Kobe Bryant’s widow Vanessa has had her Instagram followers jump from 1.5million on January 29 to more than 9.9 million on Sunday 2 February.
It may be that some of her husband’s 20 million plus followers have decided to follow Queen Mamba, since Kobe passed on 26 January.
Screen shot of Vanessa’s Instagram account on 29 January, when she changed her profile page and replaced it with the photo of her late husband and 13 year-old daughter Gianna, showed that she had just 1.5m followers on her verified account.
In her post on Sunday, she posted a tribute to her late daughter Gianna “Gigi”.
The post featured what appears to be a painting of Gigi, 13, in a Los Angeles Lakers jersey holding a basketball.
“Seeing my babygirl smile and happy again with a basketball under her arm, wrapped in love just warmed my heart. Thank you for this [Reina Koyano] thank you!! My Gigi.”
Gigi, along with her father and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday 26 January. The chopper was reportedly heading to a sports academy in Thousands Oaks, California, for Gigi’s basketball game.
Kobe who was 41 years old, was a five-time NBA champion and 18-time NBA All-Star.
In 2018, he won an Academy Award for his short film, “Dear Basketball.”
He is survived by his wife, Vanessa, and three daughters.
