SUMMARY
- Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa is of Mexican ethnicity.
- Vanessa was born at Huntington Beach in California.
NBA fans will have heard of Vanessa Bryant by now. She was the wife of the late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and the mother of his 4 daughters. The couple named them Natalia, Gianna, Bianka, and Capri. As we all know, Gianna passed away along with Kobe and several others in an unfortunate helicopter accident. This is truly tragic and puts a fair amount of stress on Vanessa and the three remaining daughters
Many fans will be aware that Kobe Bryant is of African American ethnicity and even spent the early stages of his childhood in Italy. However, not a lot of people will know about Vanessa’s ethnicity and background. With that being said, let us take a deeper look at the ethnicity of Vanessa Bryant, more about her origins and where she is from.
Vanessa Bryant was born in Huntington Beach, Los Angeles
It would surprise people to find out that Vanessa Bryant is of Mexican Descent. While it is certainly clear based on her physical features, not many could have guessed by hearing her accent and behavior. She was born on May 5 1982 near the Huntington Beach locality in California.
Her parents got divorced when she was very young. This was despite the couple having two daughters. They were Vanessa, and her elder sister Sophie. Her father soon moved to California and her mother eventually remarried a man named Stephen Laine. As a few fans might remember, that is also why Vanessa’a maiden name is Vanessa Laine, despite having no real connection to her stepfather.
Vanessa spent most of her life in California and studied at Marina High School. It was around this time that she met her future husband Kobe Bryant on the set of a music video. He later revealed that he was simply trying his hand at being a rapper and meeting her made him feel. The interactions between them caused quite a lot of publicity in her life given Kobe’s emerging popularity at the time. She finally completed high school in 2000.
Alongside Kobe, Vanessa also created a lot of change and helped sections of society. She was the reason the Black Mamba sports foundation was renamed to include Mambacita as well and went forward catering to poor athletes of both genders. We wish her the best in life and hope that she is able to raise her remaining daughter well.
Vanessa has no contact with her biological father
Although Stephen Laine did take over the father figure role in the lives of Vanessa and her elder sister Sophie, her actual biological father remains unnamed and unknown to the public. Sofia ended up filing for divorce and leaving her unknown husband when Vanessa was just 3 years old.
Since Sofia ended up marrying Stephen Laine when Vanessa was 8, he was able to take the role of her father. However, he did not support her decision to marry Kobe Bryant due to their racial differences and the fact that Vanessa was only 17 years old when she married Bryant.