Michael Douglas recalls competing with famous NBA player for Catherine Zeta-Jones’ attention

Michael Douglas revealed he competed with Kobe Bryant for his now-wife Catherine Zeta-Jones’ attention early in their relationship.

In his new memoir, “One Helluva Ride,” the “Wall Street” actor recalled that after the couple met at the Deaville American Film Festival in France in 1998, they were forced to spend time apart, since Douglas lived in New York, while Zeta-Jones resided in a home in the Pacific Palisades “right below” Kobe’s.

“Apparently Kobe kept finding excuses to stop by Catherine’s house,” Douglas said, joking, “I’m not sure how many times he ‘lost his dog’ but it was a lot!”

Douglas also noted that at the time, Kobe hadn’t yet met Vanessa Laine, whom he’d marry three years later, in 2001.

While Zeta-Jones was based in LA, her booming film career had her “traveling all over the world,” Douglas remembered.

“I knew that routine well,” he wrote. “But we started talking on the phone pretty regularly, until we could finally see each other again.”

Douglas, 82, and Zeta-Jones, 57, got engaged on New Year’s Eve in 1999. They got married on November 18, 2000 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Kobe and Vanessa, meanwhile, were married for 19 years until the NBA star tragically died in a helicopter crash in January 2020 at age 41. Their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was also killed in the crash.

Following the tragedy, Zeta-Jones shared a tribute to Kobe and reflected on how they were “both young and ambitious” when they were next-door neighbors.

“We met the day he moved in through his dog, that started to, and continued to wander in to my garden,” the “Chicago” actress wrote. “His basketball court was my view. I watched his talent and dedication, yet how could I have known that he was to become what he became.”

Zeta-Jones mourned the “tragic news,” noting that Kobe’s role as a father “took his life and that of his precious daughter.”

“Unimaginable loss to all,” she added in her tribute. “Love to the families.”

Zeta-Jones is mentioned throughout her husband’s memoir, with Douglas recalling that he became infatuated with his wife after seeing an early screening of her 1998 movie “The Mask of Zorro.”

“She was smart, funny, unpretentious, and, yes, breathtakingly beautiful. She just seemed so confident and self-assured, too,” Douglas wrote about meeting Zeta-Jones in France.

Douglas also looked back on the couple’s brief 2013 split, admitting that he “never gave up hope” that they’d reconcile.

In an exclusive interview with Page Six on Wednesday, Douglas revealed Zeta-Jones has yet to finish reading his memoir, though he noted he’s already “talked to her” about the book.

Douglas, who shares two children with the “Wednesday” actress, also insisted he has “no regrets” about being so candid in his book.

“I’m happy I got it out there,” he said.

“One Helluva Ride” is out now.