After being sidelined for 5 video games from an ankle harm, Bryant made his return and made one other clutch three-pointer to provide the Lakers a one-point lead with 4 seconds remaining in opposition to the Memphis Grizzlies. Two weeks later, he made his sixth game-winning shot of the season in opposition to the Toronto Raptors. After the Lakers misplaced the 2004 NBA Finals, O'Neal was traded and Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers. He led the NBA in scoring in the course of the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. In 2006, he scored a career-high eighty one points; the second most points scored in a single sport in league historical past, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point recreation in 1962. Bryant led the team to 2 consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, and was named NBA Finals MVP on each occasions.

A lineup featuring the likes of Vlade Divac and Elden Campbell had yet to re-create the glory of the “Showtime” era. Lakers followers mourn the dying of Kobe Bryant at a makeshift memorial. Kinzo Beachem writes on the cement subsequent to a makeshift memorial for former Lakers player Kobe Bryant at L.A. Fans Alex Fultz, Eddy Rivas and Rene Alfaro gather with others near a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center on Sunday after studying of his dying.

He was listed at 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) and 212 pounds , He was often cited as one of the most dangerous scorers in the NBA. Bryant has drawn frequent comparisons to Michael Jordan, after whom he modeled his playing style. Like Jordan, he became most known for capturing a fall-away leap shot.

On January 26, 2020, Bryant was onboard a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter that crashed in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas. Nine individuals, together with Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna "Gigi," died. The helicopter was on its way from Orange County to Thousands Oaks, California where Bryant was scheduled to teach a match game at Mamba Sports Academy. An all-star lineup of Laker icons also paid tribute to Bryant, together with O’Neal, Phil Jackson, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom and Magic Johnson. "We are right here to celebrate greatness for 20 years," Johnson stated. "Excellence for 20 years. Kobe Bryant has by no means cheated the sport, never cheated us as the followers. He has performed through injury, he has performed damage. And we've five championship banners to show for it."

Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least quarter-hour. Powered and carried out by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data supplied by Refinitiv Lipper. Bryant was born to former NBA participant Joe “Jellybean” Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant, who named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan. When he was 6 years old, his father retired from the NBA and moved the family to Rieti, Italy, the place Kobe realized the method to communicate fluent Italian and how to play basketball.

When Bryant was thirteen, he and his household moved again to Philadelphia, where he enrolled in eighth grade at Bala Cynwyd Middle School. Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, died in a helicopter crash three years ago right now. The two had been flying with seven others—John and Keri Altobelli and their daughter Alyssa; Sarah Chester and her daughter, Payton; Christina Mauser; and pilot Ara Zobayan—to a youth basketball event close to Los Angeles. Bryant has turn into the trendy avatar of winning to a generation of basketball fans and athletes too young to recollect Michael Jordan. Championships, Olympic gold medals, Oscars, it didn’t matter. But maybe Bryant’s most mythological second got here in how he responded to a potentially career-altering injury.

The playoff results, nonetheless, had been no better, as the Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals. Fitting in is a challenge that I’ve by no means been able to master. I was a tall, skinny 13-year-old kid who spoke Italian higher than English. I knew little or no of American tradition and people knew me only as “the son of a former NBA player.” During this time, the sport of basketball turned more than only a refuge, it grew to become my outlet. Basketball turned the place the place I might channel my frustrations about being totally different — where I may scream from the highest of the mountain and allow myself to be heard. I learned every little thing in regards to the recreation, the history, the gamers, the fundamentals.

Bryant and his household have been regular attendees at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Newport Beach. Bryant and Gianna received the Eucharist collectively simply hours before he died in a helicopter crash. Bryant was born in Philadelphia, the youngest of three children and only son of former NBA playerJoe Bryantand Pamela Cox Bryant. He was additionally the maternal nephew of basketball participant John "Chubby" Cox. His mother and father named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they noticed on a restaurant menu.His center name, Bean, was derived from his father's nickname "Jellybean". Kobe grew to become accustomed to his new life-style and discovered to speak fluent Italian.He was especially keen on Reggio Emilia, which he thought-about a loving place and where his best childhood recollections have been made.