Since he was still 17 on the time of the draft, his parents needed to cosign his contract with the Lakers until he was able to signal his own when he turned 18 earlier than the season began. Kobe Bryant spent his early years in Italy and joined the NBA straight out of highschool. A dominant scorer, Bryant gained five NBA championships and the 2008 MVP Award with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kobe spent his 20-year career with the Lakers where he gained 5 NBA championships. His different accomplishments embody surpassing Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA all-time scoring record in December 2014 and winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball in 2018. On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter were amongst a bunch traveling to a girls basketball recreation in a helicopter when it crashed, killing all 9 people aboard. Bryant rejoined the national staff for the 2012 Summer Olympics. After winning another gold medal, Bryant determined to retire from the staff. He finished his national staff career with a document of 26–0 across three tournaments, successful a gold medal each time.

Statistically, the 2000–01 season saw Bryant perform similarly to the previous year, however he averaged six extra factors per recreation (28.5). It was additionally the yr when disagreements between Bryant and O'Neal started to floor. Once again, Bryant led the group in assists, with five per recreation. The Lakers, nevertheless, solely gained fifty six video games, an 11-game dropoff from the previous yr. The Lakers would respond by going 15–1 in the playoffs.

It's every athlete's dream to represent their nation in the Olympics ... But maybe as a outcome of he grew up in Italy and wasn't fairly so invested, Kobe's profession with the U.S. National Basketball staff received off to a very rocky begin. After refusing to play for the national staff in both 2000 and 2002, he had to withdraw because of damage in 2003. Then in 2004, he dropped out again due to those aforementioned rape accusations.

There’s not a member of the basketball community that doesn’t understand Bryant’s influence or doesn’t desire that he made it past the age of 41, just a bit underneath 4 years after he hung up his jersey for the ultimate time. Even so, 2K is appreciating his reminiscence within the newest method, especially in a yr with a number, ’24, that was so synonymous with Kobe. Kobe Bryant was admired not only for his skills on the court but additionally for his efforts off it. In addition, when he introduced his retirement from basketball in 2016, he continued to encourage and train current athletes. Current athletes, corresponding to Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Jayson Tatum, Kawhi Leonard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, to call a couple of.

He was beneficiant together with his time, sharing his wisdom and love for basketball, and provoking young women and men together with his incredible dedication to excellence, his unmatched competitiveness, and his legendary work ethic. So Kobe stated he studied how white sharks hunted seals to prepare for his subsequent assembly with Iverson. That day came on February twentieth in 2000, when the Lakers visited the Sixers in Philadelphia for the first of two head-to-head video games played that season. But as a substitute of watching the two stars go at it in a shootout, it was a shutdown.

In 2006 he was once more given a chance to play for America, but again he dropped out due to harm. Once he lastly got around to suiting up for the USA, though, he made essentially the most of it, successful Olympic gold medals in both 2008 and 2012. So just how does a person turn out to be a once-in-a-lifetime basketball talent? Well, within the case of Kobe Bryant, he was born into it. That's as a outcome of he's descended from basketball stars on each side of his household.

The frequent denominator in each championship staff is the mentality that Kobe has … You should be so obsessive about successful that you just pull no punches along with your teammates, even when you’re in first place. On January 30, the primary recreation after the crash was played at Staples Center between the Clippers and the Kings; the Clippers honored Bryant before the sport, with Southern California native Paul George narrating a video tribute to Bryant. The subsequent day, the Lakers played their first recreation after the crash against the Trail Blazers. James also delivered a speech to the crowd earlier than the sport, and each participant in the Lakers starting lineup was announced with Bryant's name.