A small world. Shannon Beador revealed her three daughters were coached by Christina Mauser, who died alongside Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 26.
“Christina Mauser. An incredible coach and amazing influence on all three of my daughters that played basketball in middle school,” the 55-year-old Real Housewives of Orange Country star wrote on Sunday via Instagram. “And amazing mother of 3 children. Our greatest sympathies go out to @sinatrabigband and his family. The Beador girls are devastated. Sending our prayers to the Mauser family… 🙏🏻”
Shannon and ex-husband David Beador are parents of 17-year-old daughter Sophie and 15-year-old twins Stella and Adeline.
City officials confirmed that Mauser was one of the nine people who died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on Sunday. In addition to the basketball coach, Bryant and Gianna, the six other victims included college baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife, Keri Altobelli, and their 13-year-old daughter, Alyssa, who played on Gianna’s team.
Christina’s husband, Matt Mauser, opened up about his “extraordinary” wife during an emotional interview with Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on the Today show on Monday, January 27.
“She was incredibly witty, funny, funny like nobody you’ve ever met. … She was warm, she was incredibly bright, she was technologically incredibly savvy. She could figure out anything,” Matt said. “I got three small kids, and I’m trying to figure out how to navigate life with three kids and no mom. I’m scared. I think more than anything I’m a little scared about the future.”
Matt told Guthrie and Kotb that he and his wife both taught at a private school in Southern California that Bryant’s daughters attended. (Kobe and wife Vanessa Bryant shared four daughters: Natalia, 17, Gianna, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 7 months.)
“Kobe took these kids from private school and just made them gritty and tough,” Matt explained, noting that Christina helped Kobe coach their daughters’ basketball team. “He was dedicated and so was my wife. They were dedicated to these girls.”
Matt concluded: “He saw what an amazing mind she had for basketball. They called her the ‘Mother of Defense,’ MOD. It was a family. They all really cared about each other.”
