Vanessa Bryant (nee Laine) dealt with modeling and dancing prior to her marriage to NBA legend Kobe Bryant. She appeared in various music videos, including Snoop Dogg and Tha Eastsidaz’s G’d Up.
Vanessa was three when her parents got divorced. Her mother Sofia took care of her and her sister Sophie single-handedly before tying knots with entrepreneur Stephen Laine. After that, her daughters took last name Laine instead of Urbieta.
Being a wife of a famous athlete, Vanessa dedicated much time to philanthropy. The spouses supported various charities plus established Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation, aspiring to help young people in need financially and educationally.
The future Mr. and Mrs. Bryant got acquainted in 1999, when Vanessa was 17 and Kobe was 21. They traveled to Disneyland for the first date. Later, the NBA player sent flowers to his sweetheart’s school and picked her up from classes. In 2000, Kobe popped the question and espoused Vanessa on April 18, 2001. The groom’s parents were against his marriage as considered him to be too young and didn’t like that their future daughter-in-law wasn’t an African-American. They didn’t communicate with their son for about 2 years.
In 2003, Vanessa and Kobe welcomed their firstborn, daughter Natalia. In 2006, she was joined by sister Gianna. In 2011, the spouses decided to dissolve their marriage but later reconciled and gave birth to their third daughter, Bianka. In 2019, their family expanded by one more baby girl named Capri.
Actually, the Bryant family is a great example of incredible love and support. Kobe had a tattoo dedicated to his wife who supported him during a sexual assault scandal and even appeared at a press conference alongside him. Her husband and daughter’s tragic death was heartbreaking for Vanessa. She kept silent for several days before thanking all the people for their prayers and sharing that she was completely devastated.
A curious fact: while Kobe was called Black Mamba, Vanessa was often referred as Queen Mamba.