Vanessa Bryant stirred up controversy this week when she responded to a report from Shams Charania involving DeMar DeRozan.
Charania, of The Athletic, broke the news this week that DeRozan had received a four-year contract extension from Nike to be the face of Kobe Bryant’s shoe line.
Given that DeRozan idolized Kobe and has been wearing his shoes for most of his career, the move made sense.
Vanessa, however, set the internet ablaze with her response:
Vanessa Bryant responds to @ShamsCharania’s report of DeMar Derozan being face of Kobe’s Nike signature line https://t.co/wWfIrNN8Pw pic.twitter.com/qC6pkBW6O5
— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) August 1, 2022
Fans took note of the erupting controversy and jumped into the fray immediately:
Vanessa hit em with one of these https://t.co/MybiLDBlce pic.twitter.com/rk2HXmqm8e
— Taylor Gossett (@TGossett15) August 2, 2022
— DEEM DASH (@DEEMDASH_QGTM) August 2, 2022
Why do y’all keep trying this lady that’s Kobe’s wife. You really think she ain’t built for it? Respect to Derozan but can y’all chill for one second. Ever since he passed they been trying her damn https://t.co/p26FddvaHC
— DoSumFo2Sum (@TheArtofSeis) August 2, 2022
She getting annoying https://t.co/ARQ7iJAAGV
— Wayne Brady (@DreThaGoat_) August 2, 2022
She should get out of her feelings,if it wasn’t true, DeMar wouldn’t have retweeted it or posted on his story. Besides they said ” featured face” https://t.co/4EEZYv05kG
— LoveLewis (@Dr_Casey_) August 2, 2022
I feel this could’ve been said in a different way… https://t.co/UwJqY640wI
— Liz Cambage Stan Account (@NickFolarin) August 2, 2022
This isn’t the first time in recent days Vanessa has made headlines.
Between her now-viral message to Klay Thompson, the Pau Gasol video from early July and now this – it has been one thing after another.
While Vanessa obviously comes off a little testy in this exchange, context matters. She has been through a lot since Kobe’s passing, including having to fight a nasty legal war with her own mother that was based in some legitimately weird and irrational logic.
That would take a toll on anyone.
Then when you factor in the major allegations Los Angeles County made against Vanessa and what some see as her significantly different appearance nowadays, it has just been a lot.
Yikes. https://t.co/kyKAdeFem0
— Game 7 (@game7__) August 2, 2022
Hopefully at some point Vanessa can chat with DeRozan and Charania and settle any beef that may exist.
Kobe’s memory is something everyone holds near and dear to their hearts, so ideally that will be a unifying factor in this particular situation.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
