“She’d Bring Pictures of Kobe Bryant to School”: Vanessa Bryant Flaunted Pictures of Lakers’ Guard Who Earned $9 Million a Year

In 1999, Vanessa Bryant was 17 and still in high school. A visit to a hip-hop concert had brought to her the opportunity of appearing in a Snoop Dogg video. But that wasn’t the last of the surprising things that were destined for her that year.

Tha Eastsidaz’s song, featuring Snoop Dogg, showed Vanessa lip-syncing Dogg’s hook. When Kobe Bryant saw her, he immediately sought to hire her for a video of his rap song.

While the video never left the production room, Vanessa found a dotting Kobe courting her with all his energy. Though Kobe was earning ‘only’ $9 million a year in 1999-2000, he and Vanessa built a $680 million empire together.

The two were soon engaged and set to marry. But kids in her high school did not believe her at first. Who would after all? Kobe Bryant was already a globally known player on his way to his first championship and Vanessa was a background dancer in a handful of songs.

So, dedicated to proving her relation to Bryant, Vanessa presented concrete proof to her schoolmates.

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Vanessa Bryant showed pictures of Kobe Bryant to her schoolmates

Former LA Times journalist Shawn Hubler, who covered Bryant and Vanessa’s relationship in detail, revealed this story. In an article dated February 15, 2005, Hubler wrote how Vanessa would take pictures of Bryant playing with her puppies to her schoolmate. The pictures, however, weren’t just limited to the puppy-playing.

Hubler wrote: “Soon, Bryant was calling her on her pager, and almost immediately they became an item — a fact that the teenager happily shared with virtually everyone. “She’d bring pictures of Kobe to school, and we’d all be like ‘Omygod!’ ” remembered Monica Squadrilli, now a 22-year-old graduate of Cal State Long Beach. “I remember there was one of him playing with her puppies, and she would only let us look at it, we couldn’t touch it. Even then, a lot of people didn’t believe her. But then he gave her that massive engagement ring, and that shut everyone up.”

Vanessa dearly loved her husband

The tragic accident in 2020 caused the entire world to grieve. The loss of Kobe Bryant was too much to take. Even as a fan, devastated by the loss of your idol, one couldn’t help but wonder about the pain Vanessa and her daughters felt. She lost not just her husband, but also her daughter.

There is no denying the strength she displayed during the memorial services and her stretched-out court battle against LA County. However, deep beyond that strength, the pain was almost palpable. Vanessa, after all, had lost her partner, her first love. Nothing can ever compare to that kind of loss.

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