THE BIOGRAPHY OF KOBE BRYANT
Kobe Bean Bryant was born August 23, 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Named after a Japanese steakhouse, Kobe Bryant is the son of former NBA player Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. In 1984, after ending his NBA career, the elder Bryant took the family to Italy where he played on the Italian League. Growing up in Italy alongside two athletic older sisters, Shaya and Sharia, Kobe was an avid player of both basketball and soccer.
Joe Bryant was traded to the Houston Rockets when Kobe was still very young, and after only one season in Houston, the Bryant family packed up and moved to Italy so Joe could continue his professional basketball career. Joe Bryant signed with a team in the town of Rieti. The three Bryant children practiced Italian together after school, and all became fairly fluent within the first year. To this day, Kobe Bryant still speaks Italian.When the family returned to Philadelphia in 1991, Bryant joined the Lower Merion high school basketball team, leading it to the state championships four years in a row. With an eye on the NBA, he also started working out with the 76ers.
Kobe also has two older sisters, Sharia and Shaya. Kobe Bryant's father Joe, nicknamed "Jellybean", played eight seasons for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers, and Houston Rockets. When Kobe was around a year old, the family moved to Southern California after Joe was traded to the San Diego Clippers. 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.[4] Bryant was raised Roman Catholic.[5] When Bryant was six, his father left the NBA and moved his family to Rieti in Italy to continue playing professional basketball.[6][7] Bryant became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to speak Italian and Spanish.[7][8] During summers, he would come back to the United States to play in a basketball summer league.[9]
Kobe first started learning basketball from his father at the age of three. He idolized Magic Johnson growing up because of Magic's ball handling skills for a bigger player, and claimed the Los Angeles Lakers as his favorite team. Bryant started playing basketball when he was 3 years old,[10] and his favorite team growing up was the Lakers.[11] Bryant's grandfather would mail him videos of NBA games, which Bryant would study.[11] At an early age he also learned to play soccer, and his favorite team is AC Milan.[12] He has said that if he had stayed in Italy, he would have tried to become a professional soccer player.[12] Bryant is a big fan of former FC Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard and player Ronaldinho[13] as well as a fan of Galatasaray.[14] Upon Joe Bryant's retirement from playing basketball in 1991, the Bryant family moved back to the United States.
Bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School located in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion. As a freshman, he played for the varsity basketball team.[15] He became the first freshman in decades to start for Lower Merion's varsity team, but the team finished with a poor 4–20 record.[15][16] The following three years, the Aces compiled a 77–13 record, with Bryant playing all five positions.[15] During his junior year, he averaged 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists and was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year.[17] College recruiters from across the country were lined up to recruit him after his breakout year.[Though he boasted good grades and high SAT scores, Bryant decided to go straight to the NBA from high school. In 1996, he was picked by Charlotte in the draft, and was subsequently traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.1996 NBA Draft The first guard to ever be taken out of high school, Bryant was chosen as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996.[28] According to Arn Tellem, Bryant's agent at the time, Bryant playing for the Charlotte Hornets was "an impossibility".[29] Hornets never even considered drafting Bryant. Prior to the draft, Bryant had worked out in Los Angeles, in which he scrimmaged against former Lakers players Larry Drew and Michael Cooper, and according to then-Laker manager Jerry West "marched over these people".[31] On July 1, 1996,
First three seasons (1996–99)
During his rookie season, Bryant mostly came off the bench behind guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel.[34] At the time he became the youngest player ever to play in an NBA game (18 years, 72 days; a record since broken by Jermaine O'Neal and Andrew Bynum), and also became the youngest NBA starter ever (18 years, 158 days).[35][36] Initially, Bryant played limited minutes, but as the season continued, he began to see some more playing time. By the end of the season, he averaged 15.5 minutes a game. During the All-Star weekend, Bryant was the winner of the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, becoming the youngest player to be named the slam dunk champion at the age of 18.[37] Bryant's performance throughout the year earned him a spot on the NBA All Rookie second team with fellow bench teammate Travis Knight.[38] His final minutes of the season ended in disaster when he shot 4 air balls at crucial times in the game.[21] He first missed a jumper to win the game in the 4th quarter and 3 three-pointers in overtime (2 of which would have tied the game in the final minute). With that the Utah Jazz ended the playoffs for the Lakers in the second round. Shaquille O'Neal commented years later that "[Bryant] was the only guy who had the guts at the time to take shots like that."[39][40]
NBA Career
In his second season as guard, with the Lakers, Bryant was voted a starter for the 1998 All-Star Game, becoming at 19 the youngest All-Star in NBA history. Bryant went on to help the team win three consecutive NBA championships and was voted first-team all-NBA in 2002 and 2003. He also inked multi-year endorsement deals with Adidas, Sprite and other top sponsors.After a few lackluster seasons, Bryant helped his team make it to the 2008 NBA Finals. The team was defeated by the Boston Celtics, but they returned the following year. In the 2009 NBA finals, the Lakers beat the Orlando Magic to win the championship title. Shortly after the NBA Finals, Bryant was part of the memorial service to honor friend and music superstar Michael Jackson. He also announced his decision to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers for several more years around this time.
The arrival of Phil Jackson before the '99-00 season marked the next period in Bryant's career, during which he made the leap from star to superstar. His offensive game took off under his new coach as he averaged 22.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He was named to the All-Star team for the second time in his career in 2000, beginning a run of 10 straight All-Star appearances. During the 2000 postseason, he averaged 21.1 points per game and combined with Shaquille O'Neal to lead the Lakers to the NBA title.
Setting records and playoffs disappointments (2004–07)
In 2000-01, Kobe Bryant improved in every statistical category, averaging 28.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. His offensive improvement helped propel the Lakers to their second consecutive NBA title. Although his scoring average dipped to 25.2 points per game the next season, Kobe Bryant was named first-team All-NBA for the first time in 2001-02. That same year he also won his first All-Star Game MVP, and the Lakers won their third straight NBA title.
Personal Life
Bryant married 19-year-old Vanessa Laine in April 2001. -some of the very qualities that may make their relationship unlikely also help explain why they are back together again now. Bryant is a loner, often described by associates as detached from his Lakers teammates and unable or unwilling to form close relationships with the people around him. (For his first tweet on Twitter earlier this year Bryant wrote with some self-knowedge: “The antisocial has become social.” (@kobebryant)) Vanessa is said to be equally distant, with few close personal friends as well. After the two met on the set of a Snoop Dogg video shoot, where Vanessa was a backup dancer. She, then still a teen, instantly became his closest confidante and companion through the many storms of his career.“You have to remember Kobe met Vanessa when she was like 16 or something,” says Fred Mwangaguhunga, editor of MediaTakeOut.com, a top African-American entertainment website. “They’ve been together ever since. They have a lot of history together, both good and bad. I’m surprised she stayed when she could have walked away with more than $100 million. She must love him.”
The Post-Shaq Years (2004-07)
After the departure of Shaquille O'Neal, Bryant had to adjust to being the leader of the Lakers and averaged 27.6 points per game. Bryant led the Lakers offense as he scored over 40 points on ten different occasions during the 2004-2005 season. His numbers skyrocketed the next year as he averaged a career-best 35.4 points per game, along with 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Though his individual statistics improved -- leading to a pair of scoring titles -- his team struggled. His most memorable game during this period came on January 22, 2006, when he scored 81 points in a win against the Toronto Raptors. Bryant made 28 of his 46 field goal attempts, and scored 55 of his 81 points in the second half. That total stands second to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game as the most points ever scored in an NBA game.Before the 2006-07 season, Kobe Bryant changed his jersey number from 8 to 24, the number he wore as a freshman in high school. Bryant has given multiple reasons for the number change over the past two seasons, though most are still just speculation. After the number change, Bryant again led the league in scoring with an average of 31.6 points and was named an NBA All-Star.
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