Earlier this month Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa called off their divorce once again, but was the decision to stay together in the name of love or money?
The old saying goes “it’s cheaper to keep her,” and in Bryant’s case that’s definitely proving to be true.
The couple was on the brink of divorce and Vanessa had already been awarded all three of their marital homes when suddenly news broke that they had reconciled their differences.
“I am happy to say that Vanessa and I are moving on with our lives together as a family,” Kobe posted on Facebook. “When the show ends and the music stops, the journey is made beautiful by having that someone to share it with. Thank you all for your support and prayers! Much luv, mamba out.”
Vanessa confirmed the cancellation of the divorce on Instagram as she shared an image that read, “We are pleased to announce that we have reconciled. Our divorce action will be dismissed. We are looking forward to our future together.”
While fans were happy to see the couple sticking it out, critics couldn’t help but wonder if more was keeping Kobe and Vanessa together than pure love.
Every time Vanessa and Kobe have come close to calling it quits, they reconcile and Kobe’s wife enjoys lavish, expensive gifts.
When the NBA star cheated on his wife back in 2003 Bryant gifted her a $4 million apology ring and they decided to stay together.
Later in 2011 Vanessa filed for divorce yet again and her husband was quick to patch things up with her.
While they have been spotted out and about lately as a happy couple, it’s obvious that so many attempts at divorce means something isn’t quite right in their marriage. So why not just call it quits and move on?
A divorce might not impact Vanessa too much, but it will definitely be draining Kobe’s pockets, wallets, and bank accounts.
In the midst of believing in true love the NBA star never signed a pre-nuptial agreement which means if he does divorce his wife he will have to pay hefty child support and spousal support payments.
While most cases only require the primary bread winner to pay spousal support for half the length of the marriage, these two have been sticking it out for over 10 years which means Mrs. Bryant can ask for spousal support for as long as she wants.
With the Lakers player making around $53.2 million a year, his child support payments could hit a whopping $365,000 and the spousal support could come in at $1 million a month. In other words, he would have to cash out $1.36 million every month if they split up.
Don’t think that the marriage is completely loveless, however. You have to consider why Vanessa keeps coming back if she would be rolling in money even if they divorce?
Perhaps it’s for the sake of the couple’s two children, or maybe living with Kobe still promises her much more money than the $1.36 monthly support payments.
Either way, you can’t eliminate the idea that maybe there is a little gleam of love keeping them from finalizing the divorce.
In fact, Kobe made it clear that despite a few marital issues, nobody is allowed to take any shots at his woman.
Drake’s verse in “Stay Schemin’” coined yet another popular phrase in the hip hop community: “B***h you wasn’t with me shooting in the gym!”
Many fans use the phrase without even knowing its context and one fan was bold enough to tweet the phrase to Kobe himself.
Bryant shared a photo of he and Vanessa enjoying coffee and tea together when a fan replied to the tweet with the hashtag #SheWasntWithYouShootingInTheGym.
Drake’s verse suggested that Kobe’s wife didn’t deserve Bryant’s millions because she was never in the gym supporting him, but according to the Lakers star his wife was exactly where she needed to be – taking care of their children.
“No, she wasn’t,” he responded via Twitter. “She was busy raising our kids #nonanny #respectmothers.”
Earlier this month Vanessa made it clear that she isn’t fond of the verse as she took to Instagram to say, “I love when immature kids quote a rapper that has never been friends with Kobe and knows nothing about our relationship. Just shows how gullible they are. I don’t need to be in the gym. I’m raising our daughters, signing checks, and taking care of everything else that pertains to our home life.”
She later admitted that Drake had apologized for the line in the song especially since he doesn’t even know Kobe or his personal life. She also went on to say that she just wants people to think before they speak.
“It’s done and over with and now it’s time for people to THINK before speaking,” she added to the Instagram post.
It’ll be interesting to see how the couple’s marriage progresses from here and how long it takes before Vanessa threatens her husband with divorce papers again.
