Vanessa Bryant is releasing a new book called "Mamba & Mambacita Forever," in honor of her late husband Kobe Bryant and their late daughter Gianna Bryant, who both died in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
The upcoming "Mamba & Mambacita Forever" will feature photos and images from Andrew D. Bernstein and stories behind over 100 public murals from Los Angeles and around the world that are dedicated to the late basketball legend and his daughter, both of whom championed the sport of basketball and women's sports.
Kobe Bryant was an NBA All-Star and played for the Los Angeles Lakers for 20 years. He, his daughter Gianna, then 13, as well as seven others died after the helicopter they were traveling in crashed in Calabasas, California on Jan. 26, 2020. The passengers were all headed to a basketball tournament at the time.
"Mamba & Mambacita Forever" will be released Aug. 19, ahead of Kobe Bryant Day, which falls on Aug. 24.
"'Mamba & Mambacita Forever' ensures that the murals of Kobe and Gianna Bryant will live on even after the most monumental murals themselves have all crumbled," a press release about the forthcoming book said.
In a statement, Sean McDonald, the publisher of MCD Books, which is publishing the book, said in part, "The book that Vanessa Bryant has put together with Andy Bernstein (who I worked with closely on The Mamba Mentality), celebrating the murals that went up all over the world to celebrate Kobe and Gianna, is more than a balm for the loss we all still feel. The book is truly beautiful, and it is again such a thrill—and a genuine honor—to get to publish it. It does not, however, provide closure—because it only proves how much Kobe and Gianna live on."
Since her husband and daughter's unexpected deaths, Vanessa Bryant has been dedicated to keeping their legacies alive. She founded and is the chair of the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, a nonprofit that creates sports programming and works to provide a positive impact for children in sports in honor of Kobe and Gianna Bryant.
In addition to Gianna, Vanessa Bryant is also a mom to daughters Natalia, Bianka, and Capri, whom she shared with Kobe Bryant.
