The retired athlete and his wife Vanessa take to Instagram to announce the happy news, with the latter saying that their daughters are also 'super excited' to welcome the new addition.

• Jan 2, 2019

AceShowbiz - The new year might have just begun, but Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa are already blessed with happiness. The former basketball player announced via Instagram on January 1 that the couple is expecting their fourth child, a baby girl, together.

Along with a picture with the words, "New year, new baby! Baby Mamba on the way 2019," written on it, Kobe noted, "Vanessa and I are beyond excited to announce that we are expecting another #mambacita to go along with Natalia, Gianna and Bianka."

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Vanessa and I are beyond excited to announce that we are expecting another #mambacita to go along with Natalia, Gianna and Bianka #blessed #bryantbunch #daddysprincesses #love #2019

Sebuah kiriman dibagikan oleh Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) pada 1 Jan 2019 jam 6:44 PST

In a matching post, Vanessa similarly stated, "Kobe and I are so happy to add another baby blessing to our family!" She also stated that two of their children, Natalia and Gianna, are "super excited to welcome another little baby sister to love," while Bianka "will have a new baby sibling to play with."

Kobe and Vanessa, who have been married since 2001, already have three daughters together: 15-year-old Natalia, 12-year-old Gianna and 2-year-old Bianka. Being a father of three girls, Kobe previously admitted that he kept being teased by his friends for being the only man in the family. However, he didn't let them to have the last laugh.

"My friends say, 'It takes a real man to make a boy,' " he said in an interview back in 2017. "I'm like, 'Dude, it takes a king to make a princess... get in line.' It's pretty cool for me 'cause it's daddy's little princess."

Despite that, his wife apparently was hoping for a son to join their daughters one day, as he said, "I hear boys are just walking tornadoes. We'll see. I think Vanessa wants a boy more than I do."

During the interview, Kobe also talked about what his older daughters were up to, revealing that Gianna had started playing basketball. Meanwhile, Natalia was into volleyball and films. "Natalia's a great volleyball player and Gianna's great at basketball, great at soccer," he said at the time.