Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978(1978-08-23)) is an American shooting guard who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career and made instant headlines when he decided to go directly into the NBA upon graduation. He was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant and then-teammate Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. After O'Neal's departure following the 2003–04 season, Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers franchise. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons.[2] In 2006, Bryant scored a career high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second highest number of points scored in a single game in NBA history,[3] second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point performance. Bryant won his fourth NBA championship in 2009, leading the Lakers to their fifteenth title. He also won his first Finals MVP award.


Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the youngest of three children and the only son of former Philadelphia 76ers player and former Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant.[2] He is also the maternal nephew of John "Chubby" Cox. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu.[2] When Bryant was six, his father left the NBA and moved his family to Italy to begin playing professional basketball.[9] Bryant became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to speak Italian and Spanish fluently.[9][10] During summers, Bryant would come back to the United States to play in a basketball summer league.[11] He started playing basketball when he was 3 years old,[12] and at an early age he learned to play soccer; his favorite team was AC Milan.[13] He has said that if he had stayed in Italy, he would have tried to become a professional soccer player;[13] Bryant is a big fan of former FC Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard and their former player Ronaldinho.[14] Upon Joe Bryant's retirement from playing basketball in 1991, the Bryant family moved back to the United States.