Just a few days before Kobe Bryant’s 46th birthday, Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios paid tribute to the late basketball legend.
Ahead of the 2024 US Open, two tennis stars teamed up in an exhibition doubles match on Tuesday. on August 20 and arrived at center court wearing the same jerseys to honor the NBA star who was tragically killed in a helicopter crash in 2020.
To battle Taylor Fritz and Amanda Anisimova in the inaugural Mixed Madness event, which was held at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, Osaka, 26, represented Bryant and his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, wearing the black No. 8 jersey.
Kyrgios, 29, wore the yellow jersey number 24, the same number Bryant changed to later in his career.
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Along with a video of the pair arriving at the event together, the US Open Instagram account wrote: βNaomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios rockin’ Kobe Bryant jerseys. ππ.β
After the pre-tournament match, in which the duo lost to Fritz and Anisimova, Osaka shared a post on Instagram highlighting their matching Bryant jerseys.
Along with a photo of the pair high-fiving on the court β plus a close-up of the back of her squirrel β the star shared a caption paying tribute to Bryant with a nod to his nickname and alter ego, Black Mamba: βπβΎοΈβ€οΈ. ”
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Kyrgios also highlighted the match and their tribute to Bryant with a video of the pair on court on Tuesday. In the caption, he wrote: “Two people who have taken completely different journeys… through negativity, injuries and whatever else has come our way… we continue to write new chapters…”
“Tag someone you’d love to play doubles with in the biggest stadiums in the world ππ,” he concluded the post.
The Mixed Madness event featuring a duo of fan-favorite tennis stars also saw Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton lose to Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who won the tournament β and its $250,000 prize pool, according to the US Open website.
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Friday, August 23 would have been Bryant’s 46th birthday. The star died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas on January 26, 2020 at the age of 41, along with her 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
On his 45th birthday last August, the late athlete’s wife Vanessa, with whom he has a daughter Natalija (21), paid tribute to him with a message on Instagram.
Alongside photos of the couple – who met in 1999 and married on April 18, 2001 – over the years, Vanessa, 42, wrote: “Happy 45th birthday baby. Love you always and forever. β€οΈ #82378.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education