Kobe Bryant’s name has long been invoked in the same breath as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and LeBron James. In death, he has entered another pantheon, one populated by Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Mr. Bennett from Pride of Prejudice. This elite league of men got a hashtag on social media on Tuesday after Bryant’s death: #girldad.
ESPN reporter Elle Duncan on Monday night’s edition of SportsCenter shared her story of meeting Kobe. Duncan was eight months pregnant, and Kobe high-fived her over having a girl. Kobe, a Catholic, was already the father of three girls at the time. When the conversation turned to whether Kobe could handle more girls, without any male children, the NBA superstar said, “I would have five more girls if I could. I’m a girl-dad.”
The SportsCenter segment went viral across Twitter and Facebook, spurring fathers — musicians, athletes, and regular old nonfamous fathers — to post about their love of their daughters and the joys of being a #girldad.
It was another posthumous gift from Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who died Sunday in a helicopter crash with seven others on the way to Gianna’s basketball game. Exalting fatherhood has been perilous in recent years as the patriarchy has come under fire. Not too long ago, the phrase “as a father of daughters” was held in disdain by tastemakers in the media, who seemingly rejected the notion that grown men could or should gain meaningful insights from raising girls.
It’s a message needed now more than ever. About one-third of all children are being raised in single-parent households, by some measures, and those children tend to do worse in life. Our culture needs to exalt the manly work required in raising girls.
Bryant was always public and sincere in his love of his daughters, coaching them in basketball, taking them around Los Angeles, and raising them in the Catholic Church. In 2019, Bryant and his wife Vanessa welcomed their fourth daughter, Capri.
One of Bryant’s last posts on Instagram was a series of Christmas photos featuring him, his wife, and their four children.
Duncan, on Monday, ended her SportsCenter segment fighting back tears. “The only small source of comfort for me,” she said, “is knowing that he died doing what he loved the most: being a dad. Being a girl-dad.”
