He spent his whole 20-year career with the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers (NBA). He entered the NBA straight out of high school and won five NBA titles with the Lakers. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA Team member, and a 12-time All-Defensive Team member. His record $80 million contract extension in 2016 became the first ever to include a 2025 pay bump based on games played.
When he retired in 2016 after his final game, he had already set numerous records that still stand today. He was then immediately drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the draft that year but chose not to play for them. He returned home to L.A. to retire as a Laker.
If you include the playoffs, he played 20 seasons in the NBA and finished with more than 100 victories every season except one (1998-99).
He was born on January 4th, 1977, in Manhattan, New York City, but grew up in Philadelphia. His mother died when he was 10 years old due to cancer. He moved with his father Lorenzo Johnson Bryant and his two other brothers Jayce and Channing to Italy so they could be closer to his sports coach who previously coached in Europe. They lived there for three years before returning to America.
Kobe attended the Collegiate School in Philadelphia before going to the International Sports Academy in Brooklyn, New York.
The NBA's five titles Bryant, widely recognized as one of the best basketball players of all time, was an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA Team member, a 12-time All-Defensive Team member, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. He also holds the record for most points by a rookie (3,810).
Bryant finished his career with more than 100 victories; he is only the second player in NBA history to do so (the other being Michael Jordan). He also retired with the highest percentage of his teams' wins coming before they were played: 72.4%.
Bryant's Lakers won four championships in a row from 2000 to 2003, and they have appeared in the NBA Finals every year since then, winning three of them. Los Angeles plays in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
Bryant passed Moses Malone as the leading scorer in NBA history on April 4, 2009. He currently stands next to Karl Malone as the leading power forward in NBA history. Bryant has also led the league in scoring twice, finishing first with a average of 30.1 points per game in 1996-97, and again in 2007-08 with 31.9 points per contest.
He announced his retirement on January 26, 2016 after playing 20 seasons in the NBA.
Bryant was the NBA's youngest player in 1996, at the age of 18 years, 2 months, and 11 days. He spent his whole pro career with the Los Angeles Lakers. In men's basketball, Bryant won two Olympic gold medals. Bryant ranks fourth all-time in NBA scoring.
He was born on January 4th, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were Joe "Jojo" Bryant and Vanessa Moseley-Boyd. His father was a professional baseball player who played for several teams including the San Francisco Giants. His mother was a tennis champion who represented the United States in the women's doubles at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec.
Bryant has one sister named Vanessa. She was also an elite tennis player and played on the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans women's team from 1995 to 1999. After graduating from high school, he led USC to its first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. He was drafted number two by the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, after playing only one season at USC.
Bryant made his debut in the National Basketball Association (NBA) on April 13th, 1996, when he came off the bench to play against the Toronto Raptors. The Lakers lost that game 105-101. As a rookie, he averaged 14.7 points per game.
In 1,346 regular-season games, he averaged 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists Kobe Bryant.
| Born: | August 23, 1978 in Philadelphia, PA |
|---|---|
| College: | None |
| Experience: | 20 years |
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