As a budding superstar athlete in the city of Los Angeles, it’s no surprise that Kobe Bryant was seen with a number of high-profile women throughout the late 1990s. Before eventually getting hitched in 2001, the young Mamba went through a series of crushes with celebrities in the entertainment industry.
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Bryant had short-term sparks with Brandy, supermodel Tyra Banks, and Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland and Beyonce Knowles during his rise to superstardom. He even sent roses to Venus Williams following the tennis star’s first Wimbledon championship in 2000. But it never turned into anything more.
Despite the gesture, there were no real sparks between Bryant and Williams, who never became anything more than friends. However, after several failed relationships, Bryant eventually met the woman he would call his wife—Vanessa Laine.
While the two met in late-1999, their relationship didn’t pick up because Vanessa was just 17 years old. It’s suspected that the pair dated in secret, leading to their eventual engagement, but the young couple didn’t make their relationship public until Vanessa turned 18.
Kobe Bryant’s parents didn’t approve of his marriage
Kobe Bryant’s parents didn’t approve of the couple’s engagement. Joe and Pamela Bryant didn’t even attend the April 2001 wedding in Dana Point, California, and remained estranged from their son for years. Kobe and Vanessa persevered through their ups and downs, though, until Kobe’s untimely death in 2020.
Just two years after tying the knot, Kobe and Vanessa welcomed their first daughter, Natalia, in January 2003. After an unfortunate ectopic pregnancy in 2005, the two eventually added daughter Gianna to their family in 2006.
Eventually, the Bryants welcomed two more children to their family. The first, Bianka, arrived when Kobe retired from the league in 2016. Their youngest, Capri, was born just six months before Kobe passed. It wasn’t a perfect marriage for the Bryants, but they were able to create a beautiful family for themselves in 20 years together.
Adding grandchildren into the fold made it easier for Joe and Pamela to reconcile with their son for what they believed was an ill-advised decision. They eventually reunited with Kobe, Vanessa, and their growing family.
