Kobe Bryant always kept a formidable face in the face of adversity. But every man faces a breaking point. Vanessa Bryant and Pau Gasol saw it.
Rarely will you see someone as mentally tenacious as Kobe Bryant show even a flicker of emotion. The shield that he has created through his behavior is impenetrable.
But like all strong defenses, it is bound to break. And two people got to see the soft, emotional side of Kobe. The reason? An injury towards the end of his career.
It was more of an eventuality than a if or a maybe. Playing at that high level for years and being so dominant for nearly three decades, the wheels would eventually fall off.
Kobe Bryant’s Achilles tear marked the end of his career. But how did it happen and why were only Vanessa Bryant and Pau Gasol aware of his emotions?
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Pau Gasol in @Kobe Bryant Torn Achilles:
“When Kobe tore his Achilles tendon, it was the first time I saw him cry, it was hard,” he says. @Pau Gasol.
Vanessa Bryant: “I remember walking into the locker room with Natalia and Gianna and breaking down as soon as I hugged him.”#LakeShow #LakersDoc pic.twitter.com/KjR5PyJH6g
— Landon Buford (@LandonBuford) October 3, 2022
The injury that marked the end of Kobe Bryant
By 2013, Kobe Bryant had recorded 54,000 minutes in the league It’s almost 40 days of pure basketball. Each minute. He had played 6,000 more minutes than the nearest player.
Naturally, that tread would wear him down. Coaches and players saw how tired he was. And yet, the ember inside Kobe burned brightly. There was no way to make him rest or take time off. Kobe didn’t work out that way.
April was when you could see how much his workload had cost him. Wrapped in ice packs and bandages, Bryant could be seen to be injured. But he wasn’t going to give up. The Lakers were competing for the eighth seed and as long as Kobe could play, he wanted that playoff spot.
But unfortunately, despite all his efforts, he tore his Achilles tendon in a game against the Golden State Warriors. And as many remember, he was not the same man after that.
Pau Gasol remembered how Kobe cried. The first time he had seen a man so resilient and tenacious cry. When Vanessa Bryant and her daughters entered the locker room, he couldn’t control himself. Tears burst. And he collapsed.
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Why only Vanessa Bryant and Pau Gasol saw the tender side of Kobe
Kobe did not hesitate. It was inevitable. No machine can last forever, much less a man. And that’s the only reason he broke down. He had come to terms with his decline. And an Achilles tendon injury meant that he was not the same as he was at 35 years old.
Bryant was distraught. But only his confidant and best friend, Pau Gasol, was able to meet him. He knew that if the rest of the team saw him as soft, they would fail in their quest to make the playoffs.
In 2004, the US men’s Olympic basketball team lost gold and sought redemption at Beijing 2008. @King James, @Dwyane Wade, and Kobe Bryant led The Redeem Team. This is that story. #TUDUM pic.twitter.com/95MCsOQ6h3
-Netflix (@netflix) September 24, 2022
Vanessa was the other person who saw the vulnerable side of the great Laker. Her pillar of support was the only person standing by her side.
Vanessa Bryant’s speech at Kobe Bryant’s Hall of Fame induction, along with host Michael Jordan.
“He never forgot about his fans.” ❤️ pic.twitter.com/rp7qS5DNnt
— Kobe highlights and motivation (@kobehighlight) August 26, 2022
Kobe came back from injury and even lost 60 in his last game. Talk about a man who didn’t know how to quit smoking.
Also read: Kobe Bryant’s ‘big question’ once forced 18-year-old Vanessa Bryant to drop out of high school
