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Since the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna on Jan. 26, mourning fans have been waiting to hear from wife and mother Vanessa Bryant.

To pay homage to her deceased 13-year-old daughter and husband, Bryant quietly updated her Instagram profile photo to a sweet snapshot of the father-daughter duo.

READ MORE: Gianna (Gigi) Bryant — The 13-year-old loved basketball as much as her dad

In the photo, Kobe beams down at his daughter, who looks up and him with an arm wrapped around his shoulder.

The picture is from the 2016 NBA All-Star Game in Toronto, the last of Kobe’s 18 appearances at the hyped-up annual event.

Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s widow, changed her Instagram photo to a heartwarming picture of Kobe and their daughter, Gigi, who both died in a helicopter crash. @vanessabryant/Instagram

In the hours following the news that rocked the sports world, Bryant made her Instagram account private, presumably to avoid unwanted comments.

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The photo change coincides with the reopening of her social media account, though comments have understandably remained disabled.

The 37-year-old has yet to make a public statement regarding the deaths of her husband and daughter.

READ MORE: Who is Vanessa Bryant? A timeline of her relationship with Kobe

Kobe, Gianna and seven others were killed when the helicopter crashed into a mountain in Calabasas, Calif. on Sunday.

The group was heading to Kobe’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks for Gianna’s basketball game.

Bryant and Kobe had been an item for more than two decades, and also shared three other children: Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and seven-month-old Capri. They first met in the summer of 1999.

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meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca

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