Vanessa Bryant is being called out for lack of spending.
In 2023, Vanessa Bryant shared that six colleges will partner with the Mamba & Mambacity Sports Foundation for the upcoming 2023-2024 season to honor Kobe Bryant.
Bryant, the widow of basketball star Kobe Bryant, went viral late last month after social media personality Dr. Umar Johnson accused her of not using the late athlete’s money to “do any good in the Black community.”
Now Vanessa is once again catching flask as the Kobe Bryant-inspired Mamba and Mabacita charity foundation has been criticized for bringing in nearly $30 million but not spending very much in return.
According to documents obtained by Sportico, the nonprofit foundation, had a reported net worth of over $27 million at the end of 2022. on the flip side, tax documents state that the charity only reported $481,953 in program expenses, only $37,840 more than its total legal ($250,259) and accounting ($193,854) fees.
Vanessa Bryant won a $16 million jury verdict against Los Angeles County in 2022 after she sued a sheriff’s deputy and fire department official for publicly sharing photos they had taken of her husband’s and daughter’s remains. She promised at the time to donate the damages to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.
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Even with that amount of cash on hand, the foundation is just not shelling out much of anything.
The $481,953 in program expenses were towards the construction or refurbishment of outdoor basketball courts in nine states around the country.
Back in 2021, the foundation reported program spending of $423,851 to host a basketball skills academy for 130 kids and another $100,00 to support the construction of three basketball courts in Anaheim, Calif., and Philadelphia.
Vanessa Bryant serves as board president and eldest daughter Natalia is also a director.
In January 2020, NBA hall of famer Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, were among a group of nine people who were killed when the helicopter they were flying in crashed near Calabasas, California.
