The Great Kobe Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant is names after the Japanese beef. He is an All-Star player who along with fellow Laker Shaquille O'Neal led the team to three consecutive NBA Championships between 2000-2002.

After O'Neal's retirement in 2003, Bryant was the brightest star on the Lakers, becoming the NBA's highest scorer in the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons. An 11 time NBA All-Star, Bryant is also a 3 time NBA Champion, the 2008 NBA MVP and a gold medalist as a member of the US Olympic Men's Basketball Team in the 2008 Summer games.

Kobe is no stranger to basketball, his father played for the Philadelphia 76'ers and coached the Los Angeles Sparks until Kobe was six years old. The family moved to Italy, where Kobe actually became interested in soccer, which he would have pursued had they stayed in Italy.

Upon returning to the US in 1991, he began playing basketball on his high school team. Despite being a high achiever academically, Bryant opted to enter the NBA draft at the age of 17. His parents had to co-sign his contract with the Lakers since he was still too young to do so on his own! Kobe Bryant was in fact the youngest player to start in an NBA game.

In his first year, he earned a spot on the NBA All Rookie second team and gained recognition by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest. By 1998-99, he was a premiere guard in the league and being compared to basketball greats like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. In 1999, with new coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson, he started his rise to the elite class as one of the best shooting guards in the league.

During the 2002-2003 season, Bryant averaged 30 points per game, posting 40 or more in nine games in a row! He was also voted to the All Defensive 1st Team and the All NBA team in this season. However, his reputation was badly tarnished before the following season due to his arrest for sexual assault.

In the 2003-04 season, his coach would write that Bryant had become uncoachable and he was being scrutinized and criticized. While Kobe was the NBA's second leading scorer, the Lakers missed the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. Kobe's status dropped with the NBA that year.

He floundered through the 04 and 05 seasons before breaking a franchise record with 81 points in a game and a point total that was the second highest in NBA history. During the 2006-07 season, Kobe Bryant's jersey became the top selling NBA jersey in the United States and China. In December, 2007, Kobe became the youngest player, at 29 years old, to reach 20,000 points in a career.

The 2008 Olympics made Bryant an international star. It may have been his first game as an Olympic athlete, but he was already far from a rookie when he won his first gold medal. He has set and broken many records in his career and despite his ups and downs, he may yet achieve more in the game.

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