In 2001, Kobe Bryant was getting ready to marry the love of his life, Vanessa Bryant, or rather, Vanessa Urbieta Cornejo back then. The ceremony was a quiet affair, with hardly anyone in attendance. In fact, not even Bryant’s Lakers teammates were absent. All because the Black Mamba didn’t bother inviting them, which apparently came to the surprise of absolutely nobody.
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Back then, Kobe was still struggling to fit in with the Los Angeles Lakers. The team was led by Shaquille O’Neal. And Bryant, the competitive person that he was, always tried to prove himself to be the better player. As a result of that, the then-young man often got highly abrasive with his teammates, which of course was not appreciated by anyone.
So, on the day of his wedding, as revealed in Jeff Pearlman’s Three Ring Circus not a single member of the Lakers roster was surprised by the lack of an invitation. They just told themselves that was the kind of person Kobe was.
Laker players were relieved when Kobe Bryant didn’t invite them to his wedding
Kobe Bryant met his future wife, Vanessa Bryant on the set of a music video back in 2000. Six months later, the two were engaged to be married, much to the shock of both Kobe and Vanessa’s family.
A year later, the two got married. They have had their ups and downs but had a loving 19-year marriage. That said, things were far from perfect in the beginning. In particular, their wedding day was quite a solemn affair. After all, Kobe’s parents were absent from the wedding, as they did not agree with his choice of bride.
And, if his parents’ absence wasn’t enough, even his teammates weren’t in attendance. However, that one was by Kobe’s design. The Black Mamba wasn’t exactly on good terms with his Laker teammates. After all, his competitive attitude and overall disrespectful demeanor led to a less-than-friendly relationship between them. Not to mention, they were relieved not to be invited. Take a look at the tweet below by El News.
“When Kobe and Vanessa were married on April 18, 2001, inside St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church, in Dana Point, no Laker players or coaches were invited. Which surprised no one and relieved most everyone. (“Do you think the guys wanted to go?” said Walker.) They only learned of the event at practice the next day. It was merely Bryant’s way.”
“When Kobe and Vanessa were married on April 18, 2001, inside St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church, in Dana Point, no Laker players or coaches were invited. Which surprised no one and relieved most everyone. (“Do you think the guys wanted to go?” said Walker.) They only learned of the event at practice the next day. It was merely Bryant’s way.”
It’s a shame that Kobe’s poor attitude prevented him from fully bonding with his teammates. Although, despite how badly this incident may paint the picture, the man did actually have some good times with his teammates too.
Kobe once broke a $100 Secret Santa limit to gift one of his favorite teammates, Mark Madsen
Kobe Bryant isn’t exactly the best role model when it comes to teammates. During his 20 years in the NBA, he was more feared as a teammate than he was loved. That said, there were times when even the Black Mamba retracted his fangs. Like with his former teammate Mark ‘The Mad Dog’ Madsen.
The five-time NBA Champion once broke a $100 gift limit so that he could gift Madsen two suits as his Secret Santa.
Just goes to show, that even a notoriously bad teammate like Kobe Bean Bryant can be a big softy. Looks like you can never judge a book by its cover.
