Jeanie Buss shares story of how Kobe and Gianna Bryant helped her after her father died
When Jeanie Buss was mourning the death of her father, Jerry Buss, Kobe Bryant and his young daughter Gianna were there to help. She considered them family, and called on Lakers fans to “heal together.”
Of all the people in the Los Angeles Lakers organization, it’s safe to guess that team governor Jeanie Buss was among the closest to Kobe Bryant and his family. She’s known Bryant since he was just a 17-year-old, and watched him develop into a 41-year-old husband, and father to four daughters.
When Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, perished along with seven others in a helicopter crash on Sunday, the entire Lakers organization was rocked by the loss. While the thoughts of various members of the organization have begun to filter out in the intervening days, Buss (completely understandably) remained silent publicly, in mourning over the tragedy along with the rest of the world.
On Thursday morning, Buss broke that silence, and did so with a touching and beautiful story about how Kobe and Gianna once helped her mourn the loss of her own father, legendary Lakers owner Jerry Buss. She shared this memory alongside a photo of her with the Bryant family, and a commitment that she and Lakers fans will “heal together, love together and win TOGETHER.”
The whole thing is worth reading in its entirety below:
Those were strong, beautiful and heartbreaking words from Buss, and it’s hard not to have endless respect for her and Vanessa for sharing their thoughts with a public that they don’t owe them to.
Grieving is hard enough on its own, and it has to be even more difficult under a spotlight. All any of us can do is continue to support anyone that shares their grief right now, and band together as a community to try and get through a tragic loss that has hit everyone involved with this team really hard.
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