The Professional Basketball League announced Friday that it will allocate annually from 2021 a prize named Kobe and Gigi Bryant to reward people who promote the development of women's basketball.
"The trophy, which will be named Kobe and Gigi Bryant, will reward individuals or a group of people who make remarkable contributions, promoting and developing women's basketball at all levels," the association said in a statement.
The association noted that Vanessa, wife of American basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who spent with his daughter Gianna in a helicopter accident in late January, "will have a key role in determining the winners" of this award.
"(Vanessa) will deliver the trophy annually on the sidelines of the weekend of the All-Star Game, which brings together the most prominent stars in the eastern and western regions in the NBA and will be held during February of each year.
"Kobe was one of the people who strongly supported the women's basketball, and Gianna shared his passion for our sport," noted Kate Engelbert, president of the Professional Basketball Association.
"This trophy is a tribute to them and will echo Cuban determination to create a new generation of players, to promote our sport and give back to the basketball family what it has given him."
And Gianna, who has the nickname "Gigi", wanted to become a professional player in the American Women's League, and she always accompanied her father, who won five times in the Los Angeles Lakers ranks, to watch basketball games for men and women and trained beside him in the exercise hall in their luxurious home as it was. Oversees the training of her school team.