At just seven years old, Bianka Bella Bryant could be following in the footsteps of her late father Kobe Bryant and sister Gianna “Gigi” Bryant. On Sunday, July 14, retired WNBA star Candace Parker revealed she has been coaching Kobe and Vanessa Bryant’s daughter Bianka Bella. In an Instagram post recapping the various ways she’s been keeping herself busy since retiring, Parker shared a photo of herself with Bianka on the basketball court.
“Retired but I still stay in the GYM! Genes are wild! The next are ready to take center stage and I’m excited to be there on the sidelines cheering them on‼️‼️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥😈😈😈😈😈 Legacy Legacy Legacy Legacy!,” she captioned the post.
In April 2024, the former Las Vegas Aces player shocked fans when she announced her retirement. After winning three WNBA championships and two Olympic gold medals, Parker commemorated the end of her professional basketball career on social media.
“The competitor in me always wants one more, but it’s time. My HEART & body knew, but I needed to give my mind time to accept it,” she wrote at the time. “I promised I’d never cheat the game [and] that I’d leave it in a better place than I came into it. … I always wanted to walk off the court with no parade or tour, just privately with the ones I love. What now was to be my last game, I walked off the court with my daughter. I ended the journey just as I started it, with her.”
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Since then, the WNBA champion took on a new role with Adidas as the sportswear brand’s president of women’s basketball. As previously reported by theGrio, Parker will oversee “pretty much everything,” playing a pivotal role in creating a platform that elevates women’s sports by leveraging her firsthand knowledge of basketball and female athletes’ needs.
In addition to overseeing operations for the Adidas women’s basketball division, Parker has also been overseeing Bianka Bella’s basketball journey.
“Look at the wrist loaded under the ball … On her toes,” Parker added on Instagram stories, per People magazine. “Basketball in her blood! #MiniMamba Aunty Candace is so proud of you BB and you too COACH @Vanessa Bryant.”
