When Kobe and Gianna Bryant died, tragically and unexpectedly, in 2020, the world
mourned with a wholehearted ferocity. In perhaps the largest and most intense
outpouring of public art the world has ever seen, murals went up on seemingly every
available wall in Los Angeles and around the globe. The paintings were both
professional and amateur, some public and some private, many of them colossal. All of them expressed love and respect for Kobe and Gianna Bryant as athletes, as a fatherand daughter, as heroes who will not be forgotten.
In Mamba & Mambacita Forever, Vanessa Bryant brings together the images and
stories of more than a hundred murals honoring her husband and daughter. Taken
together, what emerges is the story of a man who became even more than he himself could have imagined, an avatar of determination, discipline, and competitiveness. He was also a worldwide icon, one of the greatest athletes of our time, a man committed to his family and to fatherhood. Kobe was a figure of transformation and hope.
Mamba & Mambacita Forever ensures that the legacy of Kobe and Gianna Bryant will live on even after the most monumental murals themselves have all crumbled.
