Both were willing to outwork their opponents. There were similarities in how father and daughter looked - the dark, piercing eyes, especially - but Loyd also saw similarities in the way father and daughter played the game. “He said how proud he was of me and how he wants me to continue to be a role model for kids growing up, for Gigi,” Young said. 11.Īfterward, Young recalled some of his final conversation with Bryant. 8 jersey, before switching back to his customary No. So Young paid tribute Sunday by opening a Hawks game in a No. Atlanta’s Trae Young couldn’t believe it when Bryant told him that Gigi was a huge fan of his and was trying to emulate parts of his game. If that didn’t say Kobe, I don’t know what does.”Įven NBA players were impressed. “She stayed still and watched the entire time. “When I went to work out with Kobe, most kids her age would be on the tablet,” Loyd said. Her description of Gigi? “Awesome,” Loyd said. They played against Bryant’s team, and over the years Loyd and Bryant forged an extremely special, extremely close bond. Jewell Loyd of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm knew plenty about Gigi.
2 jersey with a bouquet of flowers across it on the team’s bench. women’s national team Monday night, UConn draped a No. UConn was aware of Gigi’s affinity for the Huskies and paid a fitting tribute. UConn has been the gold standard in the women’s college game for a generation, driven by excellence. So is UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who was heartbroken by the news of the crash Sunday. Bryant played in Los Angeles, but he was a Philadelphia guy. The UConn allegiance made all the sense in the world. “It’s intimidating to have to follow in those footsteps,” Williams added, “but she really embraced it.” But my favorite part about her was just seeing how much she loved the game and loved to learn. “And then (she would) walk off the court with the biggest, sweetest smile on her face. “She had the right mentality, so confident, relentless, so mean and aggressive,” Williams said. She would FaceTime with the Bryants before games, gave Gigi her Chicago Sky uniforms, even practiced with Gigi and her teammates and was blown away by how hard she had to play against them. Williams was floored when Gigi told her she was her favorite player. “From what I saw,” Williams said Monday, “she was going to be heaps better than me.” Many of Gigi’s favorite players had UConn ties, like Katie Lou Samuelson - she had played for Davis, which led to the initial connection between him and Bryant - and Gabby Williams.
But she came to me about a year and a half ago and said, ‘Can you teach me the game?’ I said, ‘Sure.’ We started working a little bit and the next thing you know it became a true passion of hers.
“She started out playing soccer, which I love. Bryant wore a UConn shirt - just like Gigi was - and told SNY television during an in-game interview that he was thrilled that one of his daughters wanted to follow in his sneakers and take up the family basketball business. “Gigi getting better every day,” her dad wrote.īryant and Gigi went to a UConn home game against Houston last March.
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