Kobe Bryant's love of the WNBA makes him a true basketball fan and even better dad

The WNBA recently released a powerful ad with Kobe Bryant talking about his support for the league. Bryant talks about why he loves the league, showing his knowledge of the history of women’s basketball and talking about how his daughter is growing up a WNBA fan.

“My 11-year-old daughter she has the WNBA app on her phone and she’s constantly checking the scores. She’s looking at the box scores, she’s looking at the highlights. She’ll see a highlight and run over to me and be like ‘Look at what Delle did today, or Maya. Look what jewel did tonight.’”

Kobe’s support of the WNBA is real, though. This may have been an ad but it’s something he truly believes in. While Kobe has three daughters, Gianna has taken the biggest interest in basketball. She already has a nice turnaround jumper that looks a bit like her dad’s. The best part about this is that Kobe is giving his daughter great female role models as she grows up to be her own basketball player.

Kobe and Gianna take in a ton of LA Sparks games together

They were on hand for the season opener in May.

During the game, Bryant spoke about his support of the league.

“We’re a big basketball family. Our middle daughter, Gianna, just loves the game so much. So here we are to watch, especially Jewell [Loyd]. Jewell is like a little sister to me. It’s great to come out and support her as well.”

He also talked about how watching WNBA games is crucial as his daughter learns the game at a young age.

“The process of it and understanding how the game is played, look at the pace of the game. Even beyond that, when she watches Katie Lou play, when she watches Jewell play, watches UConn play, understanding what can be accomplished and that they can play at an extremely high level. The spirit of competition, I think, is the most important thing.”

They also spent Father’s Day watching Diana Taurasi break the all-time scoring record.

Kobe doesn’t tweet much, but he actually tweets about the WNBA a lot

Kobe Bryant worked out with Jewell Loyd from the Seattle Storm last summer

In a piece for Summit Hoops, David Vertsberger talked to Loyd and Bryant about their “top secret” workout sessions.

“We’ve been trying to connect for a while,” Loyd said. “I had a good break so I asked him if I could come out, he said of course.”

What followed was four days of personal sessions with Bryant, something he does rarely. But he knows Loyd is the real deal.

“When I watched her play, certain things can stand out,” Bryant told The Summitt. “Like I can tell if a player is really serious about the game or if they’re just bs’ing. If you’re bs’ing I’m not going to give you the time of day. If you’re really committed to the process, really committed to working, perfecting your craft, then I can pick up on that pretty quick.”

Kobe is taking on a lot of new roles in retirement, but my favorite yet is his dedication to his daughter Gianna and giving her inspiring female figures to look up to. I have no doubt he does this with all of his daughters in whatever their interests may be, but this one happens to be basketball and it hits a little closer to home.