Vanessa Bryant: ‘I certainly would not want to be married to somebody that can’t win championships’

In addition to giving the Lakers a better chance to win an NBA championship, the acquisitions of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash may actually help Kobe Bryant’s marriage. But how? As you probably know, Kobe and Vanessa Bryant have been trying to reconcile their marriage since earlier in the summer. As far as we know, they have not gotten all the way there yet. Judging by what Vanessa said she looks for in a partner, winning another ring this season could work in Kobe’s favor.

According to Nicki Jhabvala of Sports on Earth (via The Basketball Jones), Vanessa had the following to say during an interview with New York Magazine:

“I certainly would not want to be married to somebody that can’t win championships,” she said. “If you’re sacrificing time away from my family and myself for the benefit of winning championships, then winning a championship should happen every single year.”

If she said this a few months ago we could have made a solid LeBron James joke, but now it wouldn’t really be appropriate.

It’s pretty obvious Vanessa is only interesting in being with a winner. Kobe has five championship rings, but perhaps a sixth could go a long way toward making his wife forget about these pictures from London. Forget tying M.J. — Kobe needs to win his wife back.

UPDATE: Vanessa Bryant has backtracked from her comments. Here’s her statement.