Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant would have been 44 on Tuesday. The Hall of Famer received numerous honors on his birthday, and this included one from WNBA superstar Sabrina Ionescu.
The New York Liberty were taking on the defending champions Chicago Sky in a do-or-die Game 3 matchup in the first round of the WNBA playoffs, and naturally, Ionescu just had to honor her idol on his special day. The 24-year-old came into the arena with a black Kobe Bryant jersey, and she was definitely exuding some Mamba Mentality on her way in (h/t ESPN on Twitter):
Sabrina Ionescu arrived to Game 3 in a Kobe Bryant jersey on his birthday 🐍
(via @WNBA) pic.twitter.com/tBAsV9yTmM
— ESPN (@espn) August 24, 2022
Ionescu was close to Kobe before his untimely passing, and the Liberty guard has kept close ties with Vanessa Bryant and the rest of the family. This isn't the first time Sabrina has honored Bryant, and she just had to make sure to pay homage to him in one of the most important games of her career.
The same can be said for Candace Parker, though. The Sky veteran also dawned some Bryant gear ahead of Game 3, with the future Hall of Famer showing off her Mambacita shirt in honor of Kobe's daughter, Gianna Bryant, who also died during that tragic helicopter crash a couple of years ago.
You know @Candace_Parker came in with this to honor @kobebryant on his birthday. #Mambamentality for elimination Game 3#mambacita pic.twitter.com/1pUnlUR0Ai
— Holly Rowe (@sportsiren) August 23, 2022
Kobe Bryant was a strong proponent of women's basketball, and I'm pretty sure he's smiling down from heaven looking at these two and the rest of the WNBA with a lot of pride. The league has risen in popularity over the past couple of years, and there's nowhere to go but up from here on out.
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