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December 18, 2011

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NBA star Bryant's wife files for divorce

BASKETBALL star Kobe Bryant's wife, who stood by her husband when he was charged with sexual assault in 2003, filed for divorce from the Los Angeles Lakers star on Friday, citing irreconcilable differences after a decade of marriage.

Vanessa Bryant signed the papers on December 1. Kobe Bryant signed his response on December 7 and it was filed on Friday, according to the documents.

"The Bryants have resolved all issues incident to their divorce privately with the assistance of counsel and a judgment dissolving their marital status will be entered in 2012," according to a statement from a representative for the couple.

In the filing, Vanessa Bryant asked for joint legal and physical custody of the couple's two daughters, Natalia, eight, and Gianna, five. Kobe Bryant asked for the same in his response. Vanessa Bryant also requested spousal support.

Bryant met his future wife in 1999 on a music video shoot when Vanessa Laine was 18. Six months later, she and the then-21-year-old Bryant became engaged. They married on April 18, 2001, and went through some trying times.

Vanessa Bryant appeared at a news conference with her husband when he was charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman who worked at the exclusive Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Vail, Colorado, in 2003. She held his hand as the NBA star admitted he was guilty of adultery.

She vowed to stand by her husband. "I know that my husband has made a mistake - the mistake of adultery," she said in the statement at the time. "He and I will have to deal with that within our marriage, and we will do so. He is not a criminal."

 

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