Gifts for millionaires are hard to come by, but Vanessa, the widow of Kobe Bryant, seems to have struck gold this week with the Los Angeles Dodgers players.

Vanessa gave Dodgers players exclusive sneakers in the team color scheme of the late basketball player’s Nike line, marking the eighth anniversary of Bryant’s final NBA game.

On the social media site X, the team thanked Vanessa Bryant and shared a video of the players unwrapping their brand-new Nike Kobe 6 LA Dodgers PE sneakers on Instagram.
When Mookie Betts declared he would wear them every day, manager Dave Roberts remarked, “These are unbelievable.” I’m going to proudly wear my Mamba on these.

In the final game of his career, Bryant scored 60 points for the Los Angeles Lakers at home against the Utah Jazz on April 13, 2016, a day that was nicknamed Mamba Day in honor of his Black Mamba moniker.
In a helicopter crash in 2020, Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people perished.

The Dodgers and the Bryant family have always been very close.

Before a September game against the visiting Atlanta Braves, Natalia Bryant threw out the first pitch.
After that, Betts—who was wearing her father’s No. 24 jersey over his uniform—was hugged by a beaming Natalia.

Bryant was accompanied by her mother, Vanessa, and sisters, Bianka, age 6, and Capri, age 4. Each of them had on a Dodgers jersey. A reference to Kobe’s moniker, Queen Mamba, was written on Vanessa’s back. Rob Pelinka, general manager of the Lakers, was also present.

The Dodgers were wearing Lakers jerseys, and fans were yelling, “Kobe! Kobe!” as the Braves and Dodgers lined up along the first and third base sides.

Vanessa gave the assembled audience a kiss as the Bryants were introduced. After carrying her younger sister, Natalia let her go and watched a slide show of her father visiting the Dodgers clubhouse while standing by herself on the field.

Natalia was going to be just like her dad. In 2000, Kobe Bryant took first pitch duties during a Dodgers game.

With Bianka leaning over the fence dividing the seats from the field to get a better view, the family took their seats in the owners’ box to watch the game.

A black jersey featuring the Dodgers and No. 8 on the front and Bryant and No. 24 on the back—the numbers Bryant wore during his 20-year career in Los Angeles—was given to fans who purchased a special ticket package.

The Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports underprivileged athletes with funding and sports programming. The Dodgers gave them a $100,000 check.