LEGENDARY LAKER
Star reigned supreme for two decades in the NBA
KOBE Bryant was one of the most decorated players in basketball history who transcended the sport and became a successful businessman and Oscar winner.
Bryant, 41, was killed in a helicopter crash alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in Calabasas, California, yesterday (AEST).
He spent his entire 20-year NBA career at the Los Angeles Lakers and became one of the most recognisable figures in the US.
The double Olympic champion – who was an 18time NBA All-Star – retired from basketball in 2016 but that was far from the end of the Kobe Bryant story.
He launched a multimedia original content company and in 2018 won an Academy award for best short animated film entitled Dear Basketball.
Bryant was born in Philadelphia in August 1978 to father Joe, a professional basketball player who spent eight years in the NBA, and mother Pam.
His parents named him after the famous beef of the Kobe region in Japan, which they supposedly saw on a restaurant menu. His middle name, Bean, was derived from his father’s nickname Jellybean.
Bryant spent eight years between the ages of six and 14 living in Italy, as his father played in the Italian Basketball League.
But the Lakers seemed an inevitable destination after a stellar high school career.
He was selected by the Charlotte Hornets as the 13th pick in the first round of the NBA draft in June 1996 and was traded to the Lakers within a fortnight.
Bryant, a 1.98m guard, became the youngest player in NBA history at the time – aged 18 years, two months and 11 days. The plaudits and trophies came thick and fast as the 1990s dominance of a Chicago Bulls side led by Michael Jordan gave way to Lakers supremacy.
The Lakers won three consecutive NBA titles between 2000 and 2002 as Bryant averaged more than 25 points per game and had a careerhigh 46.9 per cent in shooting.
In 2002, he was named AllStar MVP for the first time – an achievement he would repeat in 2007, 2009 and 2011.
Bryant’s reputation was tainted in 2003 when he was charged with the sexual assault of a 19-year-old hotel worker. He lost lucrative endorsements as a result, although the case was dropped by prosecutors after the accuser refused to testify at trial.
Bryant later apologised, saying he believed the encounter was consensual, and a separate civil lawsuit against him was settled privately.
On the court, Bryant continued to reign supreme. He scored 81 points in a 122-104 win over Toronto Raptors in 2006 and won a gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and London four years later. He also won more NBA titles with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010.
Bryant finished with 33,643 points – now fourth on the NBA all-time list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and LeBron James.
He is survived by wife Vanessa and daughters Natalia, Bianca and Capri.