Although he retired after an illustrious 20-year career, the five-time NBA champion’s stats just keep growing off the field. Kobe Bryant’s kids and his wife make up the Bryant nuclear family of six. With a household like this, the legend of the Los Angeles Lakers is almost qualified to have his own basketball team!
Since his retirement, Kobe Bryant’s kids and his wife have continued to attract attention, as has his acclaimed sports career. The former NBA star’s family has always been his inspiration. As a result, Kobe is now more focused on his family and committed to his work as a father. Here is everything you need to know about the growing family of the five-time NBA champion.
Who are Kobe Bryant’s Parents & Family Members?
The older generation may be familiar with details about Kobe Bryant’s parents and siblings. The legend of the Los Angeles Lakers, deeply rooted in basketball, is the only son of three descendants of Joe and Pam Bryant. Kobe’s 6’9″ great father was probably born for this sport. Although Joe was not as famous as his son, he was also a basketball star. He helped steer Kobe on his career path and even after he retired from professional play, Joe continued to influence knowledge and invest in young talent as a coach.
On the other hand, Kobe’s mother is the sister of famous NBA star Chubby Cox. His two older sisters are Sharia Bryant-Washington (who is also an athlete) and Shaya Bryant-Tabb. Although Kobe is apparently the baby of the house, he had a strained relationship with his parents and sisters in the earlier stages of his adult life.
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Who are Kobe Bryant’s Children and His Wife?
Kobe Bryant’s kids are the product of his long marriage to Vanessa Laine. Originally known as Vanessa Cornejo Urbieta, Kobe’s wife is a Latin American model with Mexican roots. The celebrity couple’s love goes back to the time of their young adults. Bryant met his wife when she was still a teenager and a high school student.
Although the two lovebirds have been married since 2001, their love trip also had its own hard times. One of the reasons why Bryant has a strained relationship with his mother, for example, is that she could not initially approve of his Latin American wife Vanessa. Pam found the brunette beauty too young and not African-American. Despite this and other public controversies, Kobe and Vanessa remained inseparable for nearly two decades and have since expanded their family tree.
One look at Kobe Bryant’s kids is enough to understand why the basketball legend is considered successful both professionally and personally. Kobe and Vanessa Bryant first became parents in January 2003 when their first daughter Natalia Diamante was born.
Natalia enjoyed the privileges of an only child for about four years before her sibling Gianna Maria-Onore joined them. Bryant’s second princess, born on May 1, 2007, appears to be the child who inherited the athletic genes and talent of the five-time NBA champion. Judging by Bryant’s social media posts, Gianna, whose retired father now coaches her school’s basketball team, could be the offspring to carry on Bryant’s career legacy.
The retired NBA star became the father of three in December 2016 when his daughter Bianka Bella joined the family. Interestingly, Bianka, who arrived just a year before her father retired, may have enjoyed certain privileges, unlike her older sisters. This is because her father now has more time to spend with the family as she grows up.
Bryant’s youngest family member Capri Kobe arrived in June 2019. The fourth princess of the five-time NBA champion, whose name is a unique tribute to her famous father, is affectionately known as Koko. With the arrival of Capri, Kobe remains the only man in the Bryant household, at least for now. Although a daughter is less than a mere woman turning five, it would not be inappropriate for Bryant to decide to start his own basketball team.
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Even with four children, the legend of the Los Angeles Lakers has hinted that he and his wife might have another child. Although the celebrity athlete feels comfortable having only girls and doesn’t mind being outnumbered, he claims that Vanessa wants a boy more than he does himself. While he hopes to achieve this, Kobe says that the decision to have another child is up to Vanessa. Contrary to the popular belief that it takes a real man to father a boy, Kobe Bryant believes it takes a king to father a princess.
Since retiring in April 2016, the five-time NBA champion’s life hasn’t slowed much, but he is more focused on family and work. After his retirement, Kobe has focused on family vacations, business ventures, and coaching. Although he is no longer active in the NBA, Bryant, who enjoys coaching his daughter Gianna’s youth basketball team, is still obsessed with winning.
While trying to reestablish contact with his family, Bryant is also working hard to establish himself as a writer and businessman. In addition to his own media production studio and investments in BodyArmor, the retired NBA star won an Oscar in 2018 for his animated short film Dear Basketball. As a writer, he has written at least two books, The Wizenard Series: Training Camp, as well as The Legacy and The Queen, inspired by tennis champion Serena Williams.
