Vanessa Bryant has sent a message of support and mourning after the death of Joe Bryant, the father of her late husband Kobe.
Joe passed away on Tuesday as the result of a stroke at the age of 69 and many fans were wondering how Vanessa would publicly react to the news.
Kobe Bryant fell in love the first time he saw Vanessa
There was some public animosity between Kobe Bryant and his parents back in the day, with him once tweeting: “When u give Give GIVE and they take Take TAKE at wat point do u draw a line in the sand?”
That was in response to news stories claiming that Joe and Pam had been auctioning off some of his memorabilia without asking him for permission first.
Pam and Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant also avoided attending their son’s marriage in 2001 due to Vanessa Bryant being from another community.
Vanessa’s statement
As it turns out, Vanessa is not harboring any animosity towards Kobe’s family at this time, at least not outwardly.
“Sending our condolences upon hearing the news of my father in law’s passing. We hoped things would’ve been different. Although the times we spent together were few, he was always sweet and nice to be around. Kobe loved him very much. Our prayers go out to family.”, wrote Vanessa on her Instagram story.
The existing issues were clearly notable enough for Vanessa to allude to them in her statement, but she knows this is not the time for anything more pointed than that.
The general belief is that the relationship between Joe and Kobe started to deteriorate back when Kobe signed for the Los Angeles Lakers and he started to distance himself from his family.
