Natalia Bryant continues to champion women’s sports. The daughter of Kobe and Vanessa Bryant recently celebrated the win of the New York Liberty, the WNBA team that just won the championship after a highly contested and exciting season.
Natalia shared a series of portraits initially shared by Sabrina Ionescu, one of the team’s biggest stars and her close family friend.
“So proud of you Sab,” she wrote in the comments section, adding a heart emoji.
Ionescu’s post was made up of different portraits of herself taken the night of her team’s win. She’s seen celebrating with some champagne, holding on to the stunning trophy, and cheering on the crowd and her team.
One of the photos shows her posing alongside her husband, Hroniss Grasu.
“Prayed for times like these,” she captioned the post. “CHAMP!”
Natalia and Ionescu’s relationship dates back years ago, with Ionescu being one of the people who supported the Bryant family following the death of Kobe and Gigig.
Earlier on this season, Ionescu spoke about the Mamba Mentality, a method that Bryant designed for his success.
She shared that this approach helped her stay calm in moments of high pressure, allowing her to score some of the match’s most important points.
“He’s always with me,” Ionescu said of Bryant to ESPN. “The lessons that he taught me, that Mamba Mentality. And going into that shot, I was like, ‘All right. This is what I have to do.’ You know what he always preached was just continue to be myself, believe in the work that I put in, and go out and take it, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Ionescu’s bond with the Bryant family
Ionescu’s bond with the Bryant family began when Kobe and Gigi watched Ionescu play college basketball. The group admired each other and remains in contact to this day, with Ionescu greeting and hugging the Bryant family after she helped the USA take gold in the Paris Olympics.
The sweet moment was televised, showing Ionescu running towards the Bryant’s and kissing the head of Bianka, one of the family’s youngest members. She’s then seen hugging Vanessa and Natalia.
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