Who is Kobe Bryant?
Kobe Bryant was born on August 23rd, – 1978 and died January 26, 2020. He’s an American professional basketball player. He spent his entire career as a marksman guard with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Bryant is considered as being one of the greatest basketball players of all time and has won five NBA championships. He has been an 18-time All-Star, 15-time All-NBA Team member and 12-time All-Defensive Team member, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. Bryant also led the NBA twice, finishing fourth in the league’s regular-season and post-season rankings.
The son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, Kobe Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country.
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He declared for the NBA draft upon graduation and was selected in the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets, who traded him to the Lakers.
As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, and he was named an All-Star by his second season. Despite a feud between them, Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.
Kobe Bryant Early life and education
Bryant was born in 1978 in Philadelphia; he was the youngest of three children and the only son of former NBA player Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant.[8] He is also the maternal nephew of basketball player John “Chubby” Cox.
His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu. His middle name, Bean, is derived from his father’s nickname “Jellybean”. Bryant was raised Roman Catholic.
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When Bryant was six, his father retired from the NBA and moved his family to Rieti in Italy to continue playing professional basketball at a lower level. Kobe became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to speak fluent Italian. During summers, he would come back to the United States to play in a basketball summer league.
Bryant started playing basketball when he was 3 years old, and the Lakers were his favorite team when he was growing up. Bryant’s grandfather would mail him videos of NBA games, which Bryant would study.
At an early age, he also learned to play soccer and his favorite team was A.C. Milan. When Kobe’s father Joe retired as a player in 1991, the family moved back to the United States.
Education
Kobe bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, which was located in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion. He played on the varsity basketball team as a freshman.
He became the first freshman in decades to start for Lower Merion’s varsity team, but the team finished with a 4–20 record.The following three years, the Aces compiled a 77–13 record, with Bryant playing all five positions.
During his junior year, he averaged 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists and was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year, attracting attention from college recruiters in the process.
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Duke, Michigan, North Carolina and Villanova were at the top of his list; however, when Kevin Garnett went in the first round of the 1995 NBA draft, he began considering going directly to the pros
Kobe Bryant Wife and Marriage
Anessa Laine Bryant is a model, a media vixen, and businesswoman. But she came to fame when she tied the knot with the basketball player, Kobe Bryant. Now she is also an Instagram star with above 1.3 million followers.
They met mostly in the year 1999. Venessa was engaged to Kobe when she was just eighteen years old and was studying in high school. After that, she was seen attending games and social events. The couple married on April 18, 2001.
Kobe Bryant Relationship Controversy
Soon in 2002, she became pregnant and in January 2003, she gave birth to their daughter named Natalia Diamante. After six months of having their baby Natalia, negative news about Kobe Bryant started making the headlines. A 19-year-old hotel worker, Katelyn Faber in Colorado accused him of sexual abuse. Kobe was also heard saying,
I didn’t force her to do anything against her will. I sit here in front of you guys furious at myself, disgusted at myself for making the mistake of adultery.
I love my wife with all my heart. She’s my backbone.”
After that woman drop the charges and proceed of the case, his relationship with his wife took off and started living normally. They had their second child, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant in 2006.
But again in the year 2011, Vanessa filed for the divorce citing “irreconcilable differences”. Then in January 2013, she announced via her social media handle, Instagram that the couple has called off the divorce which was again confirmed by 39 year old, Kobe via his Facebook.
Kobe Bryant Retirement
NBA player announced his retirement on Nov. 29, 2015, and he retired on April 13, 2016. His wife, Vanessa shared,
“I’m so excited to see what God has in store for us as a family now that one chapter is closing and new ones are opening.”
Oscar Award
In the 90th Oscar Award ceremony, he won the Oscars for the animated short category for short animated movie, Dear Basketball. It is a movie based on the poem which he wrote after the retirement in the year 2015. The director of the movie Glen Keane is also very happy as Kobe shared his award with him.
Kobe Bryant The Philanthropy
Bryant is the official ambassador for After-School All-Stars (ASAS), an American non-profit organization that provides comprehensive after-school programs to children in thirteen US cities. Kobe Bryant also started the Kobe Bryant China Fund which partnered with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, a charity backed by the Chinese government.
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The Kobe Bryant China Fund raises money within China earmarked for education and health programs. On November 4, 2010, Bryant appeared alongside Zach Braff at the Call of Duty: Black Ops launch event at the Santa Monica Airport, where they presented a $1 million dollars check to the Call of Duty Endowment, an Activision-founded nonprofit organization that helps veterans transition to civilian careers after their military service has ended.
Kobe Inc.
Bryant established Kobe Inc. to own and grow brands in the sports industry. The initial investment was in the BodyArmor sports drink company in 2014. The headquarters are in Newport Beach, California.
Kobe Bryant Net Worth 2020
On August 22, 2016, Bryant and his business partner Jeff Stibel launched Bryant-Stibel, a venture capital firm focused on different businesses including media, data, gaming, and technology, with $100 million in funding.
Coby Bryant Death – Calabasas helicopter crash
The day Bryant died, the fans gathered outside the Staples Center.
Accident
On January 26th, 2020, at 9:06 am. Pacific Standard Time, a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter with nine people on board took off from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California: Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, six friends of the family and the pilot.
According to the California-Secretary of State’s business database, the helicopter was registered with Fillmore-based Island Express Holding Corp.
The group travelled to Camarillo Airport in Ventura County to play a basketball game at the Mamba Sports Academy located in Thousand Oaks.
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Due to light-rain and fog, that morning, the Los Angeles Police Department helicopters and most other air cargo were grounded. The flight tracker showed that the helicopter was circling over the Los Angeles Zoo due to heavy air-traffic in the area.
At 9:-30 am, the pilot contacted the control tower of Burbank Airport and informed the tower of the situation. The pilot was told that he was “flying too low” to be followed by radar.
At this time the helicopter experienced extreme fog and turned south towards the mountains. At 9:40 am the helicopter, rose quickly from 370 to 610 m (1,200 to 2,000 feet) and flew at 161 knots (298 km / h).
At 9:45 am the helicopter crashed into a mountain in Calabasas, about 48 km northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and began to burn. Bryant, his daughter and the other seven inmates were killed.
The Initial reports indicated that the helicopter crashed in the hills above Calabasas in dense fog. Witnesses reported hearing a helicopter fight before it finally crashed.
Investigations
The cause of the crash is still-unknown, as the helicopter was not equipped with a black-box. The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and the FBI have begun investigations into the cause of the crash.
On January 28th, Bryant’s identity was officially confirmed with fingerprints. The following day, the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Department of Coroner stated that the main cause of death for Koby and the eight others in the helicopter was blunt force trauma.
Kobe Bryant Bio and Wiki
Birth Date | August 23, 1978 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
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Died | January 26, 2020 (aged 41) Calabasas, California |
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[a] |
Listed weight | 212 lb (96 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Lower Merion (Ardmore, Pennsylvania) |
NBA draft | 1996 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13th overall |
Selected by the Charlotte Hornets | |
Playing career | 1996–2016 |
Position | Shooting guard |
Number | 8, 24 |
Career history | |
1996–2016 | Los Angeles Lakers |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Career statistics | |
Points | 33,643 (25.0 ppg) |
Rebounds | 7,047 (5.2 rpg) |
Assists | 6,306 (4.7 apg) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
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Reference: Wikipedia