Kobe Bryant and his parents Joe and Pam had a rocky relationship for years leading up to the former NBA star’s death, but it sounds like Bryant expressed a desire to put that to rest not long before he died.
Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, delivered a speech on Kobe’s behalf when Kobe was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday night. During the speech, Vanessa said Kobe told her a week before he died that he wanted his mother and father to attend the enshrinement. She thanked Joe and Pam for “bringing one of the most amazing human beings into this world.” Vanessa also thanked Kobe’s entire family and said his sister Sharia has “gone above and beyond.”
Here’s the video:
Vanessa Bryant says Kobe wanted his estranged parents to come to his Hall of Fame ceremony before his death, Vanessa thanks Pam and Joe Bryant for raising Kobe pic.twitter.com/e9dIyv19fd
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) May 15, 2021
Joe and Pam did not attend the ceremony, however. Anansa Sims, who is Matt Barnes’ ex-wife and close friends with Kobe’s sister Shaya, claims to know why. Sims shared a tribute to Kobe on her Instagram page that was attributed to Shaya, whose Instagram is private. Sims said she was told by Shaya that Joe and Pam did not attend the Hall of Fame ceremony because they were not personally invited and were “totally disrespected at the memorial.”
“His parents didn’t just choose not to go to the HOF. His parents were totally disrespected at the memorial. They weren’t personally invited to the HOF,” Sims wrote on Instagram, according to a screenshot captured by The Neighborhood Talk.
Sims also said Joe and Pam wished they had known Kobe expressed a desire for them to attend because they would have gone.
Some of Kobe’s issues with his parents stemmed from his decision to marry Vanessa at such a young age. He reconciled with his parents after the birth of his first daughter, Natalia, but the three went through a public fight in 2013 over some memorabilia.
Lakers legend Jerry West said Kobe’s parents were “traumatized and devastated” over their son’s death. It’s a shame they were unable to work out their differences.
H/T Bro Bible
