“Happy birthday to my gorgeous girl, Gigi! I love you. I miss you. I’m so proud of you. 2024 was your year,” were Vanessa Bryant’s words 2 days ago. She posted a heartwarming video montage dedicated to Gigi on May 1st as it would have been her 18th birthday. It’s been 4 years since Kobe Bryant and Gianna passed away in a sudden helicopter crash. However, Vanessa has kept their memories alive through beautiful tributes over time. Remembering Gigi on her special day, Vanessa has shared a moving gift with people like Kim Kardashian, and South Carolina’s head coach, Dawn Staley. Now, joining this list is the star of the USC Trojans, JuJu Watkins.

Recently, JuJu Watkins received a pair of freshly released colorways of the Nike Kobe 8 Proto ‘Mambacita‘ as a special gift from Vanessa Bryant. Reportedly, Vanessa’s heart-touching gesture came as a celebratory tribute to Gianna aka Gigi on her 18th birthday. Gratified by the beautiful gift, JuJu posted a message on her Instagram stories with a picture of the Mamabacita kicks, which says, “@vanessabryant thank you so much.”

Nike, in collaboration with Vanessa, curated and released this gift two days ago. The $139 billion worth brand posted on Instagram a short video, unveiling the kicks accented in a white base with a black pattern symbolizing Gigi’s youth basketball uniform, with the butterflies signifying Gigi’s transformational impact on the game.

The post was captioned, “Gigi changed the game. Forever. On 5.1 we celebrate Gianna “Gigi” Bryant’s 18th birthday and the transformational impact she had on highlighting women’s sports with the release of the Kobe 8 Protro ‘Mambacita.'”

Interestingly, the Gianna-inspired sneakers were sold out within 24 hours of the release. What’s more intriguing about this tribute is that all the profits from the new colorway sneakers will benefit the Mambacita Sports Foundation, which is Vanessa Bryant’s non-profit foundation dedicated to supporting underserved child athletes.

Every year, Vanessa and Nike come up with these exceptional designs to honor Kobe and Gigi’s legacy, allowing people to have a piece of their influential lives.

The special capsule collection

Besides the newly released colorway of the Nike 8 Proto ‘Mambacita’, Nike, in collaboration with Vanessa, previously released the Nike Kobe 6 Proto Mambacita Sweet 16, celebrating Gigi’s 16th birthday. It was a limited edition design containing black and white colors along with Gigi’s jersey number and name on the back.

Similarly, on Gigi’s 17th birthday last year, they released the Nike Kobe 4 Proto Mambacita Gigi, honoring the father-daughter duo. The design inspiration was the classic Kobe 4 Proto style with black and white checkerboard accentuation on the hill with gold accents to give a color-popping profile to the shoe.

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For Kobe, the brand released a triple white version known as the Nike Kobe 8 Proto Halo, that has a 3D counter on the heel to keep the feet locked and stable with mesh for upper ventilation and comfort. However, this year’s tribute showcased the recent Nike Kobe 6 Proto Italian Camo, which was originally released last month. The sneakers have a camo pattern and bright red accents that add an extra profile to the whole ensemble. Moreover, the rubber sole gives an extra grip that allows you to make swift moves easily.

Let’s hope Vanessa and Nike continue giving fans these amazing tributes for the beloved father-daughter duo.