Vanessa Bryant who has been single-handedly looking after her daughters after the death of Kobe Bryant is not supported by any of their family. Neither she is in touch with Kobe’s parents nor with her mother. While talking about Kobe’s parents, they untied all the relations between the two after their marriage.
As per sources, got on good terms with his father, Joe Bryant, and tried to mend it, but with the sudden demise of him and his daughter, they are not on talking terms with . However, they were present at the funeral and attended it. Apart from that they were never seen to have been in relation with Vanessa and the kids.
But before all this, Kobe’s relationship with his dad was the closest as he was also a former NBA player. He was a 1975 draft and played for three franchises during his career. Having a father from the same field, Kobe’s achievements were proudly honored by his father including his first NBA Championship with the Lakers in June 2000.
Following this in 2001, their bond broke up as he got married to Vanessa Bryant. Neither of the parents showed up for the wedding. However, let’s take a look in detail at the reason behind Kobe’s parents ending their relationship with Kobe and her wife.
The main reason behind Kobe’s parents ending their relationship with their son was mainly because of Vanessa. According to sources, Vanessa comes from a Latin-American heritage that was opposite to their heritage. His parents wanted him to marry someone who belonged of African-American descent. However, Kobe tried to convince his parents how much he loved her and wanted to marry her.
However, at the time of their engagement, Kobe’s parents never made an appearance and cut all ties with him. They neither made it to the wedding nor his other family members. Apart from this, their relationship got more affected in 2013 at the auction incident.
As per sources, Kobe’s mother Pam Bryant got $450,000 after auctioning Kobe’s personal belongings claiming her right to those things given by her son. However, in reality, it was not true. According to ESPN, Pam Bryant wanted to buy a house for which Kobe offered to pay $250,000. Instead, her mother asked for $450,000 to buy the house. However, after Kobe turned her down, she sold all his belongings in an auction without informing him. Later she along with her husband Joe Bryant issued a public apology for the actions which led to more bitterness in their already broken relations.
Thus, since that incident, Kobe himself never tried to make any contact with them. He became a father of 4 daughters and along with Vanessa continued with their happy family life. Vanessa too has not yet tried to reach them.