Kobe Bryant’s daughter Natalia Bryant organizes stunning event to celebrate her roots during Hispanic Heritage Month
Kobe Bryant's daughter, Natalia Bryant, is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month along with her mother, Vanessa Bryant. The duo organized an event on Friday, where they had models dressed in Mexican style while presenting Mexican art paintings.
This is not the first time that Natalia is celebrating her Hispanic roots, as her mother Vanessa is Mexican, and has talked about being both black and Mexican.
"I’m biracial. When I was younger, I didn’t really understand… how I’m both. As I got older, I was able to understand," Natalia Bryant told Teen Vogue back in 2021.
Natalia Bryant also revealed that her mother Vanessa picked her middle name, Diamante
"My mom just picked out my name. Diamante in Spanish is diamond and my nickname is Nani, which in Hawaiian means beautiful," she told Teen Vogue.
Currently, Natalia Bryant is studying film at the University of South California and has also talked about her decision to become a model and not a volleyball player, as her dream once was.
"I love the sport. I quit volleyball after the accident because I was so … a lot was going on at that time. I knew I didn’t… love volleyball as much as they love basketball. I’m okay with that," Natalia Bryant told Teen Vogue.
Why did the late Kobe Bryant want to learn to speak Spanish?
Aside from speaking English, the late Kobe Bryant spoke Italian, while he also learned to speak Spanish. The reason was not only for his wife Vanessa, who as we said, is Mexican, but because he wanted to create a bond with his Latino fans in Los Angeles.
"My Latino fans are very important because when I got [to the Lakers] they were the ones who embraced me the most… so I said, give me two or three years and I’m going to speak a bit of Spanish," the five-time NBA champion and legend said in a 2016 post-game interview.
Good friend and former teammate Pau Gasol, who won two championships with Kobe Bryant during their time with the Lakers (2009, 2010), revealed that his friendship with Kobe Bryant started because of the latter speaking Spanish to him.
Gasol once told Omar Raja of ESPN:
"Right away from the first game he started speaking Spanish. On our coverages, on our plays. It was great. It was something that I obviously didn’t expect at the beginning, even though I knew that he spoke really good Italian because he spent quite a bit of time in Italy when his dad played there when he was young.
"But then being married to Vanessa, she speaks Spanish very well (and) obviously he picked up some stuff. He was great, we did speak quite a bit of Spanish, especially our first years so that the opponents couldn’t understand. And they would point it out, they would go ‘what are you guys talking about?’
"It was pretty funny. ... It created that bond and that relationship from the get go, and he set the tone."
Based on Natalia Bryant's comments, it looks like Kobe Bryant and his family have embraced the Hispanic heritage.