Vanessa Bryant celebrated the success of her best friend, Sydney Leroux, over the weekend. The National Women’s Soccer League shared a video of the soccer player receiving her jersey with “150” emblazoned on the back. Surrounding her were Bryant and her daughters Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.
The video shows Leroux greeting Bryant and his daughters at a recent Angel City game in Los Angeles. During a brief ceremony on the field minutes before the start of the game, Leroux, Bryant, their children and Angel City representatives are seen posing for photos next to ceremonial jerseys before kickoff.
Bryant also shared the video on his Instagram Stories, captioning it “150” with a variety of celebratory emojis. The video features photos of Bryant and his daughters during the game, as well as several shots of Bryant and Leroux sharing tight embraces.
Bryant and Leroux have been friends for years, having met through the influence of the late Kobe Bryant, who admired football and Leroux’s career. Since then, Leroux has mentored the late Gigi Bryant and become an important figure in the Bryant family’s lives. Gigi was also an athlete and, according to Marca, wore the number 2 on her jersey out of respect for Leroux.
© Marcus Ingram Sydney Leroux plays for Angel City
Following the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, Leroux spent a lot of time with the Bryants. In her post, she shared her grief with the world and demonstrated her special bond with Gigi. “Gigi, you were a star. Your dad told me you would be even better than him,” Leroux wrote. “2 will always be ours.”
Leroux also spoke about her friendship with Kobe and what she misses most about him: “Your crazy book recommendations and quotes…helping me write…teaching me to never be soft on anyone…teaching me about darkness and light and that bad guys can be heroes,” she wrote.
