Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia on August 23, 1978. He is the youngest of three children and only son of former NBA player and coach Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant.
His father, Joe Bryant, averaged 8.7 points per game in 606 career games in the NBA.
Kobe Bryant was given his name after his parents saw Kobe Beef on a menu at a restaurant.
Bryant started playing basketball when he was aged three, and the Lakers were his favorite team when he was growing up.
From ages 6-13, Bryant lived in Italy, where his father continued his basketball career. While living in Reggio, he played both soccer and basketball in Italy.
After his family moved back to the United States, he played high school basketball at Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia before being selected 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA Draft. Charlotte then traded Bryant's signing rights to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Vlade Divac
Bryant made his debut at 18 years, 2 months and 11 days old, becoming the youngest player ever to appear in an NBA game (November 3, 1996). A month later Jermaine O'Neal took his record when he made his debut at 18 years, 53 days.
As a shooting guard, Bryant played his entire 20-year career in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bryant helped the Los Angeles Lakers win three straight NBA Championships from 2000 to 2002 and two more in 2009 and 2010. He was named NBA's Most Valuable Player in 2008 and selected to the All-NBA First Team 11 times from 2002 to 2013.
Michael Jordan says Kobe Bryant is the only player to ever have approached him in work ethic, waking up at 430 in the morning to practice before his required practice with his team.
After beginning his 20th season with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2015–16, Kobe Bryant set an NBA record for the most seasons with the same team,
Kobe Bryant's grandmother only went to see him play one game throughout his entire professional career. During that one game against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006, he scored a career high 81 points, the second most points scored in a single game in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962.
Bryant retired on April 13, 2016 after scoring 60 points in a Lakers win against the Utah Jazz.
His movie Dear Basketball won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 2018 Academy Awards.
Bryant was the first person to win an Olympic Medal (he won Gold twice for playing in the US Men's basketball team in 2008 and 2012) and an Oscar.
Bryant's self-given nickname, Black Mamba, was inspired by the code name for Una Thurman's deadly assassin in the action films Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2.
He married Mexican-American Vanessa Bryant at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point, California on April 18, 2001. They had met on the set of Snoop Dogg's "Tha Eastsida"” video, where she was working as a model.
He and Vanessa had four daughters named Natalia, Gianna, Bianka and Capri.
Kobe Bryant died at 41 on January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash. The helicopter went down near Calabasas, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, in foggy conditions. His 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were also killed.
His father, Joe Bryant, averaged 8.7 points per game in 606 career games in the NBA.
Kobe Bryant was given his name after his parents saw Kobe Beef on a menu at a restaurant.
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| Bryant at the free-throw line, 2005 |
From ages 6-13, Bryant lived in Italy, where his father continued his basketball career. While living in Reggio, he played both soccer and basketball in Italy.
After his family moved back to the United States, he played high school basketball at Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia before being selected 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA Draft. Charlotte then traded Bryant's signing rights to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Vlade Divac
Bryant made his debut at 18 years, 2 months and 11 days old, becoming the youngest player ever to appear in an NBA game (November 3, 1996). A month later Jermaine O'Neal took his record when he made his debut at 18 years, 53 days.
As a shooting guard, Bryant played his entire 20-year career in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bryant helped the Los Angeles Lakers win three straight NBA Championships from 2000 to 2002 and two more in 2009 and 2010. He was named NBA's Most Valuable Player in 2008 and selected to the All-NBA First Team 11 times from 2002 to 2013.
Michael Jordan says Kobe Bryant is the only player to ever have approached him in work ethic, waking up at 430 in the morning to practice before his required practice with his team.
After beginning his 20th season with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2015–16, Kobe Bryant set an NBA record for the most seasons with the same team,
Kobe Bryant's grandmother only went to see him play one game throughout his entire professional career. During that one game against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006, he scored a career high 81 points, the second most points scored in a single game in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962.
Bryant retired on April 13, 2016 after scoring 60 points in a Lakers win against the Utah Jazz.
His movie Dear Basketball won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 2018 Academy Awards.
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| Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2015 By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA |
Bryant was the first person to win an Olympic Medal (he won Gold twice for playing in the US Men's basketball team in 2008 and 2012) and an Oscar.
Bryant's self-given nickname, Black Mamba, was inspired by the code name for Una Thurman's deadly assassin in the action films Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2.
He married Mexican-American Vanessa Bryant at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point, California on April 18, 2001. They had met on the set of Snoop Dogg's "Tha Eastsida"” video, where she was working as a model.
He and Vanessa had four daughters named Natalia, Gianna, Bianka and Capri.
Kobe Bryant died at 41 on January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash. The helicopter went down near Calabasas, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, in foggy conditions. His 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were also killed.
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