Kobe Bryant – A Late Professional Basketball Player Who Represented Los Angeles Lakers during His Lifetime

Who is Kobe Bryant?

Kobe Bryant was an excellent basketball player. This late professional player was a Los Angeles Lakers team member. Bryant was a highly recognized player who died on the 26th of January on a plane crash along with his 13 year-old-daughter Gianna.

Personal Information

Kobe Bryant was born on the 23rd of August, 1978 in the largest city of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. He was born to Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant. His father was a former professional basketball player. Furthermore, Bryant was the youngest brother and had two elder sisters named Shaya and Sharia. Bryant dated Vanessa Laine since the age of 21 years old in 1999 and the couple soon engaged in 2000. The couple married on the 18th of April, 2001 without the permission of his parents. Their first child was born in January 2003. Gianna was born next in 2006. The wonderful couple gave birth to their third daughter in 2016. Their fourth daughter was born in late 2019.

Kobe was a Roman Catholic since birth. His star sign was Virgo. He stood up to 6 feet and 6 inches tall and was around 96 kilograms in weight (212 lbs).

Education of Kobe Bryant

Bryant attended the Lower Merion High School which is a public high school in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. He used to be a good student in high school. However, he did not choose to go to university and chose a professional basketball career instead.

Social Media

Bryant Kobe has both Instagram and Twitter accounts. His Instagram id is @kobebryant. He had 15.5 million followers until his death in 2020. Furthermore, his Twitter id is @kobebryant. He had around 15.2 million followers on Twitter.

Basketball Career

Bryant played for his high school in various tournaments. He quickly gained fame as an excellent player. He also received various awards like the player of the year awards and All-American awards. Bryant then entered the NBA draft in 1996.

The Charlotte Hornets selected Bryant as the 13th overall pick. However, he did not play for the team as he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He signed a contract with the team that was worth $3.5 million under the supervision of his parents since he was a minor. He made his NBA debut in the same year on the Summer Pro League. In the 1996-97 season, he played a total of 71 games and started only 6 of the games. Also, he played an average of 15.5 minutes per game with 1.9 rebounds per game. In the 1997 season, he played a total of 79 games in the regular season, where he started only one game. He played an average of 26 minutes per game with a rebound of 3.1.

Furthermore, Kobe played 50 games for the L.A Lakers in the 1998-99 season, where he started every game. His average minutes per game was 37.9 and he had an amazing 5.3 rebounds per game record. Kobe won his first NBA championship in the 1999-2000 season. He played a total of 66 games that season and started 62 of the games. His average minutes per game was 38.2 and he made a total of 6.3 rebounds per game. Bryant won his second NBA championship with the L.A. Lakers the next season, where he started a total of 68 games and started each one of it. He won another NBA championship consecutively in the 2001-02 season, where Kobe played a total of 80 games and started every game.

More About His Career

In the 2002-03 season, Bryant played a total of 80 games and started all 80 games. His average minutes per game was 41.5 with 6.9 rebounds. Furthermore, in the 2003-04 season, he played a total of 65 games and started 64 of the games. His average minutes per game was 37.6 with 5.5 rebounds. The next season, he played a total of 66 games and started all the games. His average minutes per game was 40.7 with 5.9 rebounds per game.  Furthermore, in the 2005-06 season, he played 80 games and started every game with 41 minutes per game and 5.3 rebounds per game. In the 2006-07 season, Kobe played 77 games and started every game with 40.8 minutes per game and 5.7 rebounds per game.

Bryant played a total of 82 matches in the 2007-08 season, which is the most matches he has played in any season. He started all of the matches with 38.9 minutes and 6.3 rebounds per game. He won another NBA championship in the 2008-09 season with the L.A. Lakers. He played 82 games in this season as well and started all of the games. His average minutes per game was 36.1 with 5.2 rebounds per game. He won another NBA championship in the next season. In this season, he played 73 games and started all of the games.

Furthermore, Bryant played a total of 82 games in the 2010-11 season with 33.9 minutes per game and 5.1 rebounds per game. He then played 58 matches and started all of it in the 2011-12 season. In the 2012-13 season, he played and started a total of 78 games with 38.6 minutes per game and 5.6 rebounds per game.

Some More Information

Kobe then played only 6 games in the 2013-14 season, where he had 6.3 rebounds per game, the highest rebounds and 29.5 minutes per game average. Bryant played 35 matches and started all matches in the 2014-15 season with 34.5 minutes per game and 5.6 rebounds per game. His last season with the L.A Lakers was the 2015-16 season, where he played a total of 66 matches with 28.2 minutes per game and 2.8 rebounds per game. In his entire NBA career, he played a total of 1346 matches and started 1198 matches in total in the regular season. He was considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

National Team Career

Bryant played for his country in various international matches as well. He was able to become a member of the USA Men’s Senior national team in the year 2007 for the 2008 Olympics. Furthermore, he received a gold medal with the team on the 2008 Olympics on the 24th of August. Bryant retired after the 2012 season.

Death of Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant became the victim of a helicopter crash with his second daughter, Gianna, on the 26th of January, 2020. The crash hence happened at around 9:45 am on Monday in a mountain in California and immediately caught on fire. Furthermore, there were a total of 9 passengers in the helicopter and no survivors were found.