Check out the Kobe Gallery
Name: Kobe Bryant
The son of former NBA player, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, Kobe was brought up in Italy from a young age when his father played professionally in the European Leagues and brought the family along with him. Therefore, Kobe, along with his sisters, Sharia and Shaya, are fluent in Italian and can relate well to the Italian culture. Apparently, basketball was the family sport and Kobe picked it up at a young age, often practicing in the backyard with his sisters. Spending countless hours studying moves from videotapes, Kobe tried to emulate the moves of legends such as "Pistol Pete" Maravich and Magic Johnson. Kobe first dunked the ball at aged 15 in his backyard.
When Kobe returned to the states, he enroled in Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia, where he played outstanding high school basketball and led his team to the state championship. He was also a McDonald's All-American selection. Kobe left Lower Merion as the schools all-time leader in points surpassing the previous mark set by the great Wilt Chaimberlain. However, unlike many others before him, Kobe decided to skip college and jump straight to the NBA, becoming the youngest player ever to play in the NBA at that time. Despite scarce playing time in his rookie season, Kobe made waves by scoring 31 points in the All-Star rookie challenge and bagging the MVP trophy as well as capturing the Slam Dunk Contest crown.
Since then, Kobe has come a long way. After airballing 2 critical 3-pointers during the playoffs against the Utah Jazz, Kobe has worked tirelessly on his game and has become one of the leagues premiere players. In fact, those airballs against Utah may have been the last significant airballs you'll ever see Kobe throw up again. After 4 stellar seasons with the Lakers, Kobe finally teamed up with superstar center Shaquille O'Neal to capture the NBA championship in the year 2000.
Despite the team's success however, the relationship between Shaq and Kobe soured midway throughout the 2001 season. This was due to the fact that Kobe had expressed that he had wanted to become the team's first option in scoring. After much squabbling which resulted in the mounting losses, Kobe and Shaq finally settled their differences 15 games before the season ended and came together.
Boy, was the league in trouble after that. The lakers when on a rampage and remained unbeaten not only though to the end of the season, but all the way through to the 1st game of the NBA finals. They finished the postseason with a record of 15-1, shattering the previous record and capturing their second championship title.
This year, Shaq and Kobe are looking to add a third consecutive championship to their increasing list of achievements and accolades. Most recently, Kobe Bryant scored 31 points in the All-Star game of 2002 and garnered the Most Valuable Player trophy, leading the West squad to a 135-120 routing of Michael Jordan's East squad and making countless highlights in the process.
Position: Guard
Team: LA Lakers
Birthdate: 23/8/1978
Height: 6'7" 201cm
Weight: 210lbs 95.3kg
High School: Lower Merion PA
