USC HC Lindsay Gottlieb shares heartfelt message for late Gianna Bryant’s birthday

USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb felt the loss of the tragic helicopter accident in 2020 that claimed the lives of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna Bryant. The accident not only claimed the life of one of the most-decorated basketball players of all time but also his 13-year-old daughter. May 1st would have been her 19th birthday.

In celebration of Gianna's memory, Gottlieb posted a heartfelt message on her Instagram story on Thursday along with an image of a basketball shoe with "Gigi" written across the back.

"Celebrating Gigi and her impact ont he game today and everyday. Happy Birthday. Thank you Vanessa Bryant," she wrote.

Image via the Instagram story of USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

The tragic death of Kobe and Gianna Bryant continues to bring the basketball world together every year.

Lindsay Gottlieb and the USC Trojans land a top Washington State transfer

As the head coach of the USC Trojans women's basketball team, Lindsay Gottlieb has been busy with offseason moves. The Trojans are coming off a disappointing Elite Eight loss to UConn in March Madness, and as a result, are looking to improve.

Gottlieb made a big addition on Wednesday to improve their team for next season. The Trojans added Washington State transfer Dayana Mendes, who is from France, and is only one season into her college career. This past season, she averaged 8.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

Mendes also showed improvement throughout the season. Although she averaged less than 10.0 points per game, she reached double digits in nine of her last 11 games.

Now she will have the opportunity to show her abilities on a team that will be in contention to win the national championship next season. It will be interesting to see how she fits into the Trojans' lineup.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Krutik Jain