WATCH: Kobe Bryant’s Sweet Message to Wife Vanessa Bryant in Documentary
The world is still grieving the death of beloved NBA giant Kobe Bryant.
In a resurfaced clip from a 2015 Showtime documentary, Kobe Bryant’s Muse, the late star opened up about falling in love with his wife, Vanessa Urbieta Cornejo Laine, on the set of his music video in 1999.
“For those that don’t know, yes, I had budding music career as a rapper,” he said in the clip, laughing. “It didn’t last long, but I did make a video. On the video set is where I first met Vanessa.”
“It was a two-day video shoot, and I was always looking for her, like I wanted to know where she was. I would finish a take and go to my trailer but I would wonder where she was the entire time,” he remembered, as excerpted by People. “Then I would come out of the trailer and just wanted to talk to her some more, in between takes and stuff like that.”
Kobe eventually asked for Vanessa’s number, and the two ended up having hours-long phone calls as they got to know each other.
Of course, one of the things they bonded over was their love of Disney.
“She was just beautiful. We literally did everything together. Everything together. And I thought I was a big dork because I loved Disneyland,” he said. “I loved the Disney movies and things like that, but I never really had a chance to go to the park much. She was a big Disney fan, too, and we used to hang out as Disneyland, we used to go to Magic Mountain, she became my best friend.”
The two got engaged when Vanessa turned 18, and then they married on April 18, 2001. Together, they had four children: Natalia, Gianna, Bianka, and Capri.
Sadly, Gianna also lost her life that fateful day.
Our hearts are still with the family. Let us always remember the incredible love Kobe and Vanessa shared.