V.Bryant: Can't Marry a Non-Ring Having Loser

In the New York magazine interview, Vanessa mentioned how she stands in the tunnel at Lakers games to give Kobe a kiss.

"If you notice, I am the only one allowed in that tunnel," she said. "I don't like standing outside and giving him a kiss in front of all the cameras. So I stand in there to get away from them. But then the cameras end up following. And if the girls are there, sometimes, that's their kiss good night for Daddy, and when he comes home, they're asleep."

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On the misconception of her life
I think people imagine that I sit at home with all the time in the world to do my hair and makeup, but that’s certainly not the case,” she says. “I’m up at 6:30 in the morning with my kids. I’m taking them wherever they need to go.” She doesn’t use a nanny—“That’s the way I was raised”—and says that she has never missed a sports game or practice of her daughters, 6 and 9.

On Why She’s kept quiet
I thought things would go away, if you don’t feed into the b.s., and no one would think about you. Now I realize I do have to talk about certain things. Still, I don’t like the limelight. There’s a lot of good you can do with fame, like creating awareness for a foundation, but a lot of negativity comes along with it.

On rumors that she was beefing with Khloe Kardashian
Everything is false. Khloé was at my 29th birthday. I don’t get involved in the drama. I’ve been with Kobe since I was 17, so I’ve seen plenty of players, and plenty of wives, come and go. It wouldn’t benefit me whatsoever to have an issue with any of them, whether they were a girlfriend, or a wife, a person-of-a-month, or … you know. And I think that’s why the Lakers as an organization give me the access that I have, that other wives don’t have.” [She talks about the tunnel on the way to the locker room that she stands in to give Kobe a kiss after games, the one that cameras always pan to.] “If you notice, I am the only one allowed in that tunnel. I don’t like standing outside and giving him a kiss in front of all the cameras. So I stand in there to get away from them. But then the cameras end up following. And if the girls are there, sometimes, that’s their kiss good night for Daddy, and when he comes home, they’re asleep.”

On her handbag collection 
I’m not really a handbag person anymore. I’ve collected Birkin bags, Chanel 2.55 jumbo flap bags, and the Marc Jacobs Stephen Sprouse collection for Louis Vuitton since I was a teenager. But now, as they say, everyone and their mom is buying a Birkin or a regular size 2.55 bag in black, taupe, or beige. I’ve been sticking to a magenta suede Proenza Schouler bag.”

On meeting and marrying Kobe
He’d come to school to get me in a black Mercedes, and flood the school with roses. My curfew was 10 p.m., and he got done with practice at 2 p.m., so that’s how we’d see each other. [...] I was 18 and a half [when I was married], and I remember requesting a dress without flowery lace or tulle. Vera Wang designed what she called a ­glamazon-mermaid gown for me, with fabric-covered buttons down the back.” These days, the dress is stored in her cedar closet, in the exact same condition. “I love it,” she says. “It’s perfect.”