Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant born on August 23, 1978, nicknamed the "Black Mamba", is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He entered the NBA as the crow flies from high school, and has played for the Lakers his whole career, winning 5 NBA championships. Kobe Bryant is a 15-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. As of March 2013, he ranks third and fourth on the league's all-time postseason recording and all-time consistent season scoring lists, correspondingly.

Kobe Bryant relished a prosperous high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was acknowledged as the top high school basketball player in the country. He acknowledged his suitability for the NBA Draft upon graduation, and was nominated with the 13th inclusive pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, then trafficked to the Los Angeles Lakers. As a novice, Kobe Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favourite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest.

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three successive championships from 2000 to 2002. A animated dispute between the duo and a loss in the 2004 NBA Finals was monitored by O'Neal's trade from the Lakers after the 2003–04 season. Following O'Neal's exodus Kobe Bryant became the keystone of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. He led the NBA in scoring for the period of the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, setting numerous scoring records in the procedure. In 2006, Kobe Bryant scored a career-high 81 points in contradiction of the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in NBA history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. He was endowed the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2008. After losing in the 2008 NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to two sequential championships in 2009 and 2010, earning the NBA Finals MVP Award on both occasions.

At 34 years and 104 days of age, Kobe Bryant became the youngest player in league history to touch 30,000 career points. He is also the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. Since his second year in the league, Kobe Bryant has been nominated to start each All-Star Game. He has won the All-Star MVP Award four times (2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011), tying him for the most All Star MVP Awards in NBA history. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals as a member of the USA national team. Sporting News and TNT named Kobe Bryant the top NBA player of the 2000s.

In 2003, Kobe Bryant was suspect of sensual mugging after having masculinity with a hotel employee in Edwards, Colorado. In September 2004, prosecutors plummeted the case after his opponent refused to attest. A civil suit was later filed and developed out of court.


Source: Wikipedia