Kobe Bryant led Team USA to back-to-back gold medals in the Olympics in 2008 and 2012. But the Black Mamba could have easily been a three-time gold medal winner.
During his Lakers' first championship season in 1999-2000, Kobe was in contention to replace Grant Hill from the 2000 U.S. team. Hill broke his left ankle late during the NBA season and underwent surgery after his Detroit Pistons were swept by the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs.
At that point, then-USAB president Russ Granik revealed that the top two names being considered to replace Hill were Bryant and Eddie Jones. However, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar was unsure of joining the team.
“There’s a lot I’d like to do this summer, spend time with my family, get married, relax,” Bryant said to AP via NBC Sports . “I haven’t given it that much thought, really. I’ll give it some more thought after the season.”
Bryant had wedding plans
Kobe first met 17-year-old Vanessa Laine in November 1999 while she worked as an extra on his music video. As Vanessa later admitted, it was love at first sight, and a whirlwind romance followed.
Unfortunately for Team USA, Kobe and Vanessa got engaged during the month when Hill officially pulled out from the U.S. team. They were planning to get hitched as early as September 2000 or during the Olympic month. Kobe's Lakers also played deep into the 1999-2000 NBA season because they were in the 2000 NBA Finals, so he also wanted to take some rest.
In July 2000, USAB announced that Vancouver Grizzlies forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim would replace Hill on Team USA. Interestingly, Abdur-Rahim also had wedding plans. Shareef, however, got married on August 6th, enabling him to accept USAB's invitation to be part of the Sydney Olympic basketball team.
Kobe also had a falling out with his parents
Surprisingly, Kobe and Vanessa did not get married until April 2001. Although the Black Mamba never revealed why their 2000 wedding did not go through, it's public knowledge that Kobe and his parents had a falling out that year and his relationship with Vanessa was the issue .
"The problem, according to the Los Angeles Times, was that Joe was 'uncomfortable that Vanessa, a Latina, is not African-American," and he is uneasy with his selfless devotion to her," Chris Ballard wrote .
Kobe finally played for Team USA during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he led the Redeem Team to a gold medal. The Black Mamba would return for an encore performance in the London Summer Games to bring his gold medal count to two. As we know now, it could have easily been three.
Related: Kobe Bryant said that Coach K brought back the pride of playing for Team USA: "When we won in Beijing, I envisioned our troops abroad celebrating"
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