It's a tale of two cities, a tale of two NBA players, and a tale of two marriages that, while having some parallels, have ended very differently.
These days, all is well in the land of Kobe Bryant...well, at least when it comes to his off-the-court life, not the struggles and soap opera storylines coming out of the Los Angeles Lakers' struggling season.
Kobe and his wife, Vanessa, called off their divorce last month after a year-long sage that ensued when Vanessa, Kobe's wife since 1999, filed for divorce in December 2011 citing irreconcilable differences.
The Bryants' marriage took a rough turn in 2003, when Kobe was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room in Colorado, an issue that was settled out of court. Despite this, the marriage continued, with Vanessa standing by her husband. That apparently changed near the end of 2011, when reports surfaced of Vanessa claiming that Kobe was cheating on her, and had allegedly been doing so with multiple women for years.
However, while the Bryants have apparently put their marital problems behind them, the same cannot be said for Brooklyn Nets player Kris Humphries, whose ongoing divorce with estranged wife Kim Kardashian continues to drag on.
According to People Magazine, sources close to Humphries told the entertainment news site that Humphries is seeking an annulment of their 72-day 2011 marriage--not a divorce--because of his feelings that the marriage was a fraud.
"Kris only wants an annulment," says the source close to Humphries. "He never wanted to be married more than once and he feels like she cheated him out of the chance to have a real, loving marriage."
Meanwhile, Kardashian, who is expecting a baby with her boyfriend, Grammy Award-winning rapper Kanye West, has fired back in the proceedings, stating in court documents that she wants to be divorced by the time that she gives birth to her baby in July but that Humphries has been intentionally delaying the proceedings.
Her lawyer, Laura Wasser, wrote in a 217-page response to Humphries' claim that they not ready to go to trial due to "uncooperative third parties" that Humphries "cannot continue to hold the Court and [Kardashian] hostage through his own lack of diligence in preparing his case for trial."
Obviously, there are some parallels between the two divorce, or near-divorce, instances. Both involved NBA players. In both cases, Kardashian and Humphries, much like the Bryants, also had the wives cite irreconcilable differences when she filed for divorce, also in 2011, but in October of that year. And in both cases, there were spouses who made a significant amount of money involved.
The differences between the two, however, aside from their circumstances, can also be found in the pay scale involved.
Humphries, a nine-year NBA veteran, had a net worth of $16,900,233 as of 2012. Kardashian, a reality show star, dwarfs that, maintaining a net worth of roughly between $35 and $40 million. Kobe, however, eclipses both of them combined, his reported net worth projected to be around $200 million.
As a result, Bryant's divorce would have been much more expensive, with estimates stating that he would have paid $1.36 million in spousal and child support alone--per month.
In comparison, there hasn't been any specific talk of spousal support in the Kardashian-Humphries divorce proceedings, but Kardashian did offer to pay Humphries $10 million in order to speed up the separation proceedings. Humphries, however, rejected the request as he is seeking an annulment, not a divorce, for religious reasons.
"Kris flatly rejected the offer because it has never been about money for him. He wants to be able to marry in a church again, with a clear conscience, when he finds someone special," an insider told Perez Hilton.com in January. "Kris is deeply religious and he believes that the only way he can do that is if his marriage to Kim is annulled."
The differences can even be found in the way the respective couples handled their marriage on social media.
In the month that followed after the Bryants announced their reconciliation on Facebook and Instagram, Kobe and Vanessa continued to make headlines defending their marriage via social media, responding to allegations that Vanessa had cared strictly about money when it came to her wedlock with the five-time NBA Champion and 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player.
Bryant took rapper Drake and a fan on Twitter to task for lyrics used by Drake in Rick Ross' hit song "Stay Schemin'" in which Drake referred to Vanessa unflatteringly, "B[expletive], you wasn't with me shooting in the gym."
The basketball superstar's response on Twitter was "No, she wasn't. She was busy raising our kids #nonanny #respectmothers." His defense of his wife made headlines, as did Vanessa's angry reply regarding Drake's lyrics on her Instagram page.
Humphries, by contrast, didn't have as much luck, mocked for his ongoing divorce proceedings by his opponents.
After Humphries' Nets beat their crosstown rival New York Knicks on Jan. 21 in Madison Square Garden, Humphries--who has more than 900,000 Twitter followers--mocked the Knicks' faithful, tweeting, "After Monday's win, Humphries tweeted: "Big game tonight! The Garden got really quiet on the way out! #Brooklyn."
Not taking kindly to that, Knicks reserve J.R. Smith fired a return shot on his own Twitter account, replying, "Wasnt quiet when Kanye tore it down last month!" The remark was a clear jab referring to Kardashian's boyfriend West, who held a concert at the Garden the month prior.
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