Kobe Bryant’s Wife Vanessa Files for Divorce
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa has filed for divorce after 10 years of marriage.
Court documents cite irreconcilable differences between the couple. Online reports say the couple, who met when Kobe Bryant was 21 and his future wife was 18, had no pre-nuptial agreement, so half of the money Bryant made over his years with the Lakers will go to his wife.
The Bryants have been married since 2001 and have two daughters together: Natalia, 8, and Gianna, 5. According to the legal documents, Vanessa Bryant asked for joint legal and physical custody of the girls when she filed for divorce on Dec. 1, and her husband did the same in response.
"The Bryants have resolved all issues incident to their divorce privately with the assistance of counsel and a judgment dissolving their marital status will be entered in 2012," read a statement released by a representative for the couple.
In 2003, Bryant was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman who worked at a hotel in Colorado where Bryant was staying. Bryant admitted to having sex with the woman, but insisted it was consensual.
Vanessa Bryant stood by her husband during the scandal, releasing a statement that read, ""I know that my husband has made a mistake - the mistake of adultery. He and I will have to deal with that within our marriage, and we will do so. He is not a criminal."
The charges against Bryant were dropped a year later because the accuser did not want to go ahead with a trial. The NBA star bought his wife a $4 million ring during the scandal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.