email Gabby Williams: My Friendship With Kobe And Gianna Bryant and What They Meant To Me, and Everyone
The star forward for the Chicago Sky remembers her relationship with her hero and the girl who likely would have followed in her footsteps.
Published January 26th
Gabrielle Lisa “Gabby” Williams was an All-American who played in four NCAA Women s Final Fours and won two national championships at the University of Connecticut before embarking on a professional career with the WNBA’s Chicago Sky in 2018. She has also played professionally overseas in France, Italy and Spain, winning the Spanish League Championship with Spar Citylift Uni Girona in 2019. She is currently playing in Hungary with Sopron Basket.
Ryan Seacrest and
Sisanie remembered the late athletes on-air on Tuesday, January 26, reflecting where they were when they heard the horrific news.
On the morning of January 26, 2020, Kobe, Gianna and a group of friends including Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser, John Altobelli, his wife Keri Altobelli and their daughter, Alyssa Altobelli were on their way to a basketball game in a helicopter piloted by Ara Zobayan that crashed in Calabasas, California. At the time, Kobe was 41, and Gianna was 13. There were no survivors. I was actually running errands, Sisanie recalled. I got all the alerts on my phone and our group text was going crazy. . Then Maroon 5 Memories came on and I lost it. I cried all the way home. … And then Micheal and I just cried all day watching the news … and then you heard how horrific it was. It wasn’t just them. It was 7 other passengers.
Column: 1 year later, the loss of Kobe Bryant still resonates
Senior forward Nia Hollie s (12) shoe photographed during a basketball game against Michigan on Feb. 23, 2020. Photo by Alyte Katilius | The State News
A year ago? Kobe is dead, my roommate yelled exactly one year ago from our living room.
I sat on the stairs, thinking he was lying – who would believe that on a Sunday morning that fell on Jan. 26.
He wasn t. We all slowly came to realize in one way or another that the player for the Los Angeles Lakers that was drafted at the age of 18 and played 20 seasons until he was 38, was gone. So was his daughter, Gianna Bryant and their seven companions.