He's the highest paid player in the NBA earning a salary of $24.8 million, which more than doubles to an estimated $53 million when endorsement deals are considered, according to Forbes. Further estimates place Bryant's net worth at $150 million.

The figures are staggering and will mean even more to Bryant in the coming months as his wife, citing irreconcilable differences, filed for divorce last week. Vanessa Bryant stands to earn around half of the NBA star's net worth if reports stating that Bryant did not sign a prenuptial agreement are true.

Vanessa's mother made just such a proclamation, telling the Los Angeles Times that when her daughter married Bryant in 2001, no prenuptial agreement was made. With the couple mediating the divorce over the weekend, legal experts believe Vanessa could end up with $75 million in the settlement.

Sometimes when people go through a divorce, they enter what is called divorce mediation - and this is especially true with celebrity divorce. This process allows the splitting parties to find a sort of middle ground on a variety of issues that must be settled upon in a divorce.

Child custody and financial assets are usually major sticking points. In the case of the Bryant divorce, Vanessa and Kobe agreed to joint custody of their two children. The existence, or lack thereof, of a prenuptial agreement will alter what happens on the financial side of things in the divorce. Without one, Kobe Bryant's ex-wife is entitled to half of the community property.

Source: Los Angeles Times, "Experts say Bryant's wife stands to make windfall in divorce," Rick Rojas and Richard Winton, Dec. 21, 2011