Vanessa Bryant praises sister-in-law's 'cool' tattoo commemorating Kobe and Gigi

‘2~24 forever,’ widower writes

(Instagram/@Vanessa Bryant)

Vanessa Bryant has praised her sister-in-law Sharia Washington for getting a tattoo in honour of the late Kobe and Gigi Bryant.

The new inking, which is positioned on Washington’s back, is of the numbers two and 24 in reference to the basketball legend’s jersey number and the one Gigi wore.

The numbers are surrounded by a snake in the shape of an infinity symbol.

“My sister-in-law got this cool tattoo to honour #GigiBryant and #Kobe,” Ms Bryant wrote. “Love you @shariawash”.

Kobe Bryant was Washington’s younger brother.

Kobe and Gianna died on 26 January in a helicopter accident in Calabasas, California.

Washington and Kobe’s other sister, Shaya Tabb, released a statement about their brother and niece’s death on 31 January.

“On behalf of our family, we join Vanessa, Natalia, Bianka and Capri in grieving the loss of Kobe and Gianna in such a tragic accident,” they told iOne Digital in a statement.

“We are devastated by the loss of our brother, son, our niece and granddaughter, and our hearts go out to all the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday.”

The statement continued: “Our lives are forever changed. Thank you for your prayers, the numerous calls, texts, emails and cards.”

Ms Bryant’s post has garnered millions of comments and more than 2.9 million likes, with many people praising the tattoo artist, Peter Barrio, for his work.

Barrio posted on Instagram about how honoured he was to be asked to do the tattoo.

“I didn’t take my own photo out of respect but today I had the honour of tattooing a memorial tattoo on @shariawash,” he wrote.

“Thank you for laughing with me today and letting me do this for you. I will never forget our conversations. Much love and respect your family.”