Kobe Bryant

Background

Kobe Bean Bryant was born in Philadelphia, U.S., and was the youngest of three children and the only son of Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant. He was the maternal nephew of the N.B.A. player, John Chubby Cox. His father was also a former N.B.A. player. When he was six, his father moved to Italy to play professional basketball, after taking retirement from the N.B.A. Bryant returned to the States in the summers to play in a basketball summer league. He eventually returned to Philadelphia when he was 13 and enrolled in eighth grade at Bala Cynwyd Middle School.

He attended high school in Pennsylvania, where he played varsity basketball. He was the first freshman in decades to start on the varsity team as a freshman. He played all five positions for the Aces over the next three years, compiling a 77–13 record. He averaged 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.8 blocks, and 2.3 steals as a junior. With 2,883 points, he surpassed Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons as Southeastern Pennsylvania’s all-time leading scorers. He was 17 then and decided to enter the N.B.A. directly in 1996, becoming only the sixth player in N.B.A. history to do so. He was named one of the ‘35 Greatest McDonald’s All-Americans’ in 2012 for his high school play as well as his later achievements.

He signed a three-year rookie contract with the Lakers worth $3.5 million before the 1996-97 season. As a rookie, he was the second-youngest player ever to play in an N.B.A. game when he was 18 years and 72 days old. In 1998–99, he became the youngest N.B.A. All-Star starter in N.B.A. history. He broke Chamberlain’s 49-year-old record for most 40-point games in 2005–06. His jersey became the top-selling N.B.A. jersey in the U.S. and China during the 2006–07 season. In 2007, at 29, he became the youngest player (122 days) to reach 20,000 points. He created history in 2013 by becoming the first N.B.A. player to record 47 points, eight rebounds, five assists, four blocks, and three steals in a single game. He left the N.B.A. after the 2015–16 season. In 2020, he died in a helicopter crash along with eight others, including his little daughter.