Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers
Position	Guard
Personal information
Born	August 23, 1978 Philadelphia, PA
Nationality	USA
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school	Lower Merion Lower Merion, PA
NBA draft	1996: 13th overall
Selected by the Charlotte Hornets
Playing career	1996–present
Career highlights and awards
3-time NBA Champion 8-time All-Star 8-time All-NBA Selection 6-time All-NBA Defensive Selection All-Star MVP (2002) 1997 Nestle Crunch Slam Dunk Champion
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. He is the son of former Philadelphia 76ers player Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. Bryant's combination of talent, skill, dedication, and work ethic have been instrumental in establishing his status as one of the premier athletes in the NBA. With his growing list of individual and team accomplishments, the 27-year-old Bryant is expected to eventually rank among the greatest players in NBA history.

Early life

Kobe Bryant was born the only son of Joe and Pam Bryant. At the age of six, he, his two sisters and his parents moved to Italy, where his father began playing professional basketball. While living there, he gradually became accustomed to the lifestyle and subsequently learned to speak Italian fluently. In 1991, the Bryants moved back to the United States. After a spectacular high school career in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion, at Lower Merion High School, Bryant achieved national recognition as a prodigious basketball talent. While his SAT score of 1080[1] would have ensured his basketball scholarship to various top-tier colleges, Bryant eventually scrapped his original plans of continuing on to college by making the leap from high school directly to the NBA, a bold but controversial decision made by the then 17-year-old, the first guard ever to bypass college basketball.

Marriage

It was during this time that the 20-year-old Bryant first met 16-year-old Vanessa Laine on the set of a music video where Laine was working as a background dancer. The two began dating and were engaged six months later. They married on April 18, 2001 in Dana Point, California, while Laine was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. Bryant's parents initially were staunchly opposed to the marriage for a number of reasons, citing the couple's young age as their primary concern. This disagreement resulted in an estrangement period of over two years, during which Kobe Bryant did not have any contact with his parents.

The Bryants' first child, daughter Natalia Diamante Bryant, was born on January 19, 2003. Soon after Natalia's birth, Kobe Bryant reconciled his differences with his parents, and the family was once again on good terms. Vanessa Bryant suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic pregnancy in the spring of 2005. Their second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, was born on May 1, 2006, and happened to be born within 6 minutes of Shaquille O'Neal's daughter, Me'arah Sanaa.

Early NBA career

1996 Draft

Bryant's career trajectory as an NBA player out of high school has been nothing short of exceptional. Even before he was chosen as the 13th pick overall by the Hornets in 1996, Bryant had made a lasting impression on then-Lakers general manager Jerry West, who immediately foresaw the potential in Bryant's basketball talent during pre-draft workouts. West stated that Bryant's workout was one of the best he had ever witnessed. After overseeing the arrival of Shaquille O'Neal to Los Angeles, West continued his quest to return the Lakers to championship status by trading then-starting center Vlade Divac to the Hornets for the 18-year old Bryant.

Growing pains

Bryant was primarily labeled a work-in-progress by then-Laker coach Del Harris during his first two seasons with the Lakers, in which he played mostly off the bench under guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. In his first season, he played limited minutes initially but this changed as Bryant received more playing time as the season continued. While Bryant was a promising young talent, his inexperience was soon exposed. With the Lakers facing elimination in a playoff game against the Utah Jazz, late in the game Bryant missed three crucial shots, all air balls. The Lakers lost the game and were eliminated. The failure was a humbling one for Bryant, but veteran Antoine Carr of the Jazz took time immediately after the game to seek out the young Bryant and offer words of encouragement.

In Bryant's second season, he received more playing time and began showing more of his abilities as a talented young guard. However, he still came off the bench behind a more experienced guard in Eddie Jones. In a somewhat controversial trade, the Lakers traded Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell for veteran All-Star forward Glen Rice. The move was unpopular with Laker fans, who were particularly fond of Jones, and it also hurt the Lakers prospects for winning a title in the lockout season. However, it would put the pieces in place for the team's eventual championship run in the following season. This move had added significance in that it thrust Bryant into regular starting role in the NBA for the first time. While his statistics were impressive, he was still a young guard who lacked the experience to complement Shaquille O'Neal and significantly help the team win a championship.

Championship years

However, Bryant's fortunes would soon change when Phil Jackson became coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. After years of steady improvement, Bryant had become one of the premier shooting guards in the league, a notion that was indicated by his annual presence in the league's All-NBA, All-Star, and All-Defensive teams. The Los Angeles Lakers became perennial championship contenders under Bryant and O'Neal, who teamed up to form one of the deadliest center-guard combinations in NBA history. Their success gave the Lakers three consecutive NBA championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002.

The First Title

The Lakers finished the 1999-2000 Season with a 67-15 record, best in the NBA. Kobe averaged 22.5 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game, and 5 assists per game. In the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings in the first round and the Phoenix Suns in the second round.

In the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers faced the division rival Portland Trail Blazers, who held the second best record in the NBA that season (59-23). The series went back and fourth, until a decisive Game 7 at Staples Center. The Blazers led by 13 points after three quarters. Just when it looked like the season was coming to an end, the Lakers went on a 15-0 run and mounted one of the biggest fourth quarter comebacks ever to win the game 89-84. Bryant finished the biggest game of his young career leading the Lakers in 4 categories, with 25 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 blocks. [2] [3] Perhaps the biggest play of the game was the famous alley-oop dunk Bryant threw to teammate Shaquille O'Neal in the 4th quarter to take the lead. To this day, many identify this single play as the start of the Laker's dynasty.

The Lakers faced the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals. Early in Game 2 of the series, Bryant injured his right ankle. He missed the rest of the game and Game 3 as well. The Lakers took the first two games and lost Game 3. Still not recovered from his injury, Bryant decided to start crucial Game 4. The game went into overtime, and O'Neal fouled out midway through the period. Bryant, however, filled in and led the team to a two-point victory, and commanding 3-1 series lead. [4] The Lakers eventually won the series 4-2, and their first title since 1988.

To this day, Kobe's Game 7 and Game 4 performances are considered to be two of his best ever.

Back-to-Back

The Lakers finished the 2000-2001 Season with a 56-26 record, tied for second best in the NBA. Bryant finished the season averaging a then career-high 28.5 points per game. He also averaged 6 rebounds per game and 5 assists per game.

The team then broke out in the playoffs. The Lakers went on one of the greatest postseason runs in NBA history, winning 11 straight games. LA swept the Trail Blazers in the first round 3-0, the Sacramento Kings 4-0 in the second round, and the San Antonio Spurs 4-0 in the Conference Finals. Bryant's best individual performances came in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Kings (48 pts, 16 reb) and Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs (45 pts, 10 reb). [5] [6]

In the Finals, L.A. faced the Philadelphia 76ers, led by MVP Allen Iverson. After a 1-1 series tie, the Lakers headed to Philadelphia, where Bryant spent the early and latter parts of his childhood growing up and playing basketball. Bryant and O'Neal led the team to three straight victories, and the Lakers captured their second title.

Three peat

The Lakers finished the 2001-2002 Season with a 58-24 record. Bryant was named MVP of the 2002 All-Star game. He finished the season averaging over 25 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, and 5.5 assists per game.

In the playoffs, the Lakers swept the Trail Blazers in the first round and defeated the Spurs 4-1 in the second round, before facing the Kings in the Western Conference Finals. The series went back and fourth, until a decisive Game 7 in Sacramento. Bryant finished the game with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists, as the Lakers edged the Kings 112-106 in the first conference finals Game 7 overtime ever. [7]

In the Finals, L.A. faced the New Jersey Nets. The dynamic duo led the team to a four game sweep, and the Lakers captured their third title. [8] They had now become a dynasty.

End of the dynasty

In the 2002-03 NBA season, Bryant had by far his best season, statistically. He averaged 30 points per game and embarked on a historic scoring run, posting 40 or more points per game in nine consecutive games while averaging 40.6 in the entire month of February. In addition, he averaged 6.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, all career highs. For the first time in his career Bryant was voted on to both--All-NBA and All-Defensive 1st teams. After finishing 50-32 in the regular season, however, the Lakers floundered in the playoffs and lost in the Western Conference Semifinals to the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in six games.

Madison Avenue appeal

Bryant's image and accomplishments on and off the basketball court made him one of basketball's most popular and marketable players. He became a spokesperson for major corporations such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola. For several years, he had an exclusive apparel and shoe deal with Adidas but is currently under a four-year, $45 million advertising contract with Nike [9].

Work ethic

Much of Kobe Bryant's meteoric rise to NBA superstardom is attributed to his consummate work ethic. In each of his years in the league, Bryant showed improvement in all areas of his game, from offense to strength to defense. On the court he showed himself to be a very composed and competitive player with impressive concentration. These attributes allowed him to perform greatly when rising to the level of a premier player in the NBA.

Sexual assault allegation

Accusation and court cases

File:Kobe Bryant - mug shot.jpg

Bryant, following his arrest in 2003

In the summer of 2003, the news media reported that the sherriff's office in Eagle County, Colorado had arrested Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by a 19-year old hotel employee. Bryant had checked into The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera hotel in Edwards, Colorado in advance of having knee surgery near there the next day. The woman in question, eventually identified as Katelyn Faber, accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room the night before the surgery.

Law enforcement officials interviewed Bryant about the incident following his surgery.[10] Later that week, they arrested Bryant, releasing him immediately on bond, and news of the arrest became public two days after that. Several days later, the Eagle County District Attorney's office filed a formal charge against Bryant.

After he was formally charged, Bryant held a news conference in which he adamantly denied having raped Faber. He confessed to having an adulterous sexual encounter with her, but insisted that everything that happened between the two had been consensual.

The case's pre-trial hearings went on through the 2003-2004 NBA season, a number of times causing Bryant to have to be in court in Colorado during the day, then immediately fly to another part of the country to play in the Lakers' game that night. Bryant generally performed well in such games, though the on-going proceedings and the media attention on them served as a continuing distraction, both to Bryant personally, and to the Laker team as a whole.[11][12]

As the hearings went on, it became clear that Bryant's defense team was going to aggressively attack Faber's credibility.[13] Various media reports about evidence that Bryant's defense was planning to present caused widespread speculation that chances of the prosecution overcoming reasonable doubt and obtaining a conviction were dwindling. Amid both such speculation and the intense scrutiny of her personal life, Faber decided to withdraw her support of the criminal prosecution and informed prosecutors that she would be unwilling to testify in the case. With that development, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the case against Bryant, with District Attorney Mark Hurlbert citing Faber's unwillingness to continue as his reason for doing so. As part of the overall agreement, Bryant issued a statement in which he continued to assert that he believed his encounter with Faber was consensual, but acknowledged that Faber "did not and does not view this incident the same way that I did."

In the aftermath of the trial, Faber filed a civil lawsuit against Bryant over the incident. The two sides ultimately settled that lawsuit, with the specific terms of the settlement being undisclosed to the public. Just as some media sources speculated that the criminal case was dropped by the prosecution due to Faber's reluctance to expose the various details of her personal life, others also speculated that Bryant had decided to settle the civil case out of court so that the details of his own personal life would not be made public. Still, many of his fans and supporters believed that Bryant just wanted to get rid of the whole situation and stay focused on basketball, and the upcoming 2004-05 NBA season, where two pieces of the trifecta would no longer be on his team (see the end of the Trifecta). The only way he could have done this is settle the lawsuit, and Bryant had the money and means to do so.

Aftermath and image problems

Kobe Bryant had always received an abundance of criticism regarding his play on the basketball court. Detractors have long branded him as a selfish, egotistic player who pads his own achievements at the expense of his team. However, one factor which had helped to uphold a generally positive public image even despite such criticism had been the public's perception of him as "squeaky-clean" with regard to his moral behaviors. The public had become accustomed to tales of high-profile professional athletes indulging gratuitously in a wild nightlife rife with alcohol, drugs and/or sexual promiscuity. But Bryant had a reputation as one who eschewed such behaviors, preferring to keep quietly to himself, even to the point of his being criticized for not socializing enough with his teammates. The events surrounding the alleged sexual assault changed that dynamic drastically. At best, he was guilty of the adultery to which he had confessed. And when the police transcript of his interview with investigators later became public, it revealed that Bryant had further confessed to investigators that his adultery with Faber was not an isolated incident. He had acknowledged that unbeknownst to his wife, he had been maintaining an on-going affair with another woman in New York.[14] But still worse was the fact that despite the lack of a criminal conviction, many people believed him to be guilty of rape.

Bryant previously had a positive moral image but, with his image so badly tarnished, the public's perception of Bryant plummeted, and his endorsement contracts with McDonald's, Nutella, and Ferrero SpA were terminated. His ball play was also viewed more critically. Sales figures from NBA merchandisers indicated that sales of replicas of Bryant's jersey fell far off of their previous highs.

Furthering the blemish upon Bryant's reputation was the public rift through the Laker core of Bryant, O'Neal, and coach Phil Jackson. In well-documented episodes throughout their careers together on the Lakers, mainly over leadership of the team, O'Neal and Bryant have feuded in dramatic fashion. The 2000-era Lakers were built around the dominant center in O'Neal but Bryant seemed to tire of his formal role as "second fiddle" on the team. Though there were periods when the two seemed to get along very well, during the rougher times, O'Neal would not be shy about launching criticisms toward teammates, usually without explicitly mentioning names, but with details that left no doubt he was referring primarily to Bryant. Bryant only responded publicly on one occasion, in an interview with Jim Gray of ESPN, where he called O'Neal "fat" and bristled at O'Neal's previous characterizations of their relationship as "big brother" and "little brother."

The sexual assault allegations ultimately led to one of the largest blows to the relationship between Bryant and O'Neal, as well as serious damage to Bryant's personal reputation among other NBA players. According to a supplemental report added to the original transcript, when questioned by the police during their investigation, in an apparent attempt to deflect questioning, Bryant had brought up alleged extramarital affairs by O'Neal. [15] If Bryant made such a comment, it likely meant that in order to extricate himself from his own situation, he had either made false allegations of adultery against O'Neal, or, even if the allegations were true, had betrayed O'Neal's confidence in that matter to investigators. Either explanation served only to further sully Bryant's image.

Other conflicts

Other conflicts have also done their share of damage to Bryant's image. In addition to his problems with O'Neal, Bryant feuded with other teammates during his career. In an isolated incident, he allegedly punched then teammate Samaki Walker in the face outside of the team bus. In 2004, a dispute between Bryant and former teammate Karl Malone became public prior to Malone's expected re-signing with the Lakers. Bryant claimed Malone had made inappropriate comments to Bryant's wife. Malone claimed the comments were in jest and that Bryant was overreacting. In the subsequent months, rather than re-join Bryant and the Lakers, Malone turned his attention to the possibility of joining another team, but ultimately decided to retire. More recently, there have been rumors of Bryant clashing with teammate Lamar Odom which both have denied and attribute to media rumors.

Bryant also clashed with coach Jackson. While remarkably efficient in Jackson's "triangle offense", Bryant had a personal distaste for Jackson's brand of basketball and subsequently called it "boring." In games, Bryant would often disregard the set offense completely to experiment with his own one-on-one moves, incensing the normally calm Jackson. Bryant managed to test Jackson's patience enough that the "Zen Master" even demanded that Bryant be traded, although Laker management rejected the request.

The end of the Trifecta

Jackson's coaching contract expired following the 2003–04 season and the Lakers failed to produce a championship despite sporting four Hall of Fame-caliber players: Karl Malone, Gary Payton, O'Neal, and Bryant. Bryant opted out of his contract and became free agent, thus having the ability to choose to leave for another team if he desired. Amid that atmosphere, Jackson was not invited back to coach the team. Many fans attributed Jackson's departure directly to the wishes of Bryant, whom Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss championed. Although Jackson, Bryant and Buss all denied that Bryant made any explicit demand regarding Jackson, O'Neal, upon hearing General Manager Mitch Kupchak's announcement of the team's willingness to trade O'Neal but its intention on keeping Bryant, nonetheless indicated that he felt the franchise was indeed pandering to Bryant's wishes with the departure of Jackson. O'Neal demanded to be traded, and was dealt to the Miami Heat.

Bryant proceeded to consider playing for the Lakers' Staples Center suitemates, the Los Angeles Clippers, raising the possibility that the Lakers had made such drastic moves, perhaps primarily to please Bryant, and yet would lose him anyway. Ultimately though, Bryant did re-sign with the Lakers for the veteran's maximum of seven years at over US$136 million.

Unquestioned leader

With O'Neal gone, Bryant became the Lakers' unquestioned leader of the team going into the 2004-2005 season. As it turned out, however, his first season at the helm of a team would prove to be a very rocky one. With his reputation so badly damaged from all that had happened over the previous year, Bryant was closely scrutinized and criticized during the season.

A particularly damaging salvo came from Phil Jackson in The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul. The book detailed the sordid events of the Lakers' tumultuous 2003-04 season and hurled numerous harsh criticisms of Bryant. Along with other unsavory adjectives, Jackson called Bryant "uncoachable."

Then, midway through the season, Rudy Tomjanovich suddenly resigned as Lakers coach, citing the recurrence of health problems and exhaustion. Without "Rudy T," stewardship of the remainder of the Lakers' season fell to career assistant coach Frank Hamblen. Despite the fact that Bryant was the league's second leading scorer at 27.6 points per game, the Lakers floundered and missed the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. This year signified a drop in Bryant's overall status in the NBA by not making the NBA All-Defensive Team and being demoted to All-NBA Third Team.

2005-06 season

The 2005-06 NBA season would mark a crossroads in Bryant's basketball career. Despite past differences with Bryant, Phil Jackson returned to coach the Lakers. Bryant endorsed the move, and by all appearnces, the two men worked together well the second time around, leading the Lakers back into the NBA Playoffs. The team posted a 45-37 record, an eight-game improvement over the previous season, and played well enough in the first round of the playoffs to come within a game of eliminating the second-seeded Phoenix Suns before finally falling short.

Scoring

Accomplishments

In many ways, however, the team's improvement in 2005-06 was often overshadowed by the spectacular individual scoring accomplishments posted by Bryant which resulted in the finest statistical season of his career:

• In December, Bryant scored 62 points despite playing only three quarters of play against the Dallas Mavericks. Entering the fourth quarter Bryant had, by himself, outscored the entire Mavericks team 62-61, the only time a player has done this through three quarters since the advent of the 24-second shot clock.

• In January, Bryant scored 81 points in a game against the Toronto Raptors. In addition to breaking the previous franchise record of 71 set by Elgin Baylor, his point total in that game was second in NBA history only to Wilt Chamberlain's legendary 100-point game in 1962.

• Also in January, Bryant became the first player since 1964, and the only player aside from Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor to score 45 points or more in four consecutive games.

• For the month of January, Bryant averaged 43.4 per game, the eighth highest single month scoring average in NBA history, and highest for any player other than Chamberlain.

• By the end of the season, Bryant had also set Lakers single-season franchise records for the most 40-point games (27) and most points scored (2,832), among others.

• Bryant won the league's scoring title for the first time, posting the highest scoring average (35.4) since Michael Jordan's 37.1 average in 1986-87.

• Bryant finished in fourth-place in the voting for the 2006 NBA Most Valuable Player Award, but also received 22 first place votes — second only to winner Steve Nash, and by far the highest number of first-place votes Bryant had ever received in his career.

Debate

Bryant's scoring accomplishments were accompanied by controversy, however. Throughout his career, some have considered Bryant to be a "ball hog". Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke has described himself as "someone who has spent years writing that Bryant should stop hogging the ball." [16] With Bryant averaging over 27 field goal attempts per game in 2005-06, the long-standing debate over whether Bryant's shooting the ball that often is detrimental to the Lakers as a team took on a renewed fervor.

Critics claimed that Bryant's shot total inhibited the development and confidence of other Laker players and indicated that he does not play true "team" basketball. During an early season TNT post-game broadcast, analysts Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller sharply criticized Bryant for attempting over 30 shots in a single game, something Bryant would do frequently over the course of the season.

Others, such as ESPN columnist Marc Stein[17] and Salon.com columnist King Kaufman [18], argued that the players currently on the Lakers are not nearly as talented as Bryant, and that therefore the team has its best chance to win when Bryant attempts substantially more shots than any of his teammates.

Other notable events

• When the Lakers faced the Miami Heat on January 16, 2006, Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal made headlines by engaging in handshakes and hugs before the game, an event that is believed to signify the end of the feud that had festered between the two players since O'Neal's acrimonious departure from Los Angeles. A month later, at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game, the two could be observed laughing and joking together on several occasions.

• In late January 2006, Bryant officially committed to play basketball for the USA National Basketball team. He is expected to play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, once the team qualifies.

• Late in the season, it was reported that Bryant would change his jersey number from #8 to #24 at the start of the 2006-07 NBA season. #24 was Bryant's first high school number, before changing to #33.[19] After the Lakers' season ended, Bryant made a television appearance on TNT, where he stated that when he came into the league, he wanted #24, but it was unavailable. He went on to say that he believed the new number signified the start of the second half of his career.

Current image

Bryant's public image reached its nadir in the wake of his 2003 trial for sexual assault and his highly publicized feud with then-teammate Shaquille O'Neal. Bryant lost a number of lucrative corporate sponsorships due to the trial, and almost certainly lost some fans due to the trial and the feud. While his image problems have not completely disappeared in the wake of his high-scoring season in 2005-2006, he has recovered somewhat in that realm. Sales of replicas of his jersey, while not as high as they were before the case, are nonetheless up significantly, placing Bryant among the league leaders. [20]

One of the legacies of these image problems is that Bryant is now one of the most polarizing individuals in the NBA. He retains a loyal fan base, no doubt expanded by his most recent accomplishments on the court and a more fan-friendly media personality (e.g. meeting with victims of Hurricane Katrina and participating in the associated NBA charity exhibition game in 2005). But there remains a large segment of the NBA fan populace that is just as vehemently scornful of him as his fans are adoring.

The rebound in Bryant's public perception has opened up additional opportunities for commercial endorsements. In February 2006, Nike launched a new signature shoe for Bryant, dubbed Zoom Kobe I. With Bryant having been completely absent from the product endorsement scene since 2003, the campaign around the shoe marked the corporate world's first effort to test whether Bryant's image has recovered enough to make marketing him a profitable endeavor. The television commercials promoting the shoe featured a "love me or hate me" theme with Bryant directly addressing the fact that the public's reaction to him is so highly polarized. Despite these events, Bryant's image has had difficulty recovering from widespread detestation. Various polls (both among players and fans) frequently cite him as the most hated player in the NBA and one of the most hated in all of sports.[21]

The otherwise non-notable basketball analyst and repeatedly blocked Wikipedia user User:Hganesan claims that "it is common for the most hated players in professional sports to be the best and most prominent in their sports," although he provides no backing for such extraordinary claims. He further claims that Barry Bonds "is clearly one of the most hated men in sports," again without attribution. Hganesan does note that Terrell Owens was rated by GQ magazine as the most hated figure in sports.

Alleged media bias

Some of Bryant's supporters have alleged that the negative aspects of his image have led to a bias against Bryant among certain members of the sports news media.[22][23] Those who purport the existence of such a bias also cite the voting results for the 2006 MVP award — an award selected by the media. Of the 125 members of the media who voted, 22 ranked Bryant first, while another 22 left him off the five-man ballot entirely.[24]. Historically, however, MVP winners have been members of top tier teams. The fact that Bryant's team finished in 7th place in the Western Conference was often referenced as the main reason he would not win the award during the 2005-2006 regular season.

Awards and achievements

Career highlights

• 3-time NBA Champion: 2000, 2001, 2002
• 8-time NBA All-Star: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

• Has started in each of his appearances
• 8 consecutive appearances. (No All-Star game in 1999 due to league-wide lock-out)

• NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2002
• NBA Scoring Champion: 2006 (35.4)
• 8-time All-NBA Selection:

• First Team: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
• Second Team: 2000, 2001
• Third Team: 1999, 2005

• 6-time All-NBA Defensive Selection:

• First Team: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006
• Second Team: 2001, 2002

• 2-time NBA regular-season leader, points: 2003 (2,461), 2006 (2,832)
• 2-time NBA regular-season leader, field goals made: 2003 (868), 2006 (978)
• NBA regular-season leader, field goals attempted: 2006 (2,173)
• NBA regular-season leader, free throws made: 2006 (696)
• NBA All-Rookie Second Team: 1997
• NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Champion: 1997
• 2nd highest single-game point total in NBA history: 81, set on January 22, 2006 vs. the Toronto Raptors. (The record is 100 points set by Wilt Chamberlain on March 2, 1962.)
• 7th highest single-season point total in NBA history: 2,832, 2005-06 (Top 6 held by Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan)
• 9th highest single-season scoring average in NBA history: 35.4, 2005-06 (Top 8 held by Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Michael Jordan, and Rick Barry)
• Career triple-doubles (as of 2006): 14 [25]
• Career statistics (as of 2006): 23.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.5 apg, 0.61 bpg, 1.50 spg, .451 FG%, .336 3FG%, .834 FT% [26]
• Career playoff statistics (as of 2006): 22.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 4.5 apg, 0.73 bpg, 1.34 spg, .438 FG%, .329 3FG%, .791 FT% [27]

NBA milestones

• Youngest player in NBA history to reach:

• 10,000 points (24 years, 193 days), set March 5, 2003 vs. the Indiana Pacers.
• 14,000 points (26 years, 240 days), set April 20, 2005 vs. the Portland Trail Blazers.
• 15,000 points (27 years, 136 days), set January 6, 2006 vs. the Philadelphia 76ers.
• 16,000 points (27 years, 192 days), set March 3, 2006 vs. the Golden State Warriors.

• Youngest player to start an NBA game (18 years, 158 days), making his first start for the Los Angeles Lakers on January 28, 1997.
• Youngest player to start an NBA All-Star Game (19 years, 175 days), making his debut at the 48th annual All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden on February 8, 1998.
• Youngest NBA All-Star Slam Dunk champion (18 years, 175 days), after winning the contest at the 1997 NBA All-Star Weekend.
• Became the first player ever to outscore the opposing team through three quarters since the advent of the 24-second shot clock after scoring 62 points in three quarters of play on December 20, 2005 vs. the Dallas Mavericks.

NBA records (8)

• Most three-point field goals made, one game: 12 (January 7, 2003 vs. Seattle SuperSonics; first player to reach this plateau; tied with Donyell Marshall). [28]
• Most three-point field goals made, one half: 8 (March 28, 2003 vs. Washington Wizards; tied with 5 players). [29]
• Most consecutive three-point field goals made, one game: 9 (January 7, 2003 vs. Seattle SuperSonics; first player to reach this plateau; tied with Latrell Sprewell and Ben Gordon). [30]
• Most free throws made, one quarter: 14 (3rd quarter, December 20, 2005 vs. Dallas Mavericks; tied with 5 players). [31] [32]
• Most free throws attempted, one quarter: 16 (3rd quarter, December 20, 2005 vs. Dallas Mavericks; tied with 6 players). [33] [34]
• Most All-Star Game three-point field goals made, all-time: 11 (1997–present; tied with Tracy McGrady, Ray Allen, and Jason Kidd). [35]
• Holds shot-clock era records for:

• Greatest percentage of own team's point total (66.4% of the Lakers' 122 points)
• Greatest percentage of both teams' combined point total (35.8% of the Lakers' and Raptors' 226 points)
• (both set on January 22, 2006 vs. the Toronto Raptors).

Lakers franchise records (30)

• Points

• Season: 2,832 (2005-06; 7th highest NBA single season scoring output of all-time)
• Game: 81 (January 22, 2006 vs. Toronto Raptors) [36]
• Half: 55 (2nd half, January 22, 2006 vs. Toronto Raptors). [37]
• Quarter: 30 (3rd quarter, December 20, 2005 vs. Dallas Mavericks) [38]
• Overtime, playoffs: 12 (May 4, 2006 vs. Phoenix Suns) [39]
• Scoring average, month: 43.4 (January 2006)
• Games scoring 40 points or more, season: 27 (2005-06) [40]
• Consecutive games of 40 points or more: 9 (February 6–February 23, 2003) [41]
• Consecutive games of 20 points or more, season: 62 (December 9, 2005–April 19, 2006)

• Field goals made

• Half: 18 (2nd half, January 22, 2006 vs. Toronto Raptors). [42]
• Quarter: 11 (February 2, 1999 vs. Seattle SuperSonics). [43]

• Field goals attempted

• Half: 28 (tied with Elgin Baylor; 2nd half, January 22, 2006 vs. Toronto Raptors). [44]

• Free throws made

• Game: 23 (twice, most recently on January 31, 2006 vs. New York Knicks). [45]
• Half: 16 (January 30, 2001 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers) [46]
• Quarter: 14 (3rd quarter, December 20, 2005 vs. Dallas Mavericks) [47]
• Quarter, playoffs: 11 (tied with 3 players; May 8, 1997 vs. Utah Jazz). [48]
• Consecutive: 62 (January 11–22, 2006). [49]

• Free throws attempted

• Quarter: 16 (3rd quarter, December 20, 2005 vs. Dallas Mavericks). [50]

• Three-point field goals made

• All-time: 799 (1996–present) [51]
• Game: 12 (January 7, 2003 vs. Seattle SuperSonics). [52]
• Half: 8 (1st half, March 28, 2003 vs. Washington Wizards). [53]
• Quarter: 6 (2nd quarter, January 7, 2003 vs. Seattle SuperSonics). [54]
• Without a miss, game: 7 (January 6, 2006 vs. Philadelphia 76ers). [55]
• Consecutive: 9 (January 7, 2003 vs. Seattle SuperSonics). [56]

• Three-point field goals attempted

• All-time: 2,379 (1996–present) [57]
• All-time, playoffs: 410 (1996–present) [58]
• Season: 518 (2005-06) [59]
• Game: 18 (January 7, 2003 vs. Seattle SuperSonics). [60]

• Steals

• Half: 6 (tied with 3 players; February 13, 2006 vs. Utah Jazz). [61]
• Quarter, playoffs: 3 (tied with 6 players; May 17, 1999 vs. San Antonio Spurs). [62]

Personal records

• Second-most points scored in a regular season game in NBA history: 81 (January 22, 2006) (the most is 100 by Wilt Chamberlain).
• One of only two players in NBA history to score 80-plus points in a single game
• One of only two players in NBA history to score 35-plus points per game for 13 consecutive games (the other is Wilt Chamberlain).
• One of only three players in NBA history to score 40-plus points per game for 9 consecutive games (the others are Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan).
• One of only three players in NBA history to score 45-plus points per game for 4 consecutive games (the others are Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain), and the first to accomplish it since Chamberlain, who did it in November of 1964.
• One of only three players in NBA history to average 40-plus points per game for an entire month at least once (the others are Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor)
• One of only two players in NBA history to average 40-plus points per game for an entire month on three separate occasions (40.6 ppg in February 2003, 43.4 ppg in January 2006 , 40.1 in April 2006) (the other is Wilt Chamberlain).
• Only player in NBA history with at least 2,800 points and 180 three-point field goals made in one season.

Other awards and achievements

• 1996 Naismith High School Player of the Year
• 1996 Gatorade Circle of Champions High School Player of the Year
• 1996 McDonald's High School All-American
• 1996 USA Today All-USA First Team
• 1995 Adidas ABCD Camp Senior MVP
• Named to the USA Today All-Time All-USA First Team in 2003.
• USA Today and Parade Magazine's 1996 National High School Player of the Year with a seasonal average of 30.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.9 blocks per game.
• Led Lower Merion High School to a 31-3 record, including 27 straight wins, and the PIAA Class AAAA state title as a senior (1996).
• The all-time leading scorer in Southeastern Pennsylvania school history with 2,883 points.

Late-game heroics

Throughout much of his career, Kobe Bryant has been heralded as one of the premier "clutch" scorers in the NBA. In a sense, this term refers to a player's ability to take over and lead his team to victory under pressure during tight games, notably at the end of regulation or in overtime periods. Bryant's exceptional ability to will his team to victory in the last seconds of a close game has often been compared to the legendary Michael Jordan's capacity to do the same thing. According to an NBA poll directed at general managers throughout the league before the 2005–06 season, Bryant was overwhelmingly voted as the player they would choose to take the last shot during the crucial moments of basketball games.

Interestingly though, there are some who question whether Bryant's reputation in this regard is fully justified. One prominent such group would be APBRmetricians, who conducted statistical analyses of players' peformances in the final five minutes of close games during the 2004 NBA Playoffs and most of the 2004-05 regular season. Their results results indicated that Bryant's reputation for performing "in the clutch" exceeds his actual deeds in that regard.[63], [64]

In February of 2006, USA Today conducted an analysis which took into account NBA players' scoring, rebounding, assist and turnover statistics within the final two minutes and in overtime periods of the games of the 2005-2006 NBA season prior to the All-Star break. Kobe Bryant's name was noticeably absent from the league's individual leaders in every category, as were the Lakers in every team category. Moreover, from the 2003-2004 season through March 16, 2006, Bryant has hit a lower percentage of his "game-winning" shot attempts (defined as a shot taken when one's team is tied or trailing by one or two points, and with 24 seconds or less left in the game) than the overall league average, and a substantially lower percentage of such shots than many other players, such as Allen Iverson, Michael Redd, and Jalen Rose, who are not nearly as widely lauded for late-game heroics as is Bryant.[65] Nevertheless, Bryant has both made and missed several game-winning shots so far in his career.

Those who champion Bryant as a clutch performer, and those who question his status in that regard, each found dramatic support for their arguments during the Lakers' first-round loss to the Phoenix Suns during the 2006 NBA playoffs. In Game 4 of the series, Bryant hit two "game-winning" shots: one with .7 seconds to send the game into overtime and one at the buzzer in overtime to win the game. With the latter shot capping an improbable Laker comeback to give the team a seemingly commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, Bryant described it as "the most fun shot I've ever hit."

However, in Game 6, with the score tied and the clock running out, Bryant again found the ball in his hands. With a chance to win not only the game, but also end the series, this time his shot, fired over the outstretched arm of defender Shawn Marion, came up well short of hitting the rim. Referring to Marion's ability to contest Bryant's shot, Bryant later said that he "forgot who was guarding me", and thus failed to adjust his approach accordingly on that final play. Bryant's inability to clinch the series on that play would prove costly, as the Lakers lost the game in overtime and then lost the series in Game 7, becoming only the eighth team in NBA history to lose a playoff series after having taken a 3-1 lead.

Trivia

• Bryant's 81-point game was the 666th game of his professional career. It came from 66 shots, 46 from the field and 20 from the free-throw line. His 55 second-half points in that same game matched the single-game high of the NBA's all-time leading scorer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
• Bryant wore jersey #33 while at Lower Merion High School. With that number retired by the Lakers (in honor of Abdul-Jabbar), Bryant chose #8 upon entering the NBA because his ABCD Adidas Camp number in high school was 143: 1+4+3 = 8. He has said that the switch to #8 was easy because he wore that number when he was a child playing in the Italian leagues. As a child, he chose #8 because his favorite Italian player, Mike D'Antoni, wore the number. (Ironically, D'Antoni currently coaches the Phoenix Suns, who eliminated the Lakers from the 2006 NBA playoffs.)
• Bryant currently endorses Nike.
• Bryant speaks fluent Italian and is currently studying Spanish.
• Bryant has two sisters, Shaya and Sharia.
• Bryant lists Star Wars as his all-time favorite movie.
• Bryant has a number of nicknames including Black Mamba, Three Rings or Lord of the Rings (when at Rucker Park), Kobe-Wan Kenobi, and most recently, Mr. 81. He lists Black Mamba as his favorite.
• Bryant took R&B singer Brandy to his senior prom in 1996.
• Bryant's first name was given after the famous Kobe beef of Japan.
• Bryant has guest starred on television shows Moesha and In the House and also Sister Sister. He also made a cameo appearance on Hang Time.
• Bryant appeared in the video for the Destiny's Child song, "Bug A Boo". He also recorded a verse for a remix of their hit song "Say My Name".
• Bryant recorded, but did not release, a rap album. He guest rapped on a remix of Brian McKnight's song, "Hold Me" and released a single called "K.O.B.E" featuring Tyra Banks.
• Bryant is one of the candidates to appear on the cover of NBA Live 2007 video game.
• Bryant's 2nd daughter and Shaquille O'Neal's 2nd daughter were born on the same day: May 1, 2006.
• He appeared on the front cover of Nintendo 64 games NBA Courtside and NBA Courtside 2 early in his career. Later, he was on the cover of NBA Courtside 2002, for Nintendo GameCube.
• On the Best Damn Sports Show Period, Bryant said that one of his pet peeves is dog poop. He recalled wearing brand new Jordan shoes as a kid, and accidentally ruining his shoes while retrieving a basketball that had gone onto a field.

External links

• Profile at NBA.com
• Template:Espn nba
• Profile at Basketball-Reference.com
• Profile at the IMDb.com
• KobeBryant8.net - Fansite dedicated to Kobe Bryant

See also

• List of active NBA players who have spent their entire career with one team
• List of National Basketball Association players with 60 or more points in a game