They got married in Dana Point, California on April 1 2006. But Kobe's parents, two sisters, his agent Arne Trom and his Lakers teammates didn't attend the wedding. Kobe's parents opposed the marriage for a series of reasons. It is reported that Kobe's parents think Kobe is too young, especially the woman he married is not African-American. This contradiction led to the disagreement between Kobe and his family for two years, until Kobe had his first daughter.
Kobe Bryant's first daughter, Natalia Diamond Bryant, was born in June 5438+1October 65438+September 2003. The influence of Natalia's birth bridged the gap between Kobe and his parents. In the spring of 2005, Vanessa Lane had a miscarriage due to ectopic pregnancy. On May 1 2006, their second child, Jaina Maria Honore Bryant, was born. Gina was born six minutes before Melanie Sana 'a, the Florida-born daughter of Kobe's former teammate shaquille o'neal. In an interview in early 2007, Kobe still spoke fluent Italian. 201116 Due to "irreconcilable differences" between the two parties, Vanessa Lane formally filed a divorce with Kobe. Before the verdict was issued, the Bryant family had solved all the problems about divorce privately. Kobe Bryant and Vanessa applied for joint custody of their two daughters Natalya and Gina. On 201310/2, Kobe and Vanessa declared the divorce invalid.
Kobe gave himself a nickname "Black Mamba", and he hoped that his basketball skills would have the ability of a snake, that is, "to hit quickly and continuously with 99% accuracy and maximum speed."
In the summer of 2003, the police chief of Eagle County, Colorado received a complaint from Katelyn Faber, a hotel waiter aged 19, asking to investigate Kobe's sexual assault. Bryant underwent knee surgery in Colorado and recuperated at the Cordillera Hotel in Eagle County. Faber accused Kobe of raping her in a hotel room the night before surgery. Kobe admitted having sex with the plaintiff, but denied the plaintiff's allegations of sexual assault.
This accusation seriously damaged Kobe's reputation, and the public's view of Kobe plummeted. McDonald's and Nutella stopped sponsoring Kobe. Sales of jerseys have also dropped sharply from the previous peak. His main sponsor Nike continued to fulfill their contract, but did not continue to cooperate with him in the 2003-04 season.
However, in September 2004, Faber refused to testify in court and the sexual assault charges were dropped. Later, Kobe agreed to apologize to Faber for this matter, including apologizing to the public: "Although I believe that this contact between us is voluntary, I admit that I have different views with her on this matter." The case ended in a civil lawsuit. 1996-97 Before the start of the regular season, Kobe signed a six-year contract with Adidas, worth about 48 million dollars. His first pair of signature sneakers was equipped with KB 8. Other early endorsements of Kobe Bryant include Coca-Cola's Sprite drink, which appeared in McDonald's advertisements promoting Spalding's latest NBA air pump basketball, Upper Deck (a sports and entertainment publishing company), peanut butter brand of Italian chocolate company Ferriero SpA, Russell Company, and a series of games about himself made by Nintendo. When allegations of sexual assault against Kobe Bryant were made public, McDonald's, Ferriero SpA and other companies canceled their contracts with Kobe Bryant. An obvious exception is Nike, which signed a five-year contract with Kobe Bryant worth about $40-45 million before the incident. But Nike refused to use Kobe's image and didn't launch his new shoes.
After the incident, he resumed his endorsement activities through vitamin water drinks, an accessory product of Coca-Cola Company. Kobe Bryant also became the cover player of Volume 2 of Game -NBA' 07: Characteristic Life. In 2008, he also appeared in the commercial of Guitar Hero World Tour with Tony Hawk, michael phelps and Alex Rodriguez. Two years later, Nike once again promoted Kobe's image and returned to advertising endorsement.
In 2008, Kobe completed a series of video advertisements showing dangerous stunts to promote Nike's Hyper Dunk sneakers. The first one is that Kobe jumps over a fast-moving Aston Martin, and the second one is that Kobe dunks over a 3-meter-wide snake pond. Both videos have more than 4.5 million hits on YouTube. Later Kobe hinted that only Hollywood stunts were fake. In fact, their shooting of this kind of lens violated the terms of his contract with the Lakers, which involved not taking part in dangerous activities. After promoting Nike Hyperdunk sneakers, Kobe introduced his fourth generation of Nike signature sneakers: Nike Zoom Kobe IV. In 20 10, another sneaker was launched: Nike zoom Kobe v in 2009, Kobe cooperated with the Swiss high-end watch manufacturer "Nubeo" to launch a series of limited edition watches called "Black Mamba", and the price of this series of sports/luxury watches ranged from 25,000 US dollars to 285,000 US dollars. On February 9, 2009, Kobe became the cover of ESPN magazine, but this time it had nothing to do with basketball, but Kobe became a loyal fan of Barcelona Club. CNN estimated the value of Kobe Bryant's endorsement contract in 2007 at160,000 USD. In the 2009 Forbes list of the highest-paid athletes in the world, Kobe and Jordan tied for second place with $45 million. In the 20 10 Forbes list, Kobe Bryant ranked third behind Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan with $48 million. 20 1 1, Kobe ranked second with $53 million. 20 10 12 Nike and Kobe also released the 6th generation sneakers: Nike Zoom Kobe VI.
On 20 10 12 13, Kobe signed a contract with Turkish Airlines for two years and became the global brand ambassador of Turkish Airlines. On 20th11February17th, Kobe signed a contract with Mercedes-Benz and became the brand ambassador of smart China. On 201310/6, Kobe Bryant officially became the spokesperson of Lenovo smartphones in China and Southeast Asia. 20/kloc-in August, 2005, Kobe Bryant was announced as the spokesperson of the mobile game "NBA Hero".
Video game cover athletes:
Kobe Bryant is by the NBA court.
NBA sideline 2: Kobe Bryant
NBA court side 2002
NBA 3 vs 3 Kobe Bryant
NBA '07: Show Life Volume 2
NBA 09: insider
During NBA 2K 10 career, Kobe devoted himself to charity and helped poor children in various ways. He spared no effort to contribute to the community, including the Make-a-Wish Foundation, St. Yuda Children's Hospital and Boys & Girls Club of America. The American Girls Club is the three most important stages of his charity activities.
Kobe Bryant is the ambassador of the American national charity after-school All-Stars (ASAS). He visited many schools founded by associations and provided free learning and training opportunities for suitable young people in his basketball camp (Kobe Bryant).
Kobe also set up his own foundation, the Kobe Bryant Family Foundation, to further contribute to children all over the world.