Vanessa Bryant told her daughter Natalia that her late dad Kobe would be "so proud" of her.
Vanessa and Kobe Bryant
The late NBA legend's widow shared a heartwarming clip of their 18-year-old daughter looking overjoyed as she celebrated getting accepted into the University of Southern California.
Jumping up and down in a USC top, she shouted: "I got in!"
Vanessa, 38, was delighted for her eldest child, and wrote on Instagram: "Tears of joy. I’m SO happy for you Nani! I know daddy is so PROUD OF YOU. I am so PROUD OF YOU!!
"Your hard work and dedication was so worth it. You pushed through the most excruciating pain imaginable and you succeeded.
"I wish Daddy and Gigi were physically here to celebrate but I know they’re here in spirit. We love you so much! #USC #Trojan #FightOn (sic)"
Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna tragically died in a fatal helicopter crash in January 2020.
When Vanessa feels overcome with her loss she thinks of her departed loved-ones and her three children, Natalia, Bianka, four, and 20-month-old Capri, to give her strength.
She said: "I guess the best way to describe it is that Kobe and Gigi motivate me to keep going. They inspire me to try harder and be better every day.
"Their love is unconditional and they motivate me in so many different ways."
Vanessa admitted the grief has been "unimaginable" since Kobe's death at the age of 41, but she wants to push on to make the best life for both herself and her family.
She said: "This pain is unimaginable [but] you just have to get up and push forward.
"Lying in bed crying isn't going to change the fact that my family will never be the same again.
"But getting out of bed and pushing forward is going to make the day better for my girls and for me. So that's what I do."
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