Kobe Bryant was born on 23 August, 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is the only son of Pam Bryant, his mother and Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, the father who played for Philadelphia 76ers and who served as head coach for Los Angeles Sparks. Kobe has two sisters Shaya and Sharia both elder than him. There's an interesting story behind how he got his first name 'Kobe'. Bryant got his first name 'Kobe' after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, when his parents incidentally saw on a restaurant menu.
Amidst his hectic professional life, 21-year old Bryant started dating 17-year old Vanessa Laine and the two got married on 18 April 2001. Sadly there were only 12 guests at the wedding. The marriage wasn't attended by his family including his two sisters, his Laker teammates or his agent Arn Tellem. Angry with his parents boycotting his marriage Kobe Bryant did not have any contact with his parents for well over two years. The Bryant couple had their first child Natalia Diamante Bryant on 19 January 2003. The birth of
Natalia influenced Bryant to reconcile his differences with his parents. Their second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, was born on May 1, 2006.
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