Kobe recants Vanessa trade demands

We recently told you about an Internet rumor that Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa Laine Bryant may be parting ways. The rumors started when a local Los Angeles based network affiliate posted the story on its Web site and later pulled it without explanation.

Apparently the rumors became so prevalent that Kobe felt it necessary to address it publicly. Kobe told Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Fraser, exclusively we might add, that there is no way he and Vanessa are getting a divorce anytime soon.

We generally take “no comments” and “denials” with a grain of salt. But, our gut feeling is that Kobe’s denial is pretty genuine and the divorce talk was probably started by some freckle-faced kid sitting in his (or her) mom’s basement with a mouse and keyboard.

Kobe Bryant asks for Vanessa to be traded?

Talk about a shocker (he says with tongue firmly placed in cheek). Kobe Bryant and his wife Venessa could be parting ways according to Internet “reports”. The rumor originated from a local television station’s news posting on its Web site late last week. The posting on the CBS2 Web site was pulled shortly and the station would not comment on the story’s vanishing act.

If true, we say good riddance. We never did like the negative effect that Vanessa had on the Lakers star. Coming into the league Kobe was simply uber-confident and somewhat self-centered, but his marriage to Vanessa pushed him to do some incredibly unusual things, both privately and publicly. Of course, without a pre-nuptual agreement in place Kobe stands to lose half of the $200+ million dollars he’s earned to date. But, maybe a clean break is a recipe for success for Kobe both on and off the court, and may finally bring out the kindler, gentler Black Mamba (is that an oxymoron?)

In the future we’ll try our best to refrain from delving into celebrity gossip, but this is Kobe Bryant after all. Of course, this is also an Internet rumor, so take that for what it’s worth.