 "Natalia Bryant remembers Kobe Bryant’s birthday with an enchanting photo")
Kobe Bryant would have celebrated his 45th birthday today. The legendary basketball player was born on August 23, 1978. To celebrate the occasion, his daughter Natalia Bryant shared a sweet Instagram story remembering her father.
© @nataliabryantNatalia shared the photo today showing a sweet moment between her and her father. The picture shows Natalia and her father in matching outfits. Natalia is a toddler in the picture and is wearing a red shirt with a brown coat. She appears to be jumping and smiling. Kobe is also wearing a red shirt and a brown coat, which he tops off with a hat and jeans. He looks happy and appears to be looking at Natalia.
“Happy birthday dad,” Natalia wrote over the photo, adding a heart emoji.
Kobe Bryant’s tribute at the US Open
Last night, Kobe Bryant’s birthday was commemorated with a special tribute at the US Open. Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios chose to wear Kobe’s Lakers jersey on the tennis court at the inaugural US Open Mixed Madness event, with both sporting the number 8 printed on their chests.
“Naomi is the captain of the team, so she ordered me to wear this and I just had to follow her example,” Kyrgios said, with Osaka interrupting to say he was the “fashionista” of her group. “I guess it was a group decision,” she concluded.
Kyrgios and Osaka played together against Amanda Anisimova and Taylor Fritz.
Kyrgios is an outspoken fan of Bryant and wore the Lakers jersey in a tennis match against Rafael Nadal in 2020. “I’ve never met Kobe, but basketball is practically my life, I watch it every day and have followed it for as long as I can remember,” Kyrgios said at the time. He revealed that he was motivated by Bryant and that he admired him greatly.
“I can never emulate what Kobe did, but maybe there are times in my life when I try,” he said.
