Sabrina Ionescu's emotional moment with Vanessa Bryant, daughters after Team USA wins gold again
![Team USA guard Sabrina Ionescu (6) hugs Vanessa Bryant after the WNBA All-Star Game at Footprint Center in Phoenix on Saturday, July 20, 2024. Team USA guard Sabrina Ionescu (6) hugs Vanessa Bryant after the WNBA All-Star Game at Footprint Center in Phoenix on Saturday, July 20, 2024.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4509,h_2536,x_0,y_201/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/the_athlete_lifestyle_on_si/01j512ffyee77p40sk5m.jpg)
There wasn't any "night, night" moment in Paris today but it was back-to-back gold medals for Team USA over France as the United States women's national basketball team made history with its eighth consecutive gold medal by the narrowest of margins, 67-66.
But a wild win is a wild win -- do watch it on replay if you slept in today -- because there was high drama and a game for the ages.
Postgame there were many great moments but this is certainly one of the best.
Love this so much https://t.co/5cLFzAuswW
— BullsKickAss (@Bullskickass) August 11, 2024
That's Team USA and the WNBA's New York Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu who celebrated the victory by hugging the late great Kobe Bryant's daughters, Natalia, 21, Bianka, 7, and Capri, 5, and of course his wife, Vanessa, 42. And sitting next to them are the Bryants dear friends and Kobe's former teammate Pau Gasol, with his one-year-old son Max.
RELATED: Natalia Bryant celebrates Pau Gasol's adorable baby announcement
Ionescu befriended Kobe and Gianna after they showed up to watch her play at Oregon, and Kobe mentored her before his tragic death, along with his daughter, Gianna, and seven others, in a 2020 helicopter crash.
She became part of the family in a way after the awful accident and remains close to all of them.
She was eloquent in her memorial speech here.
"I carry Kobe and Gigi with me every day and honor their legacies through my dedication to the game," she said during the service. "I wake up every day grateful for the platform I've been given and I strive to lead by example and serve as a role model for young people and especially girls to pursue sports — a platform Kobe and Gigi were passionate about."
Sunday's sweet gesture to the Bryant family was another way to show how much she cares.
Bravo!
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