Vanessa Bryant and Pau Gasol Talked About Kobe Bryant’s Weakest Hour- “First time that (I) saw him cry, it was hard!” 

Kobe Bryant always kept a formidable face in front of adversity. But every man faces a breaking point. Vanessa Bryant and Pau Gasol saw it.

Seldom you will see someone as mentally tenacious as Kobe Bryant show even a glimpse of emotion. The shield that he has created through his demeanor is impenetrable.

But like all strong defenses, it is bound to break. And two individuals got to see Kobe’s soft and emotional side. The reason? An injury towards the tail end of his career.

It was more of an eventuality than an if or a maybe. Playing at that high level for years and being that dominant across nearly three decades, the wheels were eventually going to fall off.

Kobe Bryant’s torn Achilles marked the end of his career. But how did it happen and why were only Vanessa Bryant and Pau Gasol privy to his emotions?

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The injury that marked the end of the Kobe Bryant

By 2013, Kobe Bryant had clocked 54,000 minutes in the league. That’s nearly 40 days of pure basketball. Every single minute. He had played 6000 more minutes than the closest player.

Naturally, such a tread would wear him down. Coaches and players saw how tired he was. And yet the ember inside Kobe burned bright. There was no making him rest or take time off. Kobe didn’t function that way.

April was when you could see how much toll his workload had taken on him. Wrapped up in ice packs and bandages, you could see Bryant was hurt. But he wasn’t going to quit. The Lakers were vying for the 8th seed and as long as Kobe could play, he want that playoff spot.

But alas, despite all his efforts, he tore his Achilles tendon in a game against the Golden State Warriors. And as many recall, he was not the same man after that.

Pau Gasol recalled how Kobe cried. The first time he had seen such a resilient and tenacious man cry. When Vanessa Bryant and his daughters walked into the locker room, he couldn’t control himself. Tears burst out. And he broke down.

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Why Only Vanessa Bryant and Pau Gasol saw Kobe’s soft side

Kobe didn’t falter. It was an inevitability. No machine can last forever, let alone a man. And that is the sole reason why he broke down. He had come to terms with his decline. And an Achilles injury meant that he wouldn’t be the same that too at the age of 35.

Bryant was distraught. But only his confidant and best friend Pau Gasol got to see the side of him. He knew that if the rest of the team saw him as soft, they would fail in their quest to make the playoffs.

Vanessa was the other person who saw the Laker great’s vulnerable side. His pillar of support was the one person who stood by him.

Kobe did come back from injury and even dropped 60 in his final game. Talk about a man who didn’t know how to quit.

Also read: Kobe Bryant’s ‘Big Question’ Once Forced 18 y/o Vanessa Bryant To Quit High School