Vanessa Bryant Pays Tribute to Husband Kobe on What Would’ve Been His 46th Birthday

Vanessa and Mambacita Sports released a new purple and gold collection in honor of the basketball legend’s birthday

Vanessa Bryant took to Instagram Wednesday to remember the love of her life.

On what would’ve been the basketball legend’s 45th birthday (Aug. 23), Kobe Bryant’s wife shared a touching tribute to her late husband, wishing him a happy birthday. The post included multiple old pictures of the two throughout their years together.

“Happy birthday, baby. I love you always & forever #82378,” she wrote alongside a heart emoji, with a hashtag that referenced his birthday.

The carousel of photos featured the couple during happier times, side by side at various occasions.

Vanessa Bryant also commemorated the special day by unveiling the new Kobe Bryant 8 Protro sneaker she designed. The black-and-white sneakers were featured on the Nike website as well as Vanessa Bryant’s Instagram post.

“The Halo concept will be an annual release that will honor and celebrate this special date,” Nike wrote on their website.

“Kobe 8 ‘Halo’ 8.23.23 This will be one of many Kobe 8 ‘Halo’ styles coming soon,” she wrote in the caption of the teaser clip earlier this month, alongside two white heart emojis.

Her dedication to the basketball icon comes a little over three years after Bryant and their daughter, 13-year-old Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, died in a tragic helicopter crash back in January of 2020.

The pair were married for two decades after first meeting on the set of a music video in 1999 when the Lakers star player was 20 and Vanessa Bryant was 17.

Two years later, the two tied the knot on April 18, 2001, in Dana Point, Calif. After, the two welcomed daughters Natalia in 2003 and Gianna in 2006.

After Bryant’s retirement from the NBA after 20 seasons in 2015, the couple went on to have two more daughters, Bianka in 2016 and Capri in 2019, People and E-News reported.