Kobe Bryant nearly lost $75 million and 3 mansions in a divorce from Vanessa Bryant in 2011

Just like any other couple, Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Bryant went through several rough patches during their marriage. The LA Lakers superstar nearly lost $75 million and three of his mansions to Vanessa when she filed for divorce in late 2011.

According to a report by TMZ in January 2012, the divorce settlement between Kobe and Vanessa will include the division of the couple's assets. Vanessa will receive half of it, which was valued at $75 million at the time, as well as three of their mansions in Newport Beach.

However, the couple announced a year later that they are back together and called off the divorce. They had their third daughter Bianka Bella in 2016 and a fourth one, Capri Kobe, was born in 2019.

Kobe Bryant met Vanessa Laine in 1999. They were married two years later after Laine graduated high school. His parents and two sisters were not present at the wedding because they were against it.

The family reconciled when Natalia Diamante was born in 2003, while Gianna Maria-Onore was born three years later. The couple's marriage had a lot of hiccups over the years, with Bryant's sexual assault case in 2003 almost ending it prematurely.

However, the couple remained strong after reconciling in 2013, which resulted in two more children. Unfortunately, Bryant, Gianna and seven more people died in a helicopter plane crash on January 26, 2020.

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Kobe Bryant's career retrospective

Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers

Kobe Bryant was a high school phenom out of Lower Merion in Philadelphia when he was drafted 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996. Bryant was immediately traded to the LA Lakers in exchange for Vlade Divac.

After a rough first two years wherein he was not a starter for the Lakers, Bryant had his breakout year during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season. He would win three straight NBA championships alongside Shaquille O'Neal from 2000 to 2002.

Bryant slowly became the best player in the world in the mid-2000s, winning the MVP in 2008. However, the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals of that year. He bounced back starting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by helping the Redeem Team win the gold medal.

"Black Mamba" followed it up by leading the Lakers to back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010. He got his revenge against the Celtics by beating them in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals.

Bryant's later career was plagued with injuries and announced midway through the 2015-16 season that he'll be retiring at the end of it. He scored 60 points in his final game, capping off one of the greatest careers in NBA history. He was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

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