Kobe Bryant Biography: Career, Net Worth and Death

Kobe Bean Bryant was born on August 23,1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was the son of Joe Bryant, a formal NBA player. He is one the basket ball players of all time. Having played for the Los Angeles Lakers all through his career, Bryant was an 18 time all star, 15 time member of All NBA team and 12 time member of All Defensive Team. In 2008, Bryant was the most valuable player of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Early Life of Bryant

Bryant was the youngest of three children and the only son of former NBA player Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant, a sister to former NBA player John Chubby Cox. Kobe was named after the Famous Beef of Kobe. Bryant family was Catholics and Bryant practiced Catholicism all through his life.

When Bryant was 6, his father retired from NBA and they moved to Rieti, Italy where he played basketball at a lower level. they later moved to Reggio Calabria and then to Pistoia and Reggio Emilia. Bryant learnt how to speak Italian fluently

Kobe Bryant Career

Bryant having been listed as 6 feets 6 inches tall played as a shooting guard. He was often times referred to as one of the most dangerous scorers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant established a reputation for taking shots in the closing moments of tight games

Kobe Bryant attended Lower Marion High School, Pennsylvania where he gained recognition as the top high-school basketball player in the country. After graduation Bryant signed up for 1996 NBA Draft and was selected by Charlotte Hornets. He later moved to Los Angeles Lakers as a Rookie. Bryant became the fan’s favorite and a high flyer after winning the Slam Dunk Contest in 1997. Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive championships between 2000 and 2002 despite the feud between the two.

In 2004, O’Neal left Lakers for Miami Heats after the Lakers lost the 2004 Championship. Bryant became the limelight of the Lakers leading them through 2005-2007 season of the NBA Championship.

During his third year in the league, Bryant was chosen to start the All-Star Game, and was selected to start that game for a record 18 consecutive appearances until his retirement. His four All-Star MVP Awards are tied with Bob Pettit for the most in NBA history. 

In 2006, scored a career high of 81 points against Toronto Raptures, placing him behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points as the second most points scored in a single game. Bryant was awarded the Most Valuable Player in NBA.

In 2008 and 2012, Bryant competed in the Summer Olympics where he won a gold medal with the US National Team.

In 2009, Bryant led the Lakers to NBA Championship and in 2010, he repeated the same trend. Having won two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, Bryant earned the Finals Most Valuable Player Awards in 2009 and 2010.

At the Age of 34, Bryant was the youngest player in NBA history to reach 30,000 points. He as-well became the Altima leading highest scorer in Lakers in February 2010.

Due to physical decline, Bryant suffered torn Achilles’ tendon injury. He later suffered a season ending injuries in the knee and shoulder respectively.

Bryant retired from NBA after the 2015/2016 season.

Kobe Bryant Net Worth

Kobe Bryant is valued to worth about $350million as at 2016

Bryant career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular Season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1996–97	L.A. Lakers	71	6	15.5	.417	.375	.819	1.9	1.3	.7	.3	7.6
1997–98	L.A. Lakers	79	1	26.0	.428	.341	.794	3.1	2.5	.9	.5	15.4
1998–99	L.A. Lakers	50	50	37.9	.465	.267	.839	5.3	3.8	1.4	1.0	19.9
1999–00†	L.A. Lakers	66	62	38.2	.468	.319	.821	6.3	4.9	1.6	.9	22.5
2000–01†	L.A. Lakers	68	68	40.9	.464	.305	.853	5.9	5.0	1.7	.6	28.5
2001–02†	L.A. Lakers	80	80	38.3	.469	.250	.829	5.5	5.5	1.5	.4	25.2
2002–03	L.A. Lakers	82	82	41.5	.451	.383	.843	6.9	5.9	2.2	.8	30.0
2003–04	L.A. Lakers	65	64	37.6	.438	.327	.852	5.5	5.1	1.7	.4	24.0
2004–05	L.A. Lakers	66	66	40.7	.433	.339	.816	5.9	6.0	1.3	.8	27.6
2005–06	L.A. Lakers	80	80	41.0	.450	.347	.850	5.3	4.5	1.8	.4	35.4*
2006–07	L.A. Lakers	77	77	40.8	.463	.344	.868	5.7	5.4	1.4	.5	31.6*
2007–08	L.A. Lakers	82	82	38.9	.459	.361	.840	6.3	5.4	1.8	.5	28.3
2008–09†	L.A. Lakers	82	82	36.1	.467	.351	.856	5.2	4.9	1.5	.5	26.8
2009–10†	L.A. Lakers	73	73	38.8	.456	.329	.811	5.4	5.0	1.5	.3	27.0
2010–11	L.A. Lakers	82	82	33.9	.451	.323	.828	5.1	4.7	1.2	.1	25.3
2011–12	L.A. Lakers	58	58	38.5	.430	.303	.845	5.4	4.6	1.2	.3	27.9
2012–13	L.A. Lakers	78	78	38.6	.463	.324	.839	5.6	6.0	1.4	.3	27.3
2013–14	L.A. Lakers	6	6	29.5	.425	.188	.857	4.3	6.3	1.2	.2	13.8
2014–15	L.A. Lakers	35	35	34.5	.373	.293	.813	5.7	5.6	1.3	.2	22.3
2015–16	L.A. Lakers	66	66	28.2	.358	.285	.826	3.7	2.8	.9	.2	17.6
Career		1,346	1,198	36.1	.447	.329	.837	5.2	4.7	1.4	.5	25.0
All-Star		15	15	27.6	.500	.324	.789	5.0	4.7	2.5	.4	19.3

Playoff

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1997	L.A. Lakers	9	0	14.8	.382	.261	.867	1.2	1.2	.3	.2	8.2
1998	L.A. Lakers	11	0	20.0	.408	.214	.689	1.9	1.5	.3	.7	8.7
1999	L.A. Lakers	8	8	39.4	.430	.348	.800	6.9	4.6	1.9	1.3	19.8
2000†	L.A. Lakers	22	22	39.0	.442	.344	.754	4.5	4.4	1.5	1.5	21.1
2001†	L.A. Lakers	16	16	43.4	.469	.324	.821	7.3	6.1	1.6	.8	29.4
2002†	L.A. Lakers	19	19	43.8	.434	.379	.759	5.8	4.6	1.4	.9	26.6
2003	L.A. Lakers	12	12	44.3	.432	.403	.827	5.1	5.2	1.2	.1	32.1
2004	L.A. Lakers	22	22	44.2	.413	.247	.813	4.7	5.5	1.9	.3	24.5
2006	L.A. Lakers	7	7	44.9	.497	.400	.771	6.3	5.1	1.1	.4	27.9
2007	L.A. Lakers	5	5	43.0	.462	.357	.919	5.2	4.4	1.0	.4	32.8
2008	L.A. Lakers	21	21	41.1	.479	.302	.809	5.7	5.6	1.7	.4	30.1
2009†	L.A. Lakers	23	23	40.8	.457	.349	.883	5.3	5.5	1.7	.9	30.2
2010†	L.A. Lakers	23	23	40.1	.458	.374	.842	6.0	5.5	1.3	.7	29.2
2011	L.A. Lakers	10	10	35.4	.446	.293	.820	3.4	3.3	1.6	.3	22.8
2012	L.A. Lakers	12	12	39.7	.439	.283	.832	4.8	4.3	1.3	.2	30.0

Bryant Rape Allegation

In 2003, Kobe Bryant was accused of sexually assaulting a 19 years old hotel employee. However the charges were dropped after the plaintiff refused to testify in court. Bryant issued a public apology after the suit was settled out of court.

The Bryant rape allegations was reported to have tarnished the image of Bryant

Kobe Bryant’s Death

On 26 January, 2020 around 9:45am Pacific Standard Time, a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain in Calabasas, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and caught on fire.

Kobe Bryant and all the passengers in board died in the crash including Gianna Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s 13 years old daughter. Others on board the helicopter were Ara Zobayan (The Pilot), Gianna’s basketball teammate Alyssa Altobelli, her mother, Keri, and her father, John, a baseball coach. Also killed in the crash were Christina Mauser, a school basketball assistant coach; Payton Chester, another teammate of Gianna’s, and Payton’s mother Sarah.

Jennifer Homendy, a spokesperson for the NTSB, during a press conference on Monday said that the final transmission from the pilot of the helicopter said that he was climbing to avoid cloud layer.

Homendy also said that there was no black box in the helicopter and that one was not required for the flight. She added that the helicopter was flying at about 160 knots (184 m.p.h.) when it crashed.