By the time he returns to the team hotel throughout the street, lots of the gamers are hanging out at the resort foyer bar. Kobe spent his 20-year career with the Lakers where he received five NBA championships. His other accomplishments include surpassing Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA all-time scoring list in December 2014 and profitable an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball in 2018. On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter have been among a bunch touring to a girls basketball game in a helicopter when it crashed, killing all 9 folks aboard. Bryant rejoined the national staff for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Several months later Bryant was accused of raping a young lady in Colorado. He maintained his innocence, and all charges had been ultimately dropped when the girl refused to testify after a monthslong marketing campaign of harassment by fans of Bryant and a few members of the media. (Bryant later apologized, admitting that he realized his accuser didn't consider their sexual encounter was consensual, and a civil suit was settled in 2005.) The incident greatly tarnished his image.

Bryant was already teaching Gianna at the youth level—they have been on their way to a game that tragic day on January 26, 2020. If he ever wished to show the sport to others, at any degree, he could have made a wonderful coach. I vividly remember Kobe sitting round consuming french fries and speaking basketball as slightly kid. When we would be on the shootaround before the game, Kobe would be attempting to heat up with us. I’m not speaking like, you understand, shagging rebounds, like a ball boy or whatever.

After ending 50–32 in the regular season, the Lakers floundered in the playoffs and misplaced within the Western Conference semi-finals in six games to the eventual NBA champions San Antonio Spurs. The son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, he was born in Philadelphia and partly raised in Italy. As a rookie, Bryant earned a status as a high-flyer by profitable the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, and was named an All-Star by his second season. In the 1996 Western Conference Semifinals with the game on the line, Bryant shot four airballs to the chagrin of his teammates and Laker fans. He later recounted in his "Muse" documentary that when he obtained again to Los Angeles, he went to a close-by highschool, and spent the whole day capturing within the health club. It was a defining moment that modified the trajectory of his profession with him coming out stronger the following season.

In the fourth quarter, as Bryant made shot after shot towards the Utah Jazz, on his method to 60 points, the arena was filled with a gradual, deafening cheer. Bryant picked up a microphone afterward to deal with the group. Flying back to L.A., he referred to as a information convention at Staples Center and, with tears in his eyes and voice quavering, acknowledged having intercourse with the girl but insisted it was consensual. Bryant took refuge in his relationship with Vanessa, as bodyguards accompanied them to Disneyland and got them seats at the local Cineplex after the lights went down. The couple bought a home within the Newport Beach group of Newport Coast, the place they installed his “Star Wars” memorabilia and her Disney collectibles.

With profession averages of 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, four.7 assists, and 1.4 steals per recreation, Bryant was thought of one of the most complete players in NBA historical past. He is the fourth-leading scorer in league history with 33,643 factors. He was the primary participant in NBA history to have no less than 30,000 profession points and 6,000 career assists, and was considered one of only 4 gamers with 25,000 factors, 6,000 rebounds, and 6,000 assists. Bryant led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. His 81-point performance towards Toronto in 2006 was the second-highest in NBA history, behind solely Chamberlain's 100. He scored a minimum of 50 points 24 occasions in his profession, which is third in league history behind Jordan and Chamberlain ; six occasions Bryant scored no much less than 60.

January 26, 2023, is the third anniversary of the death of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and 7 others who perished in a helicopter crash in California. NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant was introduced Thursday as the duvet athlete for NBA 2K24. It's the fourth time Bryant shall be on the cover of NBA 2K.

The Lakers have been eliminated from the playoffs in the Western Conference Semifinals as they had been swept by the San Antonio Spurs. Dennis Rodman says Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal didn't like him throughout his time with the Lakers and wanted him out of the group. However, Durant eventually developed his recreation and have become one of the most deadly scorers in NBA historical past and Bryant couldn’t determine a formulation to slow him down. Bryant was picked 13th total in the identical draft, whereas Iverson was chosen first general by Kobe's hometown Sixers.