This Fan Selfie May Be The Last Photo Of Kobe Bryant

Brady Smigiel took a nice selfie with his basketball idol Kobe Bryant at the Mamba Sports Academy on Saturday. This may be the latest photo of the Los Angeles Lakers legend. The 13-year-old fan was lucky enough to get one final selfie with Kobe Bryant.

Bryant died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. His daughter Gianna died in the crash, too. The legend and his daughter were traveling with seven other people. There are no survivors.

Brady played in the Mamba Cup for Team Edge last weekend. He played on the same team with his twin brother, Beau, and wanted to see Kobe before the games.

“They are both obsessed with basketball and big fans of Kobe,” the boys’ mom Dionne Reich Smigiel said. “Brady was writing to our ‘family text’ group all day. When we are in Newport Beach, Brady makes me drive by Kobe’s gate just in hopes he might be driving out at the same time.”

Fan gets his final selfie with Kobe Bryant

Kobe was at the academy to coach his daughter Gianna’s team, the Lady Mambas. The girls were playing in the Mamba Cup, too.

The Lady Mambas lost the first game to Cyfair Nikecoop 2024. Brady asked Kobe for a selfie after the loss.

“He said Kobe was ‘mad they lost’ and wouldn’t take a pic but gave him knuckles,” Smigiel said.

Gianna had another game on Sunday. Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester were her teammates and they were on board.

Brady asked Kobe for another selfie, and it happened after the Lady Mambas defeated the Tree of Hope Lloyd. It was blurry, but Kobe promised to get a better pic. “We’ll get a better pic tomorrow,” he told the boy.

The Smigiel family was devastated after the news of Kobe’s death broke. “We are struggling,” Brady’s mom said. “Kobe was such a presence in our little community of Newbury Park. My boys don’t know how to process this. I woke up on Sunday and heard there was a helicopter crash in Calabasas and said to my family, ‘Oh, my gosh, a helicopter just went down at the same time Kobe is supposed to arrive in Camarillo. Pray it’s not him and Gigi.’ Then an hour later we got the news. It’s just all so sad.”