Kobe Bryant grew up in Italy and entered the NBA straight out of high school. Bryant was a dominant scorer for the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five NBA championships and the MVP Award in 2008. Despite injuries in his later seasons, In December 2014, he passed Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring list, and he retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final game.
Dear basketball won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2018. On January 26, 2020, Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gigi, and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash.
Bryant’s Personal Life
Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant gave birth to him on August 23, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Shaya and Sharia are his two older sisters. He grew up playing both basketball and football and was a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and the AC Milan football team.
His family relocated to Rieti, Italy, when he was six. His family relocated to Philadelphia in 1991, and Kobe enrolled at 'Lower Merion High School.'
The basketball legend collaborated with the non-profit After-School All-Stars as part of the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation. He also ran the Kobe Basketball Academy, an annual summer camp.
After 53 years, his basketball participation helped 'Lower Merion High School win a state championship.
His Career
Bryant was selected as a starter for the 1998 All-Star Game in his second season with the Lakers, making him the NBA's youngest All-Star at 19. The shooting guard then won three consecutive NBA championships with superstar center Shaquille O'Neal, and he was named first-team all-NBA from 2002 to 2004. He also signed multi-year sponsorship deals with Adidas, Sprite, and other major brands.
Even though the Lakers struggled after O'Neal left in 2004, Bryant excelled. He set an NBA record with 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006, the second-highest single-game total in NBA history, and led the league in scoring the following year and the year after.
Bryant was named Most Valuable Player in 2008, and he led his team to the NBA Finals, where the Boston Celtics defeated them. The Lakers won the NBA Finals in 2009, defeating the Orlando Magic. Soon after, Bryant attended a memorial service for friend and music legend Michael Jackson. The Lakers won their second straight championship the following year, defeating the Celtics.
Bryant was a member of the United States Olympic teams in 2008 and 2012, winning gold medals with teammates Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony, among others.
Bryant put in a lot of effort to get back on the court after tearing his Achilles tendon in April 2013., but he fractured his knee just six games into the 2013-2014 season. The veteran All-Star passed Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA scoring list in December 2014, but his season was cut short for the third time in a row when he tore his rotator cuff in January 2015.