Vanessa Bryant Shares Video of Daughters Bianka and Capri Playing Basketball with 'Uncle' Pau Gasol
Vanessa Bryant Instagram
Paul Gasol is teaching Vanessa and Kobe Bryant's daughters some basketball skills.
On Monday, Vanessa shared a series of photos and videos on Instagram, showing her youngest daughters, Bianka, 4, and Capri, 2, spending time with the NBA legend, who was also Kobe's former teammate. One post captures Gasol dribbling a ball through the Los Angeles Lakers practice facility as Bianka and Capri play by his side.
Other images show the 41-year-old retired basketball player sweetly lifting Bianka into the air so the little one can practice her shot. In the caption of one post, Vanessa, 39, fondly refers to Gasol as "Uncle" and writes "Kobe's Principessas" over another.
Vanessa Bryant Instagram
RELATED: Pau Gasol on Being a Proud Girl Dad, Supporting Vanessa Bryant and Her Daughters
Since Kobe's untimely death in the January 2020 helicopter crash that also killed his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, Gasol has been a source of emotional support for Kobe's wife, Vanessa, and their three daughters, Natalia, 18, Bianka and Capri.
Vanessa Bryant Instagram
From surprising them with flowers and gifts to taking a trip together to the San Francisco Bay Area in August of last year, Gasol and his wife, Catherine McDonnell, have stood by the Bryants since the devastating accident.
Gasol and McDonnell even named their daughter "Elisabet Gianna Gasol" in memory of Kobe and Vanessa's late daughter.
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Vanessa Bryant Instagram
In his recent documentary Pau Gasol: It's About the Journey, which premiered Nov. 12, the retired athlete tearfully spoke about the Bryant family just days after the fatal accident.
"He used to tell me, 'I'll send you my daughters so you can teach them about culture, awareness, things. And you send me your sons and I'll teach them to be tough, to fight, to work and go for it.' Well, I'll try to be there for his daughters," Gasol said in footage from Jan. 29, 2020.
"The eldest, Natalia, is practically a woman, and his two little girls had practically no chance to get to know him. It's a very tough moment to come to grips with, to absorb, to accept," he added.
Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol
Gasol also opened up about learning of Kobe's death to the Los Angeles Times in February 2020, saying: "I just started crying, it was hard to find words, I couldn't talk to anyone for days."
"I basically didn't leave the house," he added.
Although he was grief-stricken, Gasol said he immediately connected with Vanessa, to let her know she had his support.
"I couldn't imagine the pain she was going through, because if I was struggling, her loss was plural. I couldn't even think of what that felt like, and I wouldn't know what to say," Gasol told the newspaper. "At the end of the day, that's what I consider us to be, family."
