Ignoring Kobe Bryant's Catholic faith results in incomplete look at his life
Kobe Bryant, pictured above preparing to take a free throw in 2005, was a practicing Catholic. Wikipedia Commons photo.
(OPINION) Kobe Bryant means a lot of different things to many people. To most, the 41 year old was the Los Angeles Lakers star and a five-time NBA champion who spent two decades wowing us on the basketball court. He may even be one of the best players to ever dunk a ball.
To others, he’ll forever be the cheating spouse, on trial in 2003 for allegedly raping a woman inside a Colorado hotel room, an encounter he claimed had been consensual. It should be noted that Bryant was married at the time.
The case never made it to trial after the woman refused to testify, but she filed a civil lawsuit against the basketball icon that was settled outside of court. Bryant later issued a public apology, saying he was ashamed for having committed adultery.
After his retirement, Bryant became known primarily as a doting father, largely shunning the chance to coach or work for the Lakers in some official capacity. It’s no surprise then that he died Sunday with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, a budding basketball talent herself, on their way to one of her games.
All but forgotten — as well as underreported by the news media since Sunday’s tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., that killed Bryant, his daughter and seven others — was his Catholic faith and how getting closer to it made him a better man, husband and father. Bryant had spent a chunk of his childhood in Italy, a majority Catholic country, and was raised in the faith. How devout was Bryant? He attended Mass regularly, including just two hours before he died.
Kudos to Catholic News Agency for being the first to report that Bryant was a devout Catholic, then updating the story throughout the day with more details. Within 24 hours, others had followed suit, including Fox News, Breitbart and conservative Catholic media websites. Repairing your marriage and finding redemption in God must be a right-wing thing if most of the news media finds it uninteresting to report on as part of the Kobe story and legacy.
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez called Bryant, who retired from the NBA in 2016, a "very good Catholic, a faithful Catholic.”
“I remember one time going to the Lakers’ practice, and I had a good conversation with him,” Gomez told Catholic News Agency. “We are praying for the eternal repose of his soul, his daughter who also died and for the family. It must be a very challenging time for his family. So, let’s pray for him and pray for his family.”
The mainstream news media has been squeamish to report on Bryant’s faith. The reason may be two-fold. One, it would involve actually reporting on religion. The second, rehashing the rape allegation, an episode that is both dark and bleak from his past, is no way to remember Bryant’s life. After all, who wants to speak ill of the dead.
In a 2006 interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Bryant was asked what he had learned from the incident in Colorado. Bryant replied, “God is great.”
Pressed by Smith that “everyone knows that,” Bryant added, “You can know it all you want, but until you have to pick up that cross that you can’t carry and he picks it up for you and carries you and the cross, then you know.”
After years of trying to work on his marriage, Bryant’s wife Vanessa, whom he had four children with, filed for divorce in 2011 amid rumors of more infidelity. She later withdrew the petition and the couple reconciled. Bryant, in a 2015 interview with GQ magazine, said he had turned to his Catholicism during his time of trouble.
In tribute to his wife, Bryant had a tattoo inked on his right bicep featuring her name, a crown, angel wings and Psalm 27. Photo via Pinterest.
“The one thing that really helped me during that process — I’m Catholic, I grew up Catholic, my kids are Catholic — was talking to a priest. It was actually kind of funny: He looks at me and says, ‘Did you do it?’ And I say, ‘Of course not.’ Then he asks, ‘Do you have a good lawyer?’ And I’m like, ‘Uh, yeah, he’s phenomenal.’ So then he just said, ‘Let it go. Move on. God’s not going to give you anything you can’t handle, and it’s in his hands now. This is something you can’t control. So let it go.’ And that was the turning point.”
Regarding his marriage, Bryant told the magazine: “I’m not going to say our marriage is perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. We still fight, just like every married couple. But you know, my reputation as an athlete is that I’m extremely determined, and that I will work my ass off. How could I do that in my professional life if I wasn’t like that in my personal life, when it affects my kids? It wouldn’t make any sense.”
He literally wore his faith on his sleeve — if one bothered to notice.
In tribute to his wife, Bryant had a tattoo inked on his right bicep featuring her name, a crown, angel wings and Psalm 27. The psalm opens this way: “The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?”
In a twist of fate, the psalm was also on the list of readings in Catholic churches throughout the world the day Bryant perished.
Bryant’s rise, fall and return to greatness is a wonderful redemption story rooted in Christian virtue. Was Bryant perfect? Not at all. Instead, he was a human who struggled with fame and temptation. Bryant repaired his marriage, a process that took years, and raised his children to be Catholic. Bryant and his wife also founded the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation dedicated to helping young people and the homeless.
Bryant will be forever remembered for his skills on the court. Some will choose to highlight his philandering. Yet Bryant’s biggest legacy should be that he was a pious man who worked hard every day to be the best husband and father he could be.
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor and regular contributor to Religion Unplugged. He is the former deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City.