How Kobe Bryant Embodied the Joys of Being a Girl Dad

And with that, #girldad started trending worldwide, dads—and women posting pictures of dads and grandpas—using the hashtag to unite as one proud family, a network of people who may have been grieving a loss but who also were damn proud to be the fathers of daughters, joined by the girls-of-all-ages who loved them for it.

“I’m so proud and lucky to be a #GirlDad,” Alex Rodriguez, father of Natasha, 17, and 14-year-old Ella, tweeted, sharing the SportsCenter clip.

Tweeted Olympic decathlete Trey Hardee (a father of two daughters and, since this tweet, a son), “Being a girl dad has been the best part of my short life. I wish I knew about this part of Kobe. This will be his lasting impression on me. Not the wins, rings, or records. #girldad.”

And when Vanessa stoically, inspirationally and heartbreakingly eulogized her husband and daughter at the February 2020 memorial held at Staples Center for Kobe and Gigi, she called him “the MVP of girl dads, or MVD.”