The Untold Truth Of Kobe Bryant's Wife

Kobe

Bryant

's

wife

, Vanessa

Bryant

, has been with the famous athlete since 2002. And while

Kobe

's face is plastered on countless television screens and magazine covers, Vanessa rarely gives interviews. So, what is there to know about her? Here's the

untold

truth

of

Kobe

Bryant

's

wife

. As a senior at Marina High School, news that Vanessa

Bryant

was dating one of the L.A. Lakers' star players sent shockwaves through the campus. According to the Los Angeles Times, a

television helicopter was seen flying over the school in an attempt to capture images of the then-high school student and her A-list beau. Her grandfather, Robert Laine, told the newspaper that Vanessa skipped out on her prom and had to finish her education through homeschooling, quote, "because of the notoriety." In a quest to gather up more information on the brunette teen who had captured

Kobe

's heart, the Times even interviewed some of her classmates, who said the buzz around

campus was that

Kobe

was sending flowers and other gifts to one of their classmates. "I see the lovely young ladies that I haven't even met yet. What's your name?" "Vanessa." "Vanessa, how you doin'." Some chatter from harmless teens was nothing. Once Vanessa and

Kobe

decided to get married, that's when their lives really got flipped upside down. Vanessa was only 18 years old at the time of their wedding, while

Kobe

was 22. They were young, and, as

such, many people probably thought they were doomed from the start, but Vanessa and

Kobe

proved to the world that they were serious about the life-long commitment they were choosing to embark on. As the

wife

of a basketball legend, Vanessa

Bryant

was reportedly treated like royalty around the Lakers' arena, the Staples Center. During a revealing interview with The Cut in 2012, when

Kobe

Bryant

was still on the Lakers' roster, Vanessa noted that she enjoyed elite access around the venue

that other players' wives weren't blessed with. In particular, the tunnel where the team would enter and exit the basketball court is typically off-limits for most significant others. But not Vanessa. Vanessa said she was granted access because she didn't like giving

Kobe

a smooch after his games "in front of all the cameras," so she was allowed to hide out in the tunnel to "get away from ."

Kobe

and Vanessa

Bryant

brought four beautiful daughters into this world,

with their last kiddo, Capri, arriving in June 2019. Some fans might have assumed the couple was done with having children, but

Kobe

left the door open for having another in a March 2019 interview with Extra. He told the outlet, quote, "I think she wants a boy more than I do." "She's like, 'Listen — you gotta see if you can hit a clutch shot. Right, like, you gave me all girls, let's see if you can bring a boy.'"

Kobe

was clearly in awe of Vanessa as a mom.

He wrote to his

wife

on Mother's Day 2019, "We love you and thank you for all that you do for our family. You are the foundation of all that we hold dear." Just 18 days before

Kobe

Bryant

's tragic death in a helicopter crash, he stopped by the All The Smoke podcast to chat about his career and personal life. When asked about how he kept his marriage strong throughout the couple's ups and downs,

Kobe

boiled it down to two important components: "Just commitment and

competitiveness of 'We are going to succeed.'" The dad-of-four did hint that there were occasional rough patches in his relationship with Vanessa, but nothing out of the ordinary. "That's also the beauty of it: having the persistence and determination to work through things — very, very tough things — and we've been able to do that." As an example,

Kobe

spoke about much older couples that he's met who still occasionally have disagreements in their 80s - but

they stay together anyway. "One time a guy goes, 'Yeah it's great, but she just kicked me out of the bed last night, I was sleeping on the couch last two nights.' And I'm like, 'It doesn't change.'" The bottom line? Vanessa and

Kobe

were committed to their marriage. As the tragic news emerged about

Kobe

and Gianna "Gigi"

Bryant

's deaths on January 26th, 2020, supporters took to social media to express their love for Vanessa

Bryant

. Writer and

critic Rebecca Shuri tweeted, "I can't stop thinking about Vanessa

Bryant

, who was with

Kobe

longer than she was without him in her life, who has an infant child and two other young daughters, and who will have to bear this memory anew when each remaining daughter tries to reconcile this tragedy." Singer Ciara said, "Praying for Vanessa and the

Bryant

family at this sad and difficult time." It's unfathomable what Vanessa is going through at the moment, but it's

obvious she'll have a huge team of supporters to see her through these difficult times.