Vanessa Bryant, the widow of the late Kobe Bryant, is giving back proceeds from the $16 million judgment she won to the nonprofit Mamba and Mambacita Sports foundation, her attorney told the Los Angeles Times on Aug. 25.
The donation would honor the legacy of her late husband and daughter Gianna, who tragically died in a helicopter crash in 2020.
A Los Angeles federal jury ordered Los Angeles County to pay $31 million to Bryant and Chris Chester, who lost his daughter and wife in the same crash.
The families were rewarded for the mental anguish caused by photos of the crash victims’ bodies that sheriff’s deputies and firefighters made public. Bryant was awarded $16 million and Chester $15 million.
The charity provides sports education to underserved athletes. The organization was originally named the Mamba Sports Foundation after Kobe’s nickname Black Mamba and was renamed after the crash to honor both the Los Angeles Lakers legend and Gianna.
After the verdict, Bryant’s attorney Luis Li revealed Bryant’s plans “to shine a light on Kobe and Gigi’s legacy” with her substantial donations. The amount of the donation is still unknown.
“From the beginning, Vanessa Bryant has sought only accountability, but our legal system does not permit her to force better policies, more training or officer discipline,” Li stated.
“Those measures are the responsibility of the sheriff’s and fire departments — responsibilities that Mrs. Bryant’s efforts have exposed as woefully deficient, even giving amnesty to the wrongdoers.”
