Just a two days after Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, tragically died in a helicopter crash late last month, the term “girl dad” became a thing.
It was born out of a tribute from ESPN anchor Elle Duncan in which she shared a personal story of meeting Kobe. At the time she was eight months pregnant, and the story goes that Kobe showed interest in how she was doing and asked what she was having. After telling him it would be a girl, Duncan said, Kobe was beaming and raved about being the father of four girls and declared, “I am a girl dad.”
After Duncan’s telling of that story aired on “SportsCenter,” #GirlDad went viral, with athletes and celebrities sharing photos of themselves with their daughters to honor Kobe and Gianna.
With that in mind, let’s fast forward to Wednesday’s UFC 247 athlete panel in Houston. A reporter asked light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, “What does ‘girl dad’ mean to you?”
After acknowledging his two young daughters in attendance, this was Jones’ response:
“I am a girl dad, and I love it. They say that little girls grow up to take care of their dad forever, and I’m surrounded by little girls, and I know that I’m gonna be in good hands for the rest of my life. When I’m old and crazy, I tell them they better stop by and cook me a meal and check on me, make sure I got clean laundry. Right? Make sure I’ve got a lot of love. So being a girl dad is awesome. Obviously I want a son so bad, but these girls are more than plenty. They’re going to do extraordinary things with their lives, and I’m just excited to see the way they turn out. I’m a blessed man to have so much love around me.”
We’re sure Jones meant well, but this probably could’ve been said a lot better. “Cook me a meal” and “make sure I got clean laundry”? I don’t think daughters serving their fathers is at the core of what it means to be a “girl dad.” Is it?
We pointed out before how Jones gave great answers to Max Kellerman’s questions on “First Take” about his GOAT status compared to Khabib Nurmagomedov. This answer, however, was the opposite.
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Maybe Jon Jones' answer to being a 'girl dad' didn't quite come out right
