Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. He played a career total of 20 years in the National Basketball Association. He played his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant played as a shooting guard. During the 2005-2006 season, he scored 81 points in a game against the Toronto Raptors. He is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

Bryant retired on April 13, 2016 after scoring 60 points in a Lakers win against the Utah Jazz. He won an Oscar and Emmy for his movie Dear Basketball.

Bryant was born in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. He is the youngest child of three children of his family. His father was a basketball player and coach Joe Bryant.

Championships and awards
Kobe Bryant won five championship rings from 2000-2002 and again in 2009-2010. He was awarded the Most Valuable Player in the 2007-08 NBA season after the Los Angeles Lakers went to the 2008 NBA Playoffs as the first seed in the Western Conference was the winner of 18 times NBA all-star, 15-time member of the All-NBA team, 12-time member of the all-defensive team and 1-time slam dunk champion.

In 2008, Bryant won a gold medal with the United States national team at the Olympics in Beijing.

Bryant earned 14 selections for All-NBA teams and 12 for All-Defensive teams. He led the league in scoring twice. He received 4 all-star game MVPs in 14 appearances. He also won 2 finals MVP awards. He was also the youngest player to reach 30,000 points, passing Shaquille O Neal and Michael Jordan and becoming third on the all-time scoring list. Bryant is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history.

Sexual assault investigation
In the summer of 2003, the sheriff's office of Eagle, Colorado, arrested Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by a 19-year-old hotel employee. In September 2004, the assault case was dropped by prosecutors after the accuser refused to testify at the trial. 

Helicopter crash
On January 26, 2020, Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California that was intended to go to the Camarillo Airport, at the age of 41. His 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant, and seven others also died in the crash.

Tributes
On February 24, a public funeral service was held at the Staple Center with Bryant's widow Vanessa and basketball legends such as Michael Jordan making speeches.

In games after the crash, some teams took intention 24-second shot clock or 8-second backcourt violations to honor Bryant since both 24 and 8 were his jersey numbers.

During the 2020 WNBA draft, Bryant's daughter Gianna, along with Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester were all made honorary draft picks.

On February 8, 2024, a 19-foot bronze statue of Bryant was unveiled in the Star Plaza outside of Crypto.com Arena.

On May 15, 2021, Bryant was posthumously inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame by his widow Vanessa. 

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References

Other websites

Category:1978 births
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Category:Academy Award winning writers
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Category:African-American basketball players
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Category:American Emmy Award winners
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Category:Aviation deaths in the United States
Category:Los Angeles Lakers players
Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Category:Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers
Category:National Basketball Association high school draftees
Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States
Category:People from Orange County, California
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