After the tragic deaths of basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash on Sunday, tributes to the NBA All-Star have been flooding in. Bryant, Gianna, and seven other people died as a result of the crash, while father and daughter traveled to the Mamba Academy for basketball practice in Thousand Oaks.
Fans of the Lakers player have since launched a petition, which currently boasts over 246,000 signatures, aimed at convincing the NBA to change the man on its logo from Jerry West to Bryant.
Watch the full news report on Kobe and Gianna's deaths below:Now, The University of Connecticut, Gianna's dream college, has honoured her memory with a special Huskies jersey which features the teen's number emblazoned on the front. The Huskies' official Twitter account shared a photo of the jersey, captioning it: "Mambacita is forever a Husky. [sic]"
Not only that, during a game on Monday, the team reserved a seat for Giana, placing her jersey next to a bouquet of white roses and daisies tied with a blue bow. They also observed a 24-second-long moment of silence to reflect on the tragedy.
Per the BBC, NBA commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement about the 41-year-old's death: "The NBA family is devastated by the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.
He continued: "For 20 seasons, Kobe showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with an absolute devotion to winning. He was one of the most extraordinary players in the history of our game with accomplishments that are legendary.
"But he will be remembered most for inspiring people around the world to pick up a basketball and compete to the very best of their ability.
"He was generous with the wisdom he acquired and saw it as his mission to share it with future generations of players, taking special delight in passing down his love of the game to Gianna."
.jpg_hGDRfu?tr=h-184)
