Los Angeles,Lakers,Kobe Bryant,Basketball,N.B.A,NBA

Kobe Bean Bryant was born August 23, 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kobe was the youngest of three children. He's also the only son of former Philadelphia 76er's player and former Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant. The name Kobe comes from the famous beef brand of Kobe. That's how his parents got the name for him.lol When Kobe was 6 his father left the NBA. The family then moved to Italy so his father could begin playing professional basketball overseas. Kobe started to love this life style so he learned how to speak Italian and Spanish fluently. Every summer he came back to the United States to play basketball in a summer league. He started playing basketball when he was 3 years old. He also started playing soccer at a young age. Soccer is Kobe's other favorite sport his favorite soccer team is AC Milan. Bryant said that if he stayed in Italy, he would have tried to become a professional soccer player. Joe "Jellybean" Bryant retired from retired from playing basketball in 1991. The Bryant family moved back to the United States. Kobe attended Lower Merion High School Philadelphia where he earned national recognition. At Adidas ABCD camp, Kobe earned the senior MVP award. He was playing with future teammate Lamar Odom. In Bryant's senior year in high school he led the Aces to their 1st stat championship in 53 years. He averaged 31 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 4 blocks per game. They ended that season with a 31-3 record. He ended his high school career as Southeastern Pennsylvania's all-time leading scorer with almost 3,000 points 2,883 to me exact which surpassed both Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons. Kobe received several awards for his performance his senior year. These were Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Men's National Basketball Player of the Year, McDonald's All-American, and a USA Today All-USA 1st Team Player. Bryant's varsity coach, Greg Downer, said that Bryant was "a complete player who dominates". In 1996, Kobe took R&B singer Brandy Norwood to his senior prom. The 2 stated that they were/are just friends. Just thought I'd add that.
Kobe was the 1st guard to be taken right out of high school and put directly into the NBA. Bryant was 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996.According to Bryant's agent at the time, playing for the Hornets was impossible. Nevertheless, the Hornets chose Bryant so they could trade his draft rights to the Los Angeles Lakers for the starting center of L.A. Vlade Divac on July 1, 1996. Bryant was still 17 at the time of the draft, his parent had to cosign his contract with L.A. until he was able to sign his own when he turned 18. In 1996 Kobe was the youngest player to ever play in a game in the NBA. This record was later broken by teammate Andrew Bynum. Bryant won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest. He was then labeled high-flyer and was the new fan favorite. That year Kobe earned himself a spot NBA All Rookie second team with another teammate Travis Knight. His first season ended tragically when he shot 3 air balls in 4th quarter in the final game of the season. He also missed 2, 3 pointers to tie the game in the final minute of overtime. In Bryant's second season, he received more playing time and began to show more talents. His point average also more than doubled that year (1997). Bryant was runner-up for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award; he also was the youngest NBA All-Star starter in NBA history. The 1998-99 seasons were Bryant was called a premier guard in the league. Kobe started in all 50 games in that season. During this season Bryant signed a 6-year contract extension for $70,000000. Even at the early stages of his career sports writers were already comparing him to Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson even though the playoff results for that season were no better. The Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semi-finals. In 1999 Kobe's fortunes changed when Phil Jackson became head coach of the Lakers. After a few years of steady improvement, Bryant became one of the premier shooting guards in the league. The Lakers became premier championship contenders Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. Shaq and Kobe were the elite class of the NBA.
The Lakers won 3 consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The Lakers came up short in the 2003 season even though Kobe embarked on a historic run that season. He averaged 40 or more points in 9 consecutive games while averaging 40.6 in the entire month of February. Bryant came in 3rd place for the MVP award in 2003. The Lakers lost in the Western Conference semi-finals to the eventual NBA champions San Antonio Spurs in 6 games. The 2003-04 season, the Lakers were able to acquire 2 NBA All-Stars Karl Malone and Gary Payton to make another push at the championship. Before the season Kobe was arrested for sexual assault. This made Bryant miss some of the games due to court or he would have to appear in court earlier in that day and travel to make the game later that day. Bryant overcame that and dominated in the regular season. The Lakers were able to make it to the NBA finals that year. In the finals they were swept by the Detroit Pistons in 5 games. Phil Jackson's contract as head coach was not renewed, and Rudy Tomjanovich took over. Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant. Bryant re-signed with the Lakers for a 7 year contract. Kobe was criticized during the 2004-05 season. His reputation was almost ruined from all that had happened in the previous year. Coach Phil Jackson said allot of thing to spite Kobe. One of the statements Phil made was that Kobe was "uncoachable". Despite the fact that Bryant was the league's 2nd leading scorer that year, the Lakers Floundered and missed the playoffs for the first time in over 10 years. That year Bryant's overall stats dropped.
The 2005-06 season Bryant was at a crossroad in his career. Despite the differences between him and Phil Jackson, The coach returned to the Lakers. Bryant endorsed the move, and the two men worked together well the 2nd time around and Bryant had the best statistical season of his career. On December 20, 2005, Bryant scored 62 points in 3 quarters against the Dallas Mavericks. By the time the 4th quarter started Kobe had already outscored the whole Dallas team 62-61, the only time a player has done this since the 24 second shot clock was invented. Kobe also broke the franchise record 0f 71 points in 1 game by scoring 81 points on January 22, 2006 against the Toronto Raptors in a 122-104 victory. This was the second highest point total for 1 player in NBA history, surpassed only by Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point in 1962. That same month, Kobe also became the 1st player since 1964 to score 45 points or more in 4 consecutive games. Chamberlain and Baylor are the only other 2 players in the league to do this. In the month of January, Bryant averaged 43.4 points per game, the 8th highest 1 month scoring average in the NBA. The only other player that did this in the NBA is Wilt Chamberlain. At the end of the 2006 season, Bryant set another franchise record of most 40-point games in a single season (27) and most points scored in one season (2,832). He won the leagues scoring title for the 1st time. He placed 4th for the MVP award in 2006. The Lakers lost the title again that year. They took it all the way to game 7 in that series and in the 1st 4 games they were leading 3-1.
In the 2007-08 season Kobe was the youngest player in the NBA to reach 20,000 points in 122 days on December 23, 2007 against the New York Knicks, in Madison Square Gardens. Despite all his injures he had that season he played all 82 games in the regular season instead of opting for surgery. Kobe leads his team to a West best with a 57-25 record. The Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets in the 1st round on May 6, 2008. Bryant was awarded MVP shortly after that. This is the 1st MVP award he has received in his NBA career. In addition to winning his MVP award, Bryant was the only unanimous selection to the All-NBA team on May 8, 2008 for the 6th time in his career. It was also the 3rd season in a row that this happened. This was the 1st season Kobe made it to the finals without Shaq. Then Lakers lost in 6 games to the Boston Celtics. In the 2008-09 seasons, the Lakers opened the season by winning the 1st 7 games. The Lakers tied the franchise record for most wins to start the season, going 17-2. They remained at the top of the Western Conference for the entire season. Bryant continued to dominate he positioned himself as one of the front runner for the 2008-09 MVP award. He was named the Western Conference player of the month for December and January. Bryant was also named Western Conference Player of the week 3 times. Bryant got runner up behind LeBron James for the MVP award that season. He was also selected All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team for the 7th time in his career. The Lakers went on to beat the Orlando Magic in the finals to become the 2009 NBA Champions. Kobe Bryant was awarded his first NBA Finals MVP trophy upon winning his 4th NBA Championship, becoming the 1st player since Jerry West in the 1969 NBA Finals to average at least 32.4 points 7.4 assists for a finals series and the 1st since Michael Jordan to average 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists for a title-winning team in the finals. It is now the 2009-10 seasons I will update this after the whole season is over. They are the defending champs and are fighting to keep the title. Obviously Kobe doesn't need Shaq. Shaq was rapping in a night club about Kobe something about last place Kobe how's my a** taste. Which is not true just look at the stats. I don't even know the last time Shaq was in a championship game. Kobe responded very well to this by saying, I don't have time to deal with those types of distractions. That was because the Lakers won the NBA Championship that year.

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