Super star dad

Jet, Feb 10, 2003

Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant, 24, recently became a father for the first time. Bryant's wife Vanessa gave birth to their first child, Natalia Diamante Bryant, January 19, at 3:08 p.m. The baby weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 19 1/2 inches long, Lakers spokesman John Black said. "She looks just like Vanessa, thank God.

She has a head full of hair just like her momma," said Bryant, who played the same night and scored 26 points to help beat the Clippers. Bryant said the process of driving his wife to the hospital after labor pains began was "the ultimate pressure situation." "I told Vanessa after Natalia was here it felt like I just played two back-to-back Game 7s in the NBA Finals, but the only thing was I didn't play," Bryant said. "I was on the bench waving the towel. She was in there playing and hitting all the big baskets."