Taylor Swift’s sweet bond with the Bryant family will never go out of style.
While walking in New York City on Thursday, January 11, Swift, 34, accessorized her fuzzy jacket and leggings with a delicate silver necklace. The bauble was designed for Mambacita Foundation’s capsule collection with jewelry designer Zoë Chicco. Vanessa Bryant, the widow of late basketball star Kobe Bryant, had teamed up with Chicco to celebrate Kobe and daughter Gianna. (Kobe and Gianna died in January 2020 during a fatal helicopter crash. They were 41 and 13, respectively. Vanessa created nonprofit foundation Mambacita in their honor.)
Swift, for her part, opted for the collection’s round pendant that featured the words, “Bet on yourself,” which Kobe used to say frequently, surrounded by a circle of diamonds.
Vanessa, 41, shared a pic of Swift’s jewels via her Instagram Story on Friday, January 12. “Love you,” Vanessa captioned her post, adding hearts and “Swifties” stickers.
Vanessa also realized that Swift seemingly referenced Kobe’s “Bet on Yourself” mantra during her TIME Person of the Year interview.
“We met with all the studios and we met with all the streamers, and we sized up how it was perceived and valued, and if they had high hopes and dreams for it,” she told the outlet in the December 2023 profile. “Ultimately I did what I tend to do more and more often these days, which is to bet on myself.”
After realizing Swift’s Easter egg, Vanessa shared a screenshot of the TIME article on her Story. “Love you,” she wrote again.
Kobe’s bond with Swift goes back to 2015 when he surprised her during her 1989 Tour stop in Los Angeles. To celebrate her record 16 sold-out concerts at the Lakers’ arena, Kobe — who played his NBA career with the L.A. team — presented her with a championship banner that would hang from the rafters.
“Friends hang from time to time but banners hang forever @taylorswift,” Kobe wrote via Instagram at the time.
After Kobe and Gianna’s tragic deaths, Swift sent her condolences to Vanessa and her other three daughters. (Kobe and Vanessa also shared Natalia, Bianka and Capri.)
“My heart is in pieces hearing the news of this unimaginable tragedy. I can’t fathom what the families are going through. Kobe meant so much to me and to us all,” Swift wrote via Twitter (now X) in January 2020. “Sending my prayers, love, and endless condolences to Vanessa and the family and anyone who lost someone on that flight.”
Vanessa and her youngest children later went to Swift’s Eras Tour concert in August 2023 when she stopped in L.A. Bianka, 6, was even gifted the “22” hat in the middle of the show, which is featured in the Grammy winner’s October 2023 concert film.
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