Kobe Bryant at STAPLES to witness Diana Taurasi break WNBA Record on Father’s Day

Kobe Bryat, The Black Mamba, took his daughters to STAPLES Center on Father’s Day and they all got a huge bonus care of the White Mamba, Diana Taurasi.

The World Champion Los Angeles Sparks took on their rivals, the Phoenix Mercury, on Fathers Day at STAPLES Center. Kobe Bryant, realizing Diana Taurasi could make history, put the date on his calendar and brought his daughters to sit courtside next to the Sparks.

Kobe Bryant agreed with Taurasi when she came up to him and told him she was the White Mamba. Kobe agreed with the Mercury’s legendary guard, and the name stuck. He saw himself in Taurasi and vice versa. Her work ethic, her ‘take no crap’ attitude, her game and the fact that she absolutely hates to lose and frequently shoots the buzzer-beating winner.

“We are cut from the same cloth,” said Kobe postgame to ESPN, “It’s like looking at myself in the mirror from time to time.”

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Kobe has also mentioned a couple of times that he would love for his daughters to play ball just like he did. His youngest daughter is on board, and he seemed to spend most of the game explaining the game to her. Pointing to the players, the court, those facial expressions, he was very much enjoying himself.

What they may not have been aware of, however, was that ‘D’ was about to make WNBA history. She was about to surpass Tina Thompson’s record of 7488 all-time points scored. The WNBA was born in 1997, so this is the 20th season for the league.

What is most impressive is that even with taking one season off to rest (Russian league paid her to not play in the WNBA for a season), she passed Thompson in four fewer seasons. Taurasi is a Geno Auriemma product out of UCONN who just lost their first NCAA Championship in ten times in the last 17 years, a storied program to say the least.

The Sparks ended up winning the game by more than 30 points, 90-59 and dominated the game from start to finish. The referee’s, in my opinion, had a lot to do with the tempo calling two technicals on Taurasi in the first five minutes, but nonetheless, the World Champion Sparks moved up one more game in the Western Division over their rival Mercury.

The moment was not missed by The Black Mamba. He gave The White Mamba a kind of heartfelt salute and a standing ovation. Here is how the record-breaking moment and Mamba salute went down:

Taurasi showed a ton of respect to Thompson in this video posted after she broke the record. Diana is 35 years old, but you would never know it the way she plays, often the player with the most energy on the court, and obviously a huge will to win. She will continue to play for the rest of this season, so she will be able to add a buffer to her record.

Kobe spoke about how he feels about Taurasi the basketball player and athlete after she broke the scoring record.

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It was really sweet to see Kobe bring his daughters to the Sparks game this weekend, and the fans loved hanging out with him on Father’s Day. His daughters will never forget they were there to witness history, thus giving at least one of them a goal to surpass.