Retired basketball star Kobe Bryant, 38, and his wife of 15 years, Vanessa, have welcomed their third child together — a beautiful baby girl, multiple reports say.
People reports the daughter’s name is Bianka Bella. She was born on Monday, December 5, 2016 at 4:09 p.m. at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, California.
The couple has two daughters Natalia Diamante Bryant, 13, and Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, 10.
Even though Kobe is African American and Vanessa is of Mexican descent, their daughters bear Italian forenames.
In Italian The meaning of the name Bianca is White; shining. Vanessa tells media she saw the name Bianka with a “k” instead of the “c” in a baby book.
The meaning of the name “Natalia” is: “Christ’s birthday; Gift from God.”
The meaning of the name Gianna is: God is gracious. Variant of Jane.
When Kobe was six, his father also a professional basketball player, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, moved the family to Italy where the son learned to speak Italian and Spanish fluently.
Other Kobe trivia:
He’s self-named “Black Mamba.” After watching Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, the former star athlete started calling himself that. The assassin in the film was codenamed Black Mamba (portrayed by Uma Thurman). He likes the name because the Black mamba snake is aggressive and agile.
Kobe was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996. He helped the Lakers win five NBA championships over a 20-year career spent entirely in Los Angeles. He played his final game at Staples Center against the Utah Jazz on April 13, 2016. The Los Angeles City Council named 8/24/16 Kobe Bryant Day. He wore the No. 8 and No. 24 during his basketball career with the Lakers. He won his first three championships wearing the No. 8 and the second part of his career wearing 24.
