Gianna Bryant, Alyssa Altobelli, and Payton Chester were taken from the world way too soon back on January 26th in a helicopter crash alongside some of their parents, including NBA legend Kobe Bryant. All three girls were on their way to a basketball tournament with the Mamba Sports Academy. These three young women had aspirations of someday making it to the WNBA and unfortunately, they were never given the proper opportunity to make this dream a reality.

Tonight, the WNBA is hosting their virtual entry draft for new prospects and at one point during the festivities, the league plans on honoring the three young women with a special ceremony. In fact, Bryant, Chester, and Altobelli will all be honorary draft picks. Needless to say, the WNBA has planned a beautiful tribute that will certainly have us wiping away a few tears.

Vanessa Bryant took to Instagram where she notified her followers about the event and how they can watch it. If you’re a Kobe fan, you know just how much GiGi meant to him and how excited he was to one day see her make it to the WNBA. Even in spirit, we’re sure GiGi and Kobe would have been very proud of this latest accomplishment. 

Kobe Bryant has been a huge supporter of women’s basketball over the last few years and he is constantly bigging up the women who play in the WNBA. Recently, WNBA players got a huge win as their salaries were increased as part of the new CBA. At this point, women’s basketball is becoming a lot more ble from a financial standpoint which will only help to raise the profile of the game.

In a recent interview, Bryant spoke about some of the best WNBA players in the world and how many of them would be able to play in the NBA if given the opportunity. As far as Bryant is concerned, many of them have the talent necessary to keep up.

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“I think there are a couple of players who could play in the NBA right now, honestly,” Bryant said according to CNN. “There’s a lot of players with a lot of skill that could do it. Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Elena Della Donne. There’s a lot of great players out there so they could certainly keep up with them.”

It would certainly be interesting to see women tryout for NBA teams. Back in the 1990s, a woman tried out for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL. Of course, I’m talking about Manon Rheaume who was a goalie at the time. With Kobe’s comments in mind, perhaps a team will give a woman a shot, just to see if it could pan out.

Women's basketball continues to grow all around the world and athletes are starting to get recognized for their work. Female sports leagues around the world are starting to sprout up and gain in popularity. The WNBA is one of the leagues that has enjoyed some success over the last decade and over this past year, they have been negotiating a brand new collective bargaining agreement for its players. 

Yesterday, we reported that the WNBA's new CBA will include average salaries of $130,000 with max salaries of $500,000. These are the highest totals in league history and demonstrates a huge sign of growth for the league. NBA legend Kobe Bryant has been a huge proponent of women's basketball and recently spoke to reporter Delmy Barillas about the WNBA's recent announcement.

Over the past decade, women's sports have grown quite a bit as people begin to expand their horizons and check out new leagues and teams. The WNBA has enjoyed some growth over the past few years and recently, the players were given the opportunity to negotiate a brand new collective bargaining agreement. Fans were interested to see if the players could get more money considering all the strides that have been made over the last little while.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the WNBA and its fans received some good news today. As of next season, the average salary will be six figures, for the first time ever. The official number is $130,000 while the top players will be able to make close to $500,000. There will also be a whole plethora of new opportunities, as outlined below.