Kobe Bryant was an American basketball player that played for the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant was born on August 23rd, 1978 in Philadelphia, PA.
Kobe Bryant was the youngest of 3 kids in his family. His family named him after the famous beef Kobe, in Japan. His middle name was bean which was taken in from his father’s nickname “Jellybean”. Kobe Bryant started playing basketball at the age of 3. Although his father played for the Sixers, Kobe’s favorite team was always the Los Angeles Lakers. When Kobe was six his father retired from the NBA and moved their family to Reiti in Italy. In Italy Kobe started to play basketball seriously. His grandfather would mail him videos of NBA games to study. Bryant also started playing soccer as his favorite team was A.C. Milan. When Kobe was 13 he and his family moved back to Philadelphia.
Kobe started to gain recognition as an amazing basketball player in high school. Kobe went to Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, a suburb in Philadelphia. Kobe became the first freshman to start on varsity at Lower Merion in a long time. Lower Merion finished with a 77-13 record to end the season with Kobe averaging 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4 steals, and 3.8 blocks playing every position on the court. As a senior Bryant earned the Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Men’s National Basketball Player of the Year, and was named a McDonald’s All-American. Because of Bryant’s basketball skills and SAT score of 1080, he could go to almost any college he wanted. Instead, Kobe entered the 1996 NBA Draft.
Before the NBA Draft, Bryant was working out in Los Angeles. He scrimmaged against former Lakers players Michael Cooper and Larry Drew. Jerry West was the Lakers’ GM at the time and after he saw Kobe scrimmage against the players he knew that he had to draft him. The Lakers wanted to trade starting center Vlade Divac for the draft right of Kobe Bryant. The Charlotte Hornets GM accepted the trade and the Lakers got Kobe. Bryant was only 17 at the time so his parents had to sign his rookie contract.
Kobe’s rookie season was full of him sitting on the bench. He ended the regular season averaging 7.6 points in 15.5 minutes per game. He made the 1997 slam dunk contest and won it being the youngest slam dunk champion ever. The Lakers made the playoffs but Kobe missed multiple game-winning shots in elimination games.
In 1999 the Lakers signed former Bulls’ Head Coach Phil Jackson. With Phil Jackson as head coach Kobe improved as a player tremendously. Kobe averaged 38 minutes per game leading the team in assists and steals.
With Phil Jackson the Lakers three-peated. But feuds between Shaq and Kobe ended with Shaq getting traded from the Lakers to the Heat. From there Kobe ended up winning two more titles with Phil Jackson. He also won MVP was named to All-NBA Team 15 times, was named an All-Star 18 times, and was named to All-Defensive First Team 12 times. Kobe had a very successful career as a basketball player and retired as one of the all-time greats.
Unfortunately, Kobe Bryant passed away on January 26th, 2022 along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. Kobe was only 41 years old when he passed. It has been officially 2 years since he passed. R.I.P Kobe.
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