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Jeff Bezos Once Received Flak for Donating Only $500k to Kobe Bryant Charity Despite Unreal Net Worth

Published 02/06/2022, 10:22 AM EST

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Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the NBA, and his accolades and deeds speak for themselves. Apart from the numerous awards and recognition he received throughout his lifetime, Kobe never kept behind while giving back to society.

Accompanied by his wife Vanessa, Kobe has spearheaded numerous charity initiatives for the betterment of society. In one such charity drive organized after Kobe’s death, people criticized a billionaire for his charity amount.

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The billionaire is none other than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. During a charity drive organized by Vanessa Bryant after Kobe’s death, Bezos reportedly donated only $500k to help the cause. And people did not take this action by the billionaire lightly.

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Jeff Bezos criticized for charity amount

Even before his death, Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa made sure they keep organizing charity events from time to time. And this incident occurred in one such event organized by Vanessa to honor Kobe. The sum of money donated by the guests went to the Baby 2 Baby foundation.

One of the guests in the charity gala was Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez. An insider in the event gave an idea of what went down while everyone was donating to the cause.

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According to reports, “Everyone was waiting for him to donate something, but he didn’t. Then someone donated a million dollars. And then a little later, [Bezos] donated $500,000. There was an audible groan from the room. If someone else can donate a million, Jeff Bezos can donate more than a million.”

There was a visible disappointment in the faces of people attending the event as they expected the billionaire to donate a lot more considering his net worth. Jeff Bezos has an approximate net worth of around $183.5 billion, according to Forbes.

Kobe Bryant charity initiatives

Bryant was loved both on and off the basketball court. He set an example for aspiring athletes around the world with his ‘Mamba Mentality’. Apart from his glittering career, Bryant has left a mark with his charity initiatives too.

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One of his biggest charity ventures is the Mamba and Mambacita foundation. The not for profit organization is set up to help athletes and women of sports who need the support of any kind.

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Kobe has also granted more than 200 wishes during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers to the Make-A-Wish foundation. The organization helps to grant wishes of any kind to children facing life-threatening illnesses.

Bryant’s list of charities goes on and on, which continues even after his passing away. Kobe Bryant’s greatness can be summed up in a quote by Kobe himself. He once said,” Basketball is something that will come and, eventually, go. The beauty in that is using that time to try to inspire others.

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What is your favorite memory of Kobe Bryant? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Abhinava Ghosh

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Abhinava is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor's in Journalism and Mass Communication. Abhinava has been following NBA for the past 6 years and is a huge fan of the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry.
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