Kobe Bryant, 19, shares his dreams of having a family in archived footage

Even before he met the love of his life, the late NBA icon knew he was meant to be a family man

Mar 6, 2020

[griojw id=”TXXD6wAM” playerid=””]

In the weeks since the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old Gianna Bryant and seven other passengers in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles, fans and fellow athletes alike have found themselves reflecting on the man who would come to be known as “The Black Mamba”.

Now, newly released archived footage shows Byron Allen, founder, and CEO of theGrio‘s parent company Entertainment Studios, talking to a then 19-year-old Bryant about his hopes for the future.

In the clip – which was shot before he met Vanessa Cornejo Urbieta, who would later be his wife and the mother of his children – the young athlete shares his visions of someday becoming a loving husband and a devoted father, a dream he would ultimately end up making a reality.

“When you finish with the game of basketball, and I know that’s way down the line for you, since you’re still a teenager, what do you think you’d like to do?” asks Allen.

“Raise my family,” the teen basketball star responds without hesitation. “That’s a job in itself.”

“Especially for my mother,” he continues. “I know growing up, it was like a full-time job raising kids. So when I retire from the game, hopefully, God willing, I’ll be married, have a couple of kids, be able to support them, take care of them, then watch my children grow up. That would be a perfect case scenario for me.”

In an extended version of the interview, the media mogul questions Bryant on everything from his life growing up overseas to the way he’s trained himself to think and play like a champion. At one point he even speaks a bit of Italian, which he learned from his years in Italy.

Check out the clip full video below.