Kobe Bryant Mom Pamela Bryant Fighting Over Money, Mother Jealous of Vanessa Bryant's Mother Sofia Laine
Kobe Bryant and his mother are reportedly feuding over money.
Kobe and his mother Pamela Bryant are engaged in a legal battle over his NBA memorabilia. Some of the items include his old jerseys, varsity letters from high school, championship rings, trophies. Pamela turned them over to Goldin Auctions who were going to put them on sale. Kobe's lawyers issued a cease and desist to prevent the auction of the items that represented the LA Lakers personal achievements.
Mark Campbell of Loeb & Loeb L.L.P, Kobe's attorney, released a statement on the impending court showdown .
"Mr. Bryant's personal property has ended up in the possession of someone who does not lawfully own it," Campbell said. "We look forward to resolving this legal matter through the legal system. There will be no further comment at this time."
However, Pamela had already accepted $450,000 in advance in order to buy a house in Nevada. Sources close to Kobe told TMZ that he offered to buy his parents a "nice" house in Vegas that was considerably less than what they had in mind. His parents wanted a new home worth in the millions. They cited that Kobe purchased a a $3.2 million house in Newport Beach, CA, for his mother-in-law Sofia Laine. She sold the property and moved into another multimillion dollar mansion.
Kobe refused to accommodate his parents in similar fashion and that ignited the legal battle. He felt he had given them enough over the years despite his parents not approving of his wife, Vanessa. Joe and Pamela reportedly turned their backs on the relationship because the family did not like that he was involved with a Latina woman, the report said.
There were also concerns about Vanessa's age at the time she met Kobe. He was 21. She was 17. Vanessa's former stepfather, Stephen Laine, gave an interview in December 2011 that implied that Vanessa set out to trap Kobe into marriage. If he didn't propose by her 18th birthday, the family could have filed stator rape charges.
"He was an adult and she was only 17, and it was like, hey, wait a minute," Laine said. "It was like, here I am, going bankrupt and my daughter's marrying Kobe Bryant."
Kobe's parents did not attend his wedding to Vanessa on April 21, 2001.
