Bryant was named Pennsylvania's Player of the Year in 1995, averaging 31 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game as a junior. And, just as he was breaking into the NBA, Bryant improved himself and his draft stock as a high school senior. Bryant won every National Player of the Year award available, from USA Today to Parade Magazine. He was also named All-American by The Sporting News and SuperCoach.
Bryant originally planned to forgo college and enter the 1995 NBA Draft. However, after hearing that several teams were interested in picking him up with the last pick in the first round, he changed his mind and attended Carnegie Mellon for one final season. As it turned out, the last pick in the first round was the New Jersey Nets, who took him with the 28th overall selection.
In his only season at CMU, Bryant averaged 26 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. He led the Pirates to their first 20-win season since 1990 and was named First Team All-America by CBS Sportsline.com. After the season, he entered the 1996 NBA Draft and was selected second by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Bryant spent two seasons with Philadelphia before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1998. He played three seasons in L.A., winning an NBA Championship in 2000, before being dealt to the Chicago Bulls in 2003.
As a freshman, he was a member of the varsity basketball team. Bryant was the first rookie to start for Lower Merion's varsity squad in decades, although the team concluded with a 4-20 record. Bryant played all five positions for the Aces during the next three years, compiling a 77-13 record. He averaged 20 points per game as a senior and was named Philadelphia City Player of the Year.
Bryant went on to have a very successful career at Lower Merion, where he scored 2,077 points and grabbed 1,030 rebounds. He won four state championships (three outright, one shared) and was selected National Player of the Year three times (1997, 1998, 2003). Bryant left after his junior season to enter the 1997 NBA Draft, where he was chosen by the Los Angeles Lakers with number two overall pick.
In between high school and college sports, Bryant played on a youth baseball team called the Kobe Bakers. The team had no affiliation with any major league club but instead participated in local tournaments. In October 1996, when he was still a high school student, Bryant hit.636 in a tournament held in Wilmington, Delaware. This is the highest batting average ever recorded in a single tournament game history.
Bryant attended Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. The school is located about 15 minutes outside of Philadelphia in suburban Ardmore.
In 1970, Jerry West earned the scoring championship with an average of 31.2 points per game. In 1971 and 1972, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the scoring championship. Allen Iverson was the scoring champion in 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2005. In 2006 and 2007, Kobe Bryant claimed the scoring title.
He also set a rookie record for points per game in 1959-60, with 37.6 points per game. James Harden holds the greatest point total (2,818) and scoring average (36.1) in a season among active players; both were accomplished in the 2018-19 season.
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