Vanessa Bryants Scores Big in Kobe Bryant Divorce Settlement

courtesy Zimbio.com

Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa is the big winner in their divorce property settlement ...

Sources connected to the couple and with direct knowledge of the situation tell TMZ ... the property settlement agreement is signed, sealed and delivered -- a done deal.

Vanessa is walking away with $75 million, which we're told represents close to half of their total assets, estimated at around $150 million.

It turns out, based on the property settlement, Vanessa scored a clean sweep, snagging ALL THREE of the former couple's mansions in the Newport Beach area.

Vanessa gets the estate the couple was living in, the estate her mom is living in, and she gets the new estate that had been under construction for 2 years and was just completed.  We were told Kobe was moving into the new estate, but that's not true.  It's Vanessa's crib, lock stock and barrel.
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Vanessa has seemingly scored big in this deal. With all three homes and 1/2 of their total assets, she is sure to be doing pretty fine for the next couple of years. What do you think about the divorce? Do you think she was in for the money or did she just make a smart move and stuck around waiting until the years passed in the marriage where he would have to pay her such? Either way, GET THAT MONEY VANESSA!

Michael Jordan: Only Kobe Bryant should be compared to his GREATNESS

When you say who is one of the greatest basketball players of recent times, one is surely to here the name Michael Jordan. If you ask who is the greatest basketball players on the court right now, you are destined to hear Kobe Bryant. Kobe, who has been a member of the Los Angeles Lakers ever since his entry into the NBA definitely knows how to get the job done on the court. If you don't believe me, look at the sheer number of championship rings on his fingers
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photo courtesy midwestsportsfans.com

According to a post on yahoo.com, editor Eric Freeman mentions the following:

Ever since Michael Jordan retired — all three times, really — the NBA has searched for the heir to his throne. Many players have popped up as pretenders to the throne, from Harold Miner to Jerry Stackhouse to Vince Carter. In recent years, people have stopped trying to find a clone and just searched for a similarly dominant great player. If you ever wondered why LeBron James is seen as such a failure, a lot of it has to do with his inability to meet the example set by Jordan.
There are many great players in the NBA these days, most of whom have never been directly compared to Jordan. Nevertheless, His Airness says only one player comes close enough to his greatness to merit the comparison. Not surprisingly, that player is Kobe Bryant. Here's what Roland Lazenby, a great writer currently working on a Jordan book, tweeted on Sunday (via PBT):

Kobe's ultimate competition is MJ. That's why MJ watches him. MJ made people think what he was doing wasn't human. Ditto the Kobester.
I never said Kobe was better than MJ. MJ just told me Kobe's the only one to have done the work, to deserve comparison.

What do you think? Do you think Kobe will be the next Michael Jordan of the NBA or do you feel as an athlete, he has set his own tone to greatness? Either way, I think its an honor to have one of the most revered players of the NBA (Michael Jordan) refer to you as such.  

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Lesson Learned: Kobe fined 100K by NBA for Derogatory Comments

The National Basketball Association fined Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers $100,000 on Wednesday for "offensive and inexcusable" comments he made during Tuesday night's game, the league said in a statement.

Bryant used an expletive and an anti-gay slur directed at a referee after receiving a technical foul in a game against the San Antonio Spurs.

In a pregame phone call Wednesday night to Joe Solomonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, Bryant apologized for using the slur, the commission said in a statement.

"We had a very sincere conversation in which he expressed his heartfelt regret for the hurt that his words caused," Solomonese said. "He told me that it's never OK to degrade or tease, and that he understands how his words could unfortunately give the wrong impression that this is appropriate conduct. At the end of a difficult day, I applaud Kobe for coming forward and taking responsibility for his actions."

Earlier, Bryant issued a statement saying his remarks should not be taken literally. "My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period," he said. "The words expressed do not reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were not meant to offend anyone."

• Kobe Bryant
• National Basketball Association
• Los Angeles Lakers
• GLBT Issues

But, said NBA Commissioner David Stern in a statement, "Kobe Bryant's comment during last night's game was offensive and inexcusable. While I'm fully aware that basketball is an emotional game, such a distasteful term should never be tolerated. Accordingly, I have fined Kobe $100,000. Kobe and everyone associated with the NBA know that insensitive or derogatory comments are not acceptable and have no place in our game or society."
The Human Rights Campaign said earlier it supported the fine.

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KOBE BRYANT: 13 Degrees of Superiority

The name Kobe Bryant is to the NBA as Beyonce's name is to bootylicious: WORLDWIDE! An article by Steven Barboza of the Atlanta Post recently discussed the 13 degrees of Kobe Bryant. I will list a few of them.

1st Degree: Salary King Kobe
Last April, legendary NBA-er Kobe Bryant signed a three-year, $83.5 million extension on his contract with the LA Lakers, which meant he would be paid $108 million over four years, with $30.5 million due for the 2013-14 NBA season alone.

In 2013, Bryant will earn $371,951 per game, not including incentives or bonuses – and he will play at least 82 games. “That’s a nice chunk of change,” said BonafideSports.com website owner Hugh Lewis. “Right now he’s at the top of his game, and nobody on the court can touch him salary-wise.”
Bryant is the highest-paid NBA player this season. The second highest-paid, Orlando’s Rashard Lewis, will earn $20.5 million. With the sole exception of Michael Jordan (who earned $33.1 million in 1998), no NBA player has ever earned a fatter salary than Bryant in a single year.

2nd Degree: Marketing Maverick
As basketball royalty, Bryant gives assists to many big-name corporations, from clothing companies to soft drink kings. In 2010, in Forbes’s list of the world’s best-paid athletes, Bryant, with earnings of $48 million, ranked third behind Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan.
Bryant graced the cover of Forbes back in the 90s, when he signed a six-year contract with Adidas worth about $48 million. He then signed a $40 million deal with Nike. His other deals: endorsements for the Coca-Cola Company, McDonald’s, Spalding, Upper Deck, Italian chocolate company Ferrer SpA’s brand Nutella, and the Russell Corporation.

4th Degree: Man of La Mamba
Bryant nicknamed himself the Black Mamba, after one of the world’s deadliest snakes, not exactly a kid-friendly name. His reason? “The mamba can strike with 99% accuracy at maximum speed, in rapid succession. That’s the kind of basketball precision I want to have.”

8th Degree: One Sleek Fleet
When slumming, Bryant rides in expensive cars – chic, precision instruments as fine-tuned as his jump shot.
If you peek into his garage, you will find a half-dozen of his favorite things.
#1  Range Rover: $94,000. Horsepower: 510. White Rover; pink car seat for the kid.
#2  Ferrari F430: Well over $300,000. Can hit 60 mph in under four seconds. Kobe’s comment on driving it: “It feels like you’re strapped onto a rocket.”
#3 & #4  Bentley Continental GT Coupe (MSRP $189,900) and Bentley Azure Milliner (MSRP $334,990): Who wouldn’t want book-end Bentleys?
#5  Cadillac Escalade (MSRP $63,160): When you’re cruising with six- and seven-foot high-earners, you need a XXXL SUV ensconced in luxury.
#6  1963 Chevrolet Impala ($38,995): For leisurely drives along the Pacific Coast Highway.

9th Degree: Kobe’s World
“Kobe is easily the most popular American NBA player among the Chinese,” said Tony Perkins, host of “Sports Scene,” an ESPN-style show on China Central Television (CCTV). ”He comes to China every off-season on a tour that includes visiting schools and playgrounds, and often answers questions at an auditorium session in Beijing.”

13th Degree: A Career for the Record Books
Finally, Kobe Bryant will be remembered mainly for his athletic ability. He ranks as one of the greatest basketball players in history. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 season, holds numerous scoring records, and led the LA Lakers to consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010 (he holds 5 championship rings). He was named NBA Finals MVP on both occasions.
He is the leading scorer in Lakers history, started in every NBA All-Star Game, and won the All-Star MVP award in 2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011. He was also named NBA Player of the Decade by Sporting News and TNT.
Among his most amazing achievements: scoring 81 points in a single game, the second highest point total in NBA history. Only one NBA-er has topped that – Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points in a game in 1962. But that’s another story.

To catch all of the degrees of Kobe Bryant
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image courtesy: GQ magazine