Liz Cambage became the first woman to dunk at the Olympics, and then she became the first athlete to go on record calling out Kobe Bryant and Stephanie Rice for having an inappropriate relationship.
Things between Bryant and Rice started cooking when the NBA MVP visited the Australian swim team before the Games began since the teams were staying at the same hotel in Manchester. Rice and Bryant took some pictures, including the one seen above which the swimmer shared on Twitter and Instagram, along with the message “First piccy with a “star” going to be hard to beat… Kobe.” Rice was also pretty excited about an autographed pair of sneakers Kobe gave her, and he received some signed swim caps as part of the trade.
Fast forward to the second week of the Olympics and the closeness between the two continued. Bryant was spotted at the velodrome on Tuesday watching some cycling along with Rice:
Rice then sat in the stands to watch the US beat her home country of Australia in their quarterfinal basketball game on Wednesday. At this point you could say they’re just friends, but Cambage, who is a star center on Australia’s basketball team, is not convinced. She sent the following trio of tweets on Tuesday calling out the pair for their relationship, telling Rice to “get a grip.”
Cambage isn’t the only Australian athlete who suspects something is up between the two. Swimmer Craig Stevens told Triple M’s “Grill Team” on Wednesday “There’s definitely something going on.”
“I was on the last Olympic team and [Kobe] was hanging us a fair bit at the different parties and whatnot,” Stevens told Triple M.
“So Kobe was trying it on [with Stephanie Rice] four years ago, you reckon?” Triple M’s Mark “MG” Geyer asked Stevens.
“I remember her telling the story [of] how he put it to her… that he had the family coming the next day but he had that night free,” Stevens told Triple M.
Kobe was still married to wife Vanessa in 2008, so that would definitely make his alleged pass at her inappropriate. Vanessa filed for divorce last December, but she never finalized the paperwork and the two were said to be working on a reconciliation. But between Bryant’s relationship with Rice, and these scandalous photos, there’s no way Vanessa could be cool with Kobe’s behavior.
Rice also has a history of flings. She dated but broke up with Australian swimmer Eamon Sullivan prior to the 2008 Games, and was later spotted kissing Michael Phelps in Beijing. She also knows how to whet appetites by sharing racy photos and personal details.
Photo via Stephanie Rice on Twitter
