UConn honors Gianna Bryant with own jersey, spot on the bench

Kobe Bryant’s daughter Gianna was determined to play for the UConn women’s basketball team when she went to college, and the Huskies found a way to honor her the day after she, her father and seven others died in a helicopter crash.

UConn gave Gianna Bryant her own custom No. 2 jersey and saved her a seat on the bench for their exhibition game against team USA.

#UConn honoring Gianna and Kobe with flowers on bench ahead of matchup with @usabasketball pic.twitter.com/WQ65zQdzrw

— Charlotte Carroll (@charlottecrrll) January 27, 2020

Former UConn star Breanna Stewart, who was taking part in the scrimmage as a member of Team USA, paid tribute to all nine victims of the crash by writing their names on her sneakers.

Breanna Stewart honoring all nine victims of helicopter crash that killed Kobe and Gianna ahead of @UConnWBB and @usabasketball matchup. She had @sportsiren’s help with writing their names. #UConn pic.twitter.com/fwd9OCAdlF

— Charlotte Carroll (@charlottecrrll) January 27, 2020

Kobe and Gianna, who was 13, attended a game at Gampel Pavilion on the University of Connecticut campus last season. Both were decked out in Huskies gear and posed for a photo with UConn legend Rebecca Lobo, who was being honored that night. Gianna also took a photo with the team.

View this post on Instagram

Had a great trip to @uconnwbb for senior night and the retirement of basketball legend @promise50 with my baby Gigi. Thank you Gampel, Thank you Coach Geno and Cd for the warm welcome. Good luck the rest of the way #mambamentality #wizenard

A post shared by Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) on Mar 2, 2019 at 9:22pm PST

Kobe said after he retired that Gianna’s passion for basketball rekindled his love for the game. He said he didn’t really watch much basketball in retirement until his daughter became such an enthusiast. Back in 2018, Kobe had a friendly exchange with Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, who told Bryant he needed to convince Gianna to go to UCLA. Kobe said Gianna was “hell-bent on UConn.”

Reggie Miller tries to convince Kobe Bryant to send his daughter to play basketball at UCLA but he says she is hellbent on going to UConn. pic.twitter.com/zz1D5SbFe8

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) October 26, 2018

Geno Auriemma’s team has dominated women’s college basketball for the better part of two decades now, so it’s no surprise Gianna wanted to play for UConn. We’ve seen some incredible tributes thus far for Kobe in the NBA, but it was great to see the Huskies acknowledge Gianna. Their program clearly meant a lot to her even though she was years away from being able to potentially join them.

More Larry Brown Sports coverage of Kobe Bryant’s death:

Don’t miss any news
– Follow Larry Brown Sports on Twitter
– Join our Facebook group
– Download the Larry Brown Sports app on your iOS device
– Subscribe to our newsletter (sign up here)

Other victims of the helicopter crash:
– John Altobelli, junior college baseball coach, also died in helicopter crash
– Christina Mauser, girls’ basketball coach, among the helicopter crash victims
– Sarah Chester, daughter Payton were also killed in Kobe Bryant helicopter crash
– Ara Zobayan was the pilot in Kobe Bryant helicopter crash

Tributes to Kobe:
– Dallas Mavericks retire Kobe Bryant’s No. 24 jersey
– Video: Raptors, Spurs start game with amazing tribute to Kobe Bryant
– Shaq posts heartfelt tribute to Kobe Bryant
– Michael Jordan releases statement on death of ‘little brother’ Kobe Bryant
– Video: Doc Rivers breaks down crying talking about Kobe Bryant
– Phil Jackson calls Kobe Bryant ‘a chosen one’ in statement on his death
– NBA commissioner Adam Silver issues statement on death of Kobe Bryant
– Video: Dwyane Wade posts emotional message reacting to Kobe Bryant’s death
– Kendrick Perkins extends olive branch to Kevin Durant after Kobe Bryant’s death
– Video: Emotional Mike Breen sums up NBA world’s emotions about Kobe Bryant’s death
– Trae Young’s huge game was full of Kobe Bryant-related statistical coincidences