote in the caption, “You were one of my greatest inspirations. You will forever be missed. #RIP Kobe and Gianna. #MambaMentality 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾.”
There was a moment of silence before the Super Bowl began for Kobe, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and the seven others killed when their helicopter crashed into a foggy hillside in Calabasas, CA on Jan. 26. The Niners and Chiefs each lined up at the 24 yard line on either side of the field, the number Kobe wore when he retired from the NBA in 2016. Ciara and Russell weren’t the only ones at the game honoring Kobe’s memory, as the cameras panned to numerous other fans in the stands wearing Kobe’s gold number 24 Lakers jersey to the NFL’s biggest game.
The world continues to mourn the tragic passing of one of the greatest NBA players of all time, at the tender age of 41. A giant memorial has been set up in front of downtown L.A.’s Staples Center, the arena Kobe called his home court. Thousands of fans have visited and left mementos, photos, letters and other keepsakes in memory of Kobe and Gianna. Kobe’s wife Vanessa, 37, is so touched that she’s requested the items be kept and cataloged for her family. “Vanessa had reached out to us and said, ‘Our family would like the items out there,’” Lee Zeidman, president of the Staples Center, shared with the Los Angeles Times on Jan. 31.
“So we’re going to catalog every one of them,” Zeidman continued. “By that I mean, T-shirts, letters, basketballs, stuffed animals, toys. We’re going to put those in specially made containers and we’re going to ship them to the family.” It will take months for the sheer volume of items to arrive. But it will mean the world to Vanessa and her three daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 7 months, to see how much Kobe impacted and inspired the lives of so many people, and how deeply he was loved.