Kobe Bryant won't catch Michael Jordan's six NBA championships, but he seems to have won the battle of first wives.
Whereas MJ divorced his first wife, Juanita Vanoy, in 2006 after 17 years of marriage, Bryant is still going strong with wife Vanessa.
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Jordan is on wife No. 2 with Yvette Prieto (since 2013).
Bryant's wife of 15 years posted a touching message to her husband on Instagram, USA Today Sports' For the Win reported, shortly after he broke The Players' Tribune website with his retirement announcement from the Lakers and professional basketball.
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"You can walk away knowing you've always played with everything you have, babe," Vanessa said on the Instagram post. "I'm so proud of you. I'm proud of everything you've given to all of your fans even when you weren't feeling your best. You've always pushed through it because you played for those fans that sacrificed so much to see you play in person. You mean so much to us all. I'm so excited to see what God has in store for us as a family now that one chapter is closing and new ones are opening. We love you!"
The message in itself says something about the relationship between Bryant and his wife, but considering where they were a dozen years ago, Vanessa is showing that Kobe may be the luckiest in love of any athlete alive.
Bryant was accused of sexual assault in December of 2003, and Vanessa was at his side when he addressed the media, professing his innocence.
"With his wife and attorney by his side, Bryant took long breaths and said quietly, 'You know. I didn't force her to do anything against her will. I'm innocent. You know. I sit here in front of you guys furious at myself. Disgusted at myself for making a mistake of adultery. I love my wife with all my heart. She's my backbone,'" he said during that news conference, according to CNN.
It could be that Vanessa is just glad that Kobe is finally dumping his first love, basketball, which he proclaimed on The Players' Tribune.
The post crashed the website, according to another For the Win report.
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