Kobe Bean Bryant is a famous American professional basketball player who has now retired from the game. He is also a businessman. Bryant spent his entire 2 decades as a basketball player, playing for the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Los Angeles Lakers. He was recruited to the NBA team directly from high school and was part of five NBA championships won by the Lakers team. Upon retirement, Bryant remains an 18-time All-Star, while also serving on the All-NBA Team 15 times and on the All-Defensive team 12 times.
Bryant has led the NBA on the scoreboard in two seasons. He holds the third and fourth ranks in scoring in NBA’s all-time regular season and all-time postseason lists respectively. Bryant also holds the NBA record for playing with the same franchise throughout his entire career. He also holds the record of being the youngest player in NBA history to reach 30,000 points in his career and for being the leading scorer of all-time in the history of Lakers franchise, surpassing Jerry West’s record. Bryant, who played on the U.S. National team, won two gold medals at the Summer Olympics in 2008 and 2012.
Kobe Bryant won an Oscar in 2018 for writing the best animated short film ‘Dear Basketball’. It was certainly a moment of triumph as he stood his own against the likes of people like Harrison Ford and Christopher Nolan
Early Life and Education
Bryant was born on 23 August 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the youngest child of Pamela Cox Bryant and Joe Bryant, a former NBA player. He has two elder sisters named Sharia and Shaya. Although born in USA, Bryant spent a huge part of his formative years in Rieti, Italy, where his father moved to advance his basketball career after leaving the NBA. Bryant speaks Italian fluently and was raised as a Roman Catholic.
Bryant attended Lower Merion High School, Lower Merion, Philadelphia where he was a star player and played on the varsity basketball team all through his freshman, Junior and Senior year in high school, leading his team ‘The Aces’ to their first state win after 53 years. Bryant chose to embark upon a professional NBA career at age 17, playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Career Rise
Bryant started his basketball career at age 17, playing for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA season of 1996-97, and became the youngest player in NBA history. He also became the youngest champion at the 1997 ‘Slam Dunk Contest’, and earned his place in the second ‘NBA All Rookie’ team. He was voted as the starter for NBA All-Star’ in 1997-98, and again became the youngest player to receive the honour. Bryant started excelling as a shooting guard and was recruited on the ‘All-NBA’, ‘All-Star’ and ‘All-Defensive’ teams. He led the Lakers to victory in the 1999-2002 seasons and became the ‘Pacific Division’ title winner in 2003-04.
Bryant made the record of scoring 81 points while playing against the ‘Toronto Raptors’ in 2006 and went on to become the first player in NBA history to score 45 points in 4 games. Bryant was once again selected for the ‘All-Star Game’ in 2006-07, winning the ‘All-Star Game MVP Trophy’, a second time. He became the youngest player to ever reach 20,000 points in 2007 and won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, representing the American basketball team. The Lakers became NBA champions in 2009 and 2010 and Bryant broke the record of being the highest scorer in Lakers’ history set by Jerry West. The U.S. team won Gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics and in the December of the year, Bryant reached 30,000 points in his career, becoming the first player in the history of NBA to achieve this milestone.
Kobe Bryant – Career Stats
Points 33,643 (25.0 ppg)
Rebounds 7,047 (5.2 rpg)
Assists 6,306 (4.7 apg)
Personal Life
There was a time when the 1. 98 meter tall Kobe completely immersed himself in a rap career, with the hiphop director Hype Williams directing the first single, K.O.B.5. The song didn’t get the kind of response he was hoping, but in the bargain, he met his future wife Vanessa This was in November 1999 when he was 21 and she was 17. The two dated for six months before the couple got engaged in May 2000, while Laine was still a high school senior and married in 2001.
The couple’s became parents to their first child; a daughter named Natalia Diamante Bryant. They have two more daughters; Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant and Bianka Bella Bryant born in 2006 and 2016 respectively.
When they got married, Vanessa was an 18 year high school student. The marriage was not a smooth ride, considering Bryant was accused of se**al assault by a 19 year old hotel worker. Bryant said that the act was consensual; the charges were dropped by the woman who said she didn’t want to go ahead with the charges.
2011 was the time when Vanessa filed for divorce in 2011 citing irreconcilable differences. In 2013, the couple stated that they were calling off their divorce. After Kobe’s retirement in 2015, Vanesa said that the couple were entering a new chapter in their life.
Kobe Bryant -House
Bryant owns and resides in a 8,741 square feet mansion on New Port Beach, California, which features an 850-square-foot movie theatre, an indoor gym, a custom indoor shark tank and a hair salon, a huge swimming pool with a waterfall and an outdoor spa, a tennis court, an outdoor kitchen, four bedrooms, six bathrooms, a private sitting room, a walk-in closet, a large office, a library, and a garage.
Bryant also owns two more homes in Orange County and Pacific Palisades. The Orange County home is 14,000 square feet huge while the Pacific Palisades home has huge living spaces with six bedrooms with 11 bathrooms. All the three homes are in Orange County. Kobe also owns a helicopter that he uses to go and play his games.
Cars
He is partial to Italian cars, and owns a Bentley, a Lamborghini and a Range Rover.
Kobe Bryant – Salary
Kobe Bryant is the second all-time highest paid player in NBA history, lagging just behind Kevin Garnett. His highest single season salary has been $30.5 million, in his 20-season game history. He has played 5 championships and 18 all-star games.
Kobe Bryant – Net worth
Bryant has an estimated net worth of approximately $350 Million. He also earns from endorsements thanks to his tieups with Nike, Panini, Lenova and Hublot.
Business Interests
Kobe started his company Kobe Inc in 2013; it is more of a business partner with other companies rather than standing on its own. One of its first investments was a 10 per cent stake in BodyArmor, a sports drink brand. He spent close to $6 million to purchase his own office bulding in Newport Beach.