Kobe Bryant's widow Vanessa Bryant to donate $16m award to charity: lawyer

The helicopter crash that left Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others dead was likely caused by the pilot’s 'spatial disorientation,' officials said Tuesday.

Vanessa Bryant will donate to charity the $16 million judgment she won Wednesday against Los Angeles County over the leak of gruesome crash site photos of her late husband, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, her lawyer announced.

Attorney Luis Li told the Los Angeles Times that Bryant planned on giving the sum to nonprofit Mamba and Mambacita Sports foundation, named in the memory for her late husband and their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, who perished in a 2020 helicopter crash.

Li said that Vanessa Bryant wanted "to shine a light on Kobe and Gigi’s legacy." The Lakers legend founded the charity in 2016.

After an 11-day civil trial in Los Angeles, a federal jury awarded Vanessa Bryant and another plaintiff, Chris Chester, $31 million for the privacy breach.  

VANESSA BRYANT WINS LAWSUIT AGAINST LOS ANGELES COUNTY OVER INVASION OF PRIVACY, AWARDED $16 MILLION

Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, leaves a federal courthouse in Los Angeles. She won her invasion of privacy lawsuit against Los Angeles County on Wednesday and plans to donate the $16 million award to charity. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Chester lost his wife, Sarah, and daughter Payton, 13, in the tragic collision Jan. 26 in Calabasas, California. All nine people aboard the aircraft died when it crashed into a hillside in heavy fog. 

VANESSA BRYANT WEEPS ON WITNESS STAND OVER LEAKED PHOTOS OF KOBE BRYANT'S REMAINS

Bryant testified that her suffering over the loss was compounded when she learned that first responders had shared gruesome images of crash victims' remains with a bartender, at a banquet and in a