Kobe Bryant had filed trademark for daughter Gianna's nickname 'Mambacita' a month before their deaths
The basketball legend had plans to make his daughter a big name, it seems. As per reports, the former NBA legend had filed to trademark her nickname ‘Mambacita’, on December 30, 2019. The name ‘Mambacita’ can be translated to ‘little mamba’ and is a twist to his own nickname ‘The Black Mamba’. Also fondly called Gigi, Gianna’s association with ‘Mambacita’ is not new. In fact, the Lakers star would often address his young girl with the coined nickname in his social media communication. It was to no surprise that the teenager was also enthusiastic about basketball and used to dedicatedly play, quite like her father, perhaps aspiring to be a professional someday.
As per filed documents gathered by E! Online, the idea of creating a trademark for Gianna was to turn it into a brand and associate it with athletic apparel like shirts, jerseys, sports shorts, shoes, etc.
However, even before the father’s plan for his daughter could go through, the two met with a horrific accident on January 26, 2020, as the helicopter they were traveling in crashed at Calabasas in California, killing the 41-year-old basketball legend and his 13-year-old daughter. There were nine other passengers on board the chopper and unfortunately, none of them managed to survive.
Since the news broke, a pall of gloom has spread across the nation with several athletes, Hollywood celebrities and fans of the basketball great sharing their condolences. Among sports stars, there were Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, and Magic Johnson paying their respects to the late hero on their respective social media accounts, most of them breaking into tears. But that was not all. As the 2020 Grammys got underway on Sunday night, hours after the tragic accident, musicians and music legends from all across the country honored Bryant and paid him a musical tribute.
Kobe had been a superstar of the LA Lakers for two decades and retired in 2016. He and his wife, Vanessa Laine Bryant were married for 15 years and had four children, Gianna, Natalia, Bianka and Capri.