Basketball phenom Paige Bueckers didn’t just idolize Kobe Bryant — she almost made the leap into his inner circle. Yep, Paige had a dream date with basketball royalty: a planned workout with none other than Kobe and his daughter, Gianna Bryant. Except, fate (or should we say the universe’s worst timing ever) had other plans.
The tragic helicopter crash in early 2020 took the lives of Kobe, Gigi, and several others, putting an abrupt end to what could have been a legendary mentorship for Bueckers, who’d been one step away from getting inducted into what we can only call the “Bryant Basketball Family.”
“Gang, Gang” and Those Custom Kicks
In a recent “Day in the Life” video, Paige casually dropped this bombshell while showing off her custom sneakers — the kind that make sneakerheads everywhere weep. “I had my customs on, and it was just sick,” she recalled, while fans probably sighed in unison. “That’s Long Live Gigi, number two, and Long Live Kobe Bryant,” she continued, while probably breaking a few emotional hearts with that one.
The sneakers are a tribute to both Bryant and Gigi, with the names of all those affected by the accident carefully inscribed. Talk about walking in the shoes of greatness — quite literally. Bueckers was all set to work out with Kobe and Gianna that summer, excited to deepen a bond that had already formed over a mutual appreciation for the University of Connecticut (UConn). Guess the Bryants were about to make her the latest honorary family member. Talk about basketball royalty.
Paige, Injuries, and Channeling the Mamba
Since then, Bueckers’ career has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows, with more unexpected drops than a Six Flags ride. From a tibial plateau fracture (ouch) to an ACL tear that would make any athlete wince, Paige spent most of her sophomore and junior seasons benched — not exactly the view she had in mind.
But if there’s one thing Bueckers took from her almost-mentor Kobe, it’s that setbacks are merely opportunities to flex your mental muscles (and maybe show the haters what’s up). During her recovery, she dove headfirst into The Mamba Mentality, Kobe’s unofficial guide to winning at life, whether you’re on crutches or not. “When this injury first happened, I thought a lot about Kobe,” Bueckers told ESPN. “I read The Mamba Mentality and how he looked at his injury as another way to prove people wrong.” That’s vintage Kobe — turning a torn Achilles into a personal motivational speech.
A Missed Opportunity… But Not Really
While the thought of a Kobe-Paige-Gigi workout remains locked in the vault of what could’ve been, Bueckers is still carrying the torch. Every time she laces up those tribute sneakers, she’s not just playing for herself but for the legacy of two basketball icons who never got to finish writing their own story.
As for the rest of us, we’ll just have to wonder how epic that workout could have been. Perhaps somewhere in a parallel universe, Kobe, Gianna, and Paige are running drills together, laughing as they take turns breaking ankles — on the court, that is.
In the meantime, Bueckers is proving that you don’t need to be part of the Bryant “family” to embody the Mamba mentality. You just need resilience, killer custom kicks, and the ability to turn setbacks into slam dunks. Gang, gang, indeed.
