After inheriting Kobe s 2 billion legacy for 5 years, does Vanessa s "rebirth" betray the Mamba spirit?

On January 26, 2020, the sudden death of Kobe Bryant and his second daughter Gianna made Vanessa Bryant's life cut into two completely different worlds. Five years have passed, as "Bryant's widow", she has been permanently frozen in the public eye - whether it is the inherited $2 billion in inheritance, the sky-high settlement with Los Angeles County, or the coming-of-age gift of her eldest daughter Natalia, every choice she chooses is labeled as "Mamba spirit", but she is also caught in a whirlpool of controversy because of this label.

Some people questioned whether she had truly escaped the pain of losing her husband, some criticized her new relationship for "betraying Kobe", and some even regarded her business decisions as a squander of her legacy. Of course, in this hustle and bustle, this woman's struggle and transformation reflects the complex rebirth of a woman after a huge tragedy.

Kobe's legacy is far from a simple number. In addition to cash and real estate, he left behind a huge business territory, including Mamba Sports Academy, a $200 million stake in beverage brand BodyArmor, a publishing company and a number of investments. For Vanessa, who has never been involved in business management, this is both a wealth and a heavy burden. She had to face the unilateral "retirement" of the Mamba Sports Academy and the humiliation of the Mamba trademark, and was forced to deal with the capital giants at the negotiating table.

She needs to develop a strategy for BodyArmor's continued growth and even participate in advertising ideas in person, just because "this is all an unfinished career for Kobe."

What is more difficult is to face the scrutiny of public opinion. When she refused to renew her contract with Nike and instead founded Kobe's personal brand, some people praised her for her courage, while others accused her of "consumption of her husband." When she donated the $28.85 million settlement to the Mamba Foundation, her good deeds were affirmed, but they were also accompanied by the ridicule of "making a show".

Vanessa's dilemma is that she must play both a "guardian" and a "innovator" - both maintaining the purity of Kobe's legacy and breaking through the commercial jungle. As she said in the interview: "Bryant's shadow is everywhere, but I cannot let his legacy become a monument, it must live." The double blow of losing her husband and daughter made Vanessa "she burst into tears and could hardly say a complete sentence." However, as the only support of her three daughters, she had to turn her grief into strength. The growth trajectory of his eldest daughter Natalia has become a microcosm of Vanessa's rebirth. From signing with IMG Modeling Company in 2021 to graduating as an excellent student in film at the University of Southern California in 2025, every step of Natalia is accompanied by her mother's firm support.

At the graduation ceremony, Vanessa took a photo with a smile wearing sunglasses, which was interpreted by netizens as "the strength of hiding tears."

Of course, behind this strength is unspeakable fatigue. In order to balance business with family, she got up at 4 a.m. to handle official business, accompanied her young daughter to participate in activities during the day, and then made suggestions for Natalia's modeling career at night. When she was ridiculed by the media for her weight fluctuations, netizens never saw her sweating profusely in the gym, just to "show her daughter a healthy attitude towards life."

Mother is both her armor and her weakness - she must live perfectly, because the whole world is waiting for the inspirational script of the "Bobby Family". In 2025, Vanessa's new relationship was exposed, pushing her to the forefront of public opinion. Some netizens wished her "regaining happiness", but more voices accused her of "betraying Kobe" and "greedy for pleasure", and even maliciously speculated that her boyfriend was coveting the inheritance. This controversy reveals the cruel double standards of society towards her: a man is praised for remarrying after being widowed and remarried, while a woman is denied "ungrateful".

In response to this, Vanessa's response was calm and sharp: "Boy is the love of my life, but the daughters need a happy mother." This sentence tear opens up the public's romantic imagination of "Mamba's widow" - she is not only Kobe's wife, but also an independent individual. Her choice has nothing to do with betrayal, but honesty towards life. As she wrote in the Foundation Declaration: "The Mamba spirit is not only a competition, but also a love for life." Five years have passed, and Vanessa's eyes may have less brilliance of the girlhood, but more profoundness that has experienced vicissitudes. Her smile no longer "goes straight to the bottom of her eyes", but every calmness of public appearance and every decisive charitable donation silently declare that she has never been defined by tragedy. The controversy may never stop, but Vanessa's transformation is shocking enough. She is no longer the shadow behind Kobe, but a strong man who finds a balance between business, family and self.

When Natalia was wearing a bachelor's uniform and looked like Kobe on the side, people finally realized that Vanessa's "rebirth" was not a deviation from Mamba's spirit, but a deepest continuation of her - persisting in despair, moving forward in controversy, until she lived as her own light. Perhaps, the true Mamba spirit is this power that never surrenders in desperate situations, isn’t it?