Birthday tributes poured in on what would have been the 45th birthday of late Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant.
On August 23, Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, 41, paid tribute to her late husband on her Instagram page.
“Happy 45th birthday, baby. I love you always & forever,” she wrote.
The couple married in 2001.
Kobe Bryant’s daughter, Natalia Bryant, honored her father on her Instagram page, simply writing, “Happy Birthday Daddy.”
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Sharia Wash, sister of Kobe Bryant, also paid tribute to the basketball player and expressed she missed his “physical presence” daily.
“But your legacy will live on forever. Happy birthday Bean! Love you,” she wrote, referring to him as “one of a kind.”
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She concluded, “You are responsible for how people remember you—or don’t. So don’t take it lightly.”
LA Kings music director Deiter Ruehle, who once worked with Kobe Bryant, posted a throwback photo of them together on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Taking a moment to remember Kobe Bryant on what would’ve been his 45th birthday. Honored and flattered he sought me out to create music for his children’s podcast The Punies,” he wrote in the caption.
Deiter Ruehle added he, “Loved every minute working with him” and missed him “dearly.”
Hangin’ out with an old friend. #MambaMentality pic.twitter.com/8lAuyZVuR8
— Dieter Ruehle (@DieterRuehle) May 21, 2019
The Los Angeles Lakers celebrated the former player, whom they referred to as “the icon, legend, and Black Mamba.”
Join us in celebrating the icon, legend, and Black Mamba. Happy birthday, Kobe 💜 pic.twitter.com/mB0v5w9u76
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 23, 2023
“Happy birthday, Kobe,” the team wrote on X.
On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant along with his daughter, Gianna, 13, were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
The crash also claimed the lives of Payton Chester, 13, Alyssa Altobelli,14, Sarah Chester, 46, John Altobelli, 56, Keri Altobelli, 46, Christina Mauser, 38, and the helicopter’s pilot Ara Zobayan, 50, according to People.