Kobe Bryant’s father, Joe Bryant, is a former NBA player and coach. Born in 1978, by the time Bryant was 5 years old, Joe had already played for his last NBA team. He moved to Italy, where he had an 8-year playing career before a stint in France. As a kid, Bryant lived in Italy and was geographically thousands of miles away from the NBA. With career earnings of over $323,000,000, Kobe never fathomed playing in the NBA as a kid, as he once revealed in a YouTube video posted by Hoop Land.
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The late LA Lakers legend could easily have played one of the other sports that were more popular in Europe. However, he was a lifelong LA Lakers fan and played basketball against grown men starting from age 11.
Kobe Bryant dreamt of playing for the LA Lakers
In the interview, Kobe explained that simply playing for the Lakers was his biggest achievement. As a kid, he felt that he was as far away from the NBA as he could be while living in Italy.
However, Bryant supported the LA Lakers right from when he was a kid. Bryant always wanted to play for the Lakers, and explained that it was his “craziest dream.”
A 5-time NBA champion and 18-time All-Star, Bryant ended up becoming arguably the greatest player in Lakers’ history. He claimed that it was crazy, that he had been able to make the dream a reality:
“Winning championships and playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. Growing up in Italy, so that’s the furthest you can get from the NBA. You know what I mean? At that time, especially. And my favorite team’s always been Los Angeles. Like I know the history, going back to Minneapolis, and Tyler, and Mike and all these guys. And so, for me to grow up and play for this organization that I always wanted to play with, I mean I bleed purple and gold, that’s real. That’s real, so, that’s the craziest dream to me. I always dreamed of following Magic’s footsteps, coming to Los Angeles, playing for the Lakers, winning multiple championships. And here the hell we are. It’s crazy.”
Kobe had a stressful relationship with his father
Back in 2001, Kobe Bryant married Vanessa Cornejo, who belonged to Mexico. His parents Joe and Pamela Bryant wanted Kobe to marry someone of African-American descent.
After neither of his parents attended the wedding, Kobe Bryant was deeply hurt and ended up not talking to them for years. The family eventually reconciled a few years later, only for things to go awry in 2013.
This took place after his parents tried to auction off some memorabilia from Bryant’s NBA career. Kobe ended up filing a lawsuit, leading to obvious issues. Neither of Bryant’s parents has made a public statement since his death in 2020. While reports claimed that Bryant and his parents had mended their relationship, there is little doubt that they were not on the best of terms.
