Five years after NBA great Kobe Bryant, 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in California, several women's basketball players reflected on what he meant to their game and how he championed it.

Many WNBA players believe Kobe Bryant would be pleased with the overall progress of women’s sports, which have skyrocketed in popularity and reach in recent years.

Bryant ‘really was that loud voice and very prominent voice very early when it maybe wasn’t the trendy, popular thing to do or wasn’t cool to show us love,’ Lunar Owls veteran Skylar Diggins-Smith said.

Dearica Hamby still smiles at the memory of Kobe Bryant sitting courtside at WNBA games. She had met him years ago. He came to see her old team, the Las Vegas Aces, play all the time.

Dearica Hamby still smiles at the memory of Kobe Bryant sitting courtside at WNBA games. She had met him years ago. He came to see her old team, the Las Vegas Aces, play all the time.

Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade joined the sports world to mark the fifth anniversary of Kobe Bryant's tragic death.

That epitomized the late NBA great’s relationship with the women’s game. After his 20-year playing career ended, Bryant turned his focus to the next generation, mentoring some of women’s basketball’s biggest stars, from WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi to former Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu.

NBA. Kobe Bryant's daughter Natalia sports a more grown-up look to celebrate her best friend's birthday NBA. Vanessa Bryant shares heartfelt post in what would have been Kobe Bryant's 46th ...