Kobe Bryant had one, sweet rule he and Gianna followed when he served as her basketball coach

Kobe Bryant may have been a basketball player before he became a father, but he made it clear that his duties as a dad were the most important part of his life.

Bryant and wife, Vanessa, shared four daughters together: Natalia, 17, Gianna, 13, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 7 months. While both of his older girls had shown an interest in sports, with Natalia being an accomplished volleyball player, Bryant and Gianna, in particular, shared a special bond over the game that made him famous.

The five-time NBA champion coached Gianna's team at his Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and the two were on their way to a tournament there when the helicopter they were riding crashed, taking both of their lives.

SEE ALSO: ABC suspends reporter for inaccurate report on Kobe Bryant

Just over two months before his death, Bryant told CBS This Morning how he was able to balance being both Gianna's father and her coach.

Bryant said that the biggest challenge when coaching his own child was "making sure she knows that I love her whether she plays well or plays like crap."

"Doesn't matter," he continued. "You're my daughter before you're a basketball player, and it's important that she knows that that's how I feel."

See more of the two together:

Keeping the rule that Gianna was daughter first, athlete second aligns with other comments Bryant had made about how proud he was to be a so-called "girl dad." Since his death, other famous fathers have taken to social media to share their bonds with their own daughters.

In 2018, Bryant shared that he began using helicopters to travel around the Los Angeles area in order to make more time to spend with his family. The tragedy that killed him and Gianna, as well as 7 others, is currently still under investigation.