#GirlDad

Courtney got tickets for me to take our oldest see Serena Williams playing in Everett, WA. Not sure she understood how cool it was, but she will some day.

I rarely, if ever, get choked up about celebrity deaths. And I didn’t even like Kobe Bryant when he was playing. But after learning about what he was doing with his daughter after he retired, that helicopter crash hit hard.

The #GirlDad story started trending the day of his death, with stories about how proud he was to have girls. People would ask him if he wanted boys to “carry on the legacy,” and he responded no it didn’t matter. He was a girl dad. His daughter Gianna was playing basketball and they were both advocates for women’s sports. Not as some sort of “gotta be fair” drudgery or wistful goal, but because seriously so what if it’s women’s vs. men’s.

People used to ask me, do you want a boy? I’d ask why. Well, to play sports with and tools and stuff. I’d respond, no I do that with my girls. And I dress up with them, whether they want to be princesses or firefighters, and I do their hair, and I take them on dates.

Being a girl dad is awesome and I’m so grateful for it. I’m glad there are examples like Kobe and his daughter, not just to break new ground, but to bury the archaic and infuriating notion of what “legacy” means.

Additional note:

After the original post, someone whom I respect sent me an article about Kobe’s 2003 rape allegation. I’m aware of all of this. The purpose of this post is not to deify or even glorify Kobe Bryant. I’m not saying he’s an ideal player, dad, or person. I’m not defending him. He offered something worth learning to a lot of people who need to learn it. And it resonated with me because of how I’ve felt long before this ever happened.