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Kobe Bryant (born August 23, 1978Kobe Bryant is an All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. He is also the son of former Philadelphia 76ers player Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. Although some have criticized his "selfishness" on the court, Bryant's combination of talent, skill, dedication, and work ethic have been instrumental in establishing his status as one of the premier athletes in the NBA. With his growing list of individual accomplishments, the 27-year old Bryant is expected by many to eventually rank among the greatest players in NBA history.

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Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the only son of Joe and Pam Bryant. At the age of 6 he, his two sisters, and his parents moved to Italy, where his father began playing professional basketball. While living there, he gradually became accustomed to the life and subsequently learned to speak Italian fluently. In 1994, the Bryants moved back to the United States. After a spectacular high school career in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion, at Lower Merion High School, Bryant achieved national recognition as a prodigal basketball talent. While his SAT score of 1080 would have ensured his basketball scholarship to various top-tier colleges, Bryant eventually scrapped his original plans of continuing on to college by making the leap from high school directly to the NBA, a bold but controversial decision made by the then 17-year-old, the first guard ever to bypass college basketball. (Previous high schoolers who had turned professional had been frontcourt players, who often have a somewhat easier learning curve in the pro game.)

Bryant was originally selected 13th by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA Draft, but they traded him on July 11, 1996 to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Vlade Divac. Though young and somewhat introverted, Bryant's talent made an impression on his teammates on the practice court. Despite his natural talent, Bryant often had trouble relating to teammates away from the basketball court, and he struggled to make friends early in his career.

It was during this time that the 20-year-old Bryant first met 16-year-old Vanessa Laine on the set of a music video where Laine was working as a background dancer. The two began dating and were engaged six months later. They married on April 18, 2001 in Dana Point, California, while Laine was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. Their daughter Natalia Diamante was born on January 19, 2003. Bryant's parents initially disapproved of the marriage because of the couple's young age, but have since reconciled with him. After Vanessa suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic condition in the spring of 2005, the Bryants announced that they are expecting another child, a girl, in May 2006.

Bryant's career trajectory as an NBA player out of high school has been nothing short of exceptional. Even before he was chosen as the 13th pick overall by the Hornets in 1996, Bryant had made a lasting impression on then-Lakers general manager Jerry West, who immediately foresaw the potential in Bryant's basketball talent during pre-draft workouts. After overseeing the arrival of Shaquille O'Neal to Los Angeles, West continued his quest to return the Lakers to championship status by trading center Vlade Divac to the Hornets for the 18-year old Bryant.

Bryant was primarily labeled a work-in-progress by then-Laker coach Del Harris during his first two seasons with the Lakers, in which he played mostly off the bench under guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. However, Bryant's fortunes would soon change when Phil Jackson became coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. After years of steady improvement, Bryant had become one of the premier shooting guards in the league, a notion that was indicated by his annual presence in the league's All-NBA, All-Star, and All-Defensive teams. The Los Angeles Lakers became perennial championship contenders under Bryant and former teammate Shaquille O'Neal, who teamed up to form one of the deadliest center-guard combinations in NBA history. Their success gave the Lakers three consecutive NBA championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The 2003 season saw the end of the Lakers's run as a mini-dynasty, but also became the definitive season for Kobe Bryant. A superstar at only 24 years of age, Bryant averaged over 30 points per game and embarked on a historic scoring run, posting 40 or more points per game for nine consecutive games while averaging 40.6 in the entire month of February. After finishing a respectable 50-32 in the regular season, however, the Lakers floundered in the playoffs and lost in the Western Conference Semifinals to the San Antonio Spurs in six games. Los Angeles was thereby denied a fourth consecutive NBA championship.

Bryant's image and accomplishments on and off the basketball court made him one of basketball's most popular and marketable players. He became a spokesperson for major corporations such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola. For several years, he had an exclusive apparel and shoe deal with Adidas but is currently under a four-year, $45 million advertising contract with Nike [1]. Bryant's first signature shoe from Nike will be called the Air Zoom Kobe 1.

Much of Kobe Bryant's meteoric rise to NBA superstardom is attributed to his consummate work ethic. In each of his years in the league, Bryant showed improvement in all areas of his game, from offense to strength to defense. On-court he showed himself to be a very composed and competitive player with impressive concentration, able to deliver the toughest and clutch shots at the times most needed. These attributes allowed him to rise to the level of a premier player in the NBA.

In the summer of 2003, the sports world was stunned to learn that prosecutors in Eagle County, Colorado were planning to charge Bryant with the sexual assault of a 19-year old hotel employee. Bryant had checked into hotel in Edwards, Colorado in advance of having knee surgery near there the next day. The woman in question, eventually identified as Katelyn Faber, accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room the night before the surgery. Law enforcement officials interviewed Bryant about the incident following his surgery. A few days later, the news media broke the story that Bryant was being investigated for a possible sexual assault. A few days after that, formal charges were filed against Bryant.

After he was formally charged, Bryant held a news conference in which he adamantly denied having raped Faber. He confessed to having an adulterous sexual encounter with her, but insisted that everything that happened between the two had been consensual.

The case's pre-trial hearings went on through the 2003-2004 NBA season, a number of times causing Bryant to have to be in court Colorado during the day, then fly to another part of the country that evening to play in the Lakers' game that night. Bryant generally performed well in such games, though the on-going proceedings and the media attention on them served as a continuing distraction, both to Bryant personally, and to the Laker team as a whole.

As the hearings went on, it became clear that Bryant's defense team's strategy was going to be to aggressively attack Faber's credibility. Various media reports about evidence that Bryant's defense was planning to present caused widespread speculation that the prosecution chances of overcoming reasonable doubt and obtaining a conviction were dwindling. Amid such speculation and the intense scrutiny of her personal life, Faber decided to withdraw her support of the criminal prosecution and refused to testify. This drove a final nail into the coffin of the criminal case against Bryant, and prosecutors agreed to dismiss the case against him. As part of the overall agreement, Bryant issued a statement in which he continued to assert that he believed his encounter with Faber to be consensual, but acknowleded that Faber "did not and does not view this incident the same way that I did."

In the aftermath of the trial, Faber filed a civil lawsuit against Bryant over the incident. The two sides ultimately settled that lawsuit, with the specific terms of the settlement being undisclosed to the public.

Kobe Bryant had always received an abundance of criticism regarding his play on the basketball court. Detrators have long branded him as a selfish, egotistic player who pads his own achievements at the expense of his team. However, one factor which had helped to uphold a generally positive public image even despite such criticism had been the public's perception of him as "squeaky-clean" with regard to his moral behaviors. The public had become accustomed to tales of high-profile professional athletes indulging gratuitously in a wild nightlife rife with alcohol, drugs andor sexual promiscuity. But Bryant had a reputation as one who eschewed such behaviors, prefering to keep quietly to himself, even to the point of his being criticized for not socializing enough with his teammates.

The events surrounding his sexual assault changed that dynamic drastically. At best, he was guilty of the adultery to which he had confessed. And despite his not being convicted, many people believed him to be guilty of rape. The loss of his positive moral image as a shield also led to the previous criticism of his play taking on a new intensity. With is image so badly tarnished, the public's perception of Bryant plummeted, and his endorsement contracts with McDonald's, Nutella, and Ferrero SpA were terminated. Sales figures from NBA merchandisers indicated that sales of replicas of Bryant's jersey fell far off of their previous highs.

"Bryant and O'Neal, the "dynamic duo", after winning their third straight NBA title in 2002."

Furthering the blemish upon Bryant's reputation was the public rift through the Laker core of Bryant, O'Neal, and coach Phil Jackson. In well-documented episodes throughout their careers together on the Lakers, mainly over leadership of the team, O'Neal and Bryant have feuded in dramatic fashion. The 2000-era Lakers were built around the dominant center in O'Neal but Bryant seemed to tire of his formal role as "second fiddle" on the team. Though there were periods when the two seemed to get along very well, during the rougher times, O'Neal would not be shy about launching criticisms toward teammates, usually without explicitly mentioning names, but with details that left no doubt he was referring primarily to Bryant. Bryant only responded publicly on one occasion, in an interview with Jim Gray of ESPN, where he called O'Neal "fat" and bristled at O'Neal's previous characterizations of their relationship as "big brother" and "little brother."

The sexual assault allegations ultimately led to one of the largest blows to the relationship between Bryant and O'Neal, as well as a serious blow to Bryant's personal reputation among other NBA players. According to a police tran, when questioned by the police during their investigation, in an apparent attempt to deflect questioning, Bryant had brought up alleged extramarital affairs by O'Neal. Although that particular comment does not appear in the actual police recordings of their conversatiosn with Bryant (a factor cited by Judge Ruckriegle in disallowing it for use in court), it was added in a later, ammeded report by Eagle police. [2] If Bryant made such a comment, it meant that in order to extricate himself from his own situation, he had either made up false allegations of adultery against O'Neal, or, even if the allegations were true, had betrayed O'Neal's confidence in that matter to investigators. Either explanation served only to further sully Bryant's image.

Other clashes have also done their share of damage to Bryant's image. In addition to his problems with O'Neal, Bryant feuded with other teammates during his career. In an isolated incident, he allegedly punched then teammate Samaki Walker from behind outside of the team bus. In 2004, a dispute between Bryant and former teammate Karl Malone became public prior to Malone's expected re-signing with the Lakers. Bryant claimed Malone had made inappropriate comments to Bryant's wife. Malone claimed the comments were in jest and that Bryant was overreacting. In the subsequent months, rather than re-join Bryant and the Lakers, Malone turned his attention to the possibility of joining another team, but ultimately decided to retire. More recently, there have been rumors of Bryant clashing with teammate Lamar Odom which both have denied and attribute to media rumors.

Bryant also clashed with coach Jackson. While remarkably efficient in Jackson's "triangle offense," Bryant had a personal distaste for Jackson's brand of ball and subsequently called it "boring." In games, Bryant would often disregard the set offense completely to experiment with his own one-on-one moves, incensing the normally calm Jackson. Bryant managed to test Jackson's patience enough that the "Zen Master" even demanded that Bryant be traded, although Laker management rejected the request.

Jackson's coaching contract ran out following the 2003–04 season and the Lakers failed to produce a championship despite sporting Hall-of-Fame caliber players Karl Malone and Gary Payton, in addition to O'Neal and Bryant. Bryant opted out of his contract and became free agent, thus having the ability to choose to leave for another team if he desired. Amid that atmospherre, Jackson was not invited back to coach the team. Many fans attributed Jackson's departure directly to the wishes of Bryant, whom Laker owner Dr. Jerry Buss championed. O'Neal, indicating that he felt the franchise was indeed pandering to Bryant with the departure of Jackson, demanded to be traded, and was dealt to the Miami Heat. O'Neal's departure was also widely believed to have been something Bryant desired, if not explicitly demanded. With Jackson and O'Neal gone, Bryant would no longer have to play "second fiddle" to O'Neal in Jackson's offense that didn't use Bryant as its focal point. For these reasons, many basketball fans have blamed Bryant for the break-up of the Lakers' dynasty after their one-sided 2004 Finals loss to the Detroit Pistons.

Bryant proceeded to engage in a long off-season flirtation with the Lakers' Staples Center suitemates, the Los Angeles Clippers, raising the possibility that the Lakers had made such drastics moves, perhaps primairly to please Bryant, and yet would lose him anyway. Ultimately though, Bryant did re-sign with the Lakers for the veteran's maximum of seven years at over US$136 million.

With O'Neal gone, Bryant became the Lakers' unquestioned leader of the team going into the 2004-2005 season. As it turned out, however, his first season at the helm of a team would prove to be a very rocky one. With his reputation so badly damaged from all that had happened over the previous year, Bryant was closely scrutinized and criticized during the season.

A particularly damaging salvo came from Phil Jackson in his book . The book detailed the sordid events of the Lakers' tumultuous 2003–04 season and hurled numerous harsh criticisms of Bryant. Along with other unsavory adjectives, Jackson called Bryant "uncoachable."

Then, midway through the season, Rudy Tomjanovich suddenly resigned as Lakers coach, citing the recurrence of health problems and exhaustion. Without "Rudy T," stewardship of the remainder of the Lakers' season fell to career assistant coach Frank Hamblen. Despite the fact that Bryant was the league's second leading scorer at 27.6 points per game, the Lakers floundered and missed the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.

Phil Jackson returned to coach the Lakers for the 2005-2006 season, a move that Bryant said he welcomed, despite Jackson's past pointed criticism of Bryant. The two have had no major public disagreements since Jackson's return.

Currently, Bryant is the leading scorer of the 2005-2006 NBA season, averaging 36 points per game, the most since Michael Jordan averaged 37.1 points per game in 1987. He has done all this while helping the Lakers maintain the last playoff berth in the Western Conference. Consequently, he is among those mentioned as possible candidates of the Most Valuable Player award.

On December 20, 2005, in one of the most spectacular individual scoring feats in NBA history, Bryant scored a then career-high 62 points in only 33 minutes of play in a 112-90 rout of the Dallas Mavericks. His 30 points in the third quarter alone surpassed the Lakers' previous franchise record of 24 points in a single quarter. Bryant had outscored the entire Dallas Mavericks team 62-61 by the time he departed at the end of the third quarter, becoming the first player ever to outscore his opposition through three quarters since the advent of the 24-second shot clock.

When the Lakers faced the Miami Heat on January 16, 2006, Bryant and O'Neal made headlines by engaging in handshakes and hugs before the game, an event that is believed to signify the end of the feud that had festered between the two players since the O'Neal's acrimonious departure from Los Angeles.

In late January 2006, Bryant offcially agreed to a three-year commitment to the USA Basketball team that, once qualified, will play in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored a career high and Los Angeles Lakers team record 81 points as the Lakers defeated the Toronto Raptors 122-104 at Los Angeles. The 81 points rank second all-time in points scored in a single game, behind the late Wilt Chamberlain's 100 on March 2, 1962, and broke Elgin Baylor's previous franchise record of 71. 55 of Bryant's 81 points were scored in the second half alone. Bryant shot 28 of 46 from the field, including 7 of 13 from 3-point range, and made 18 of 20 free throws. He also recorded 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. The accomplishment made Bryant only the fifth player in NBA history to score 70 points in a game (the others being Chamberlain, who accomplished the feat six different times, David Thompson, Elgin Baylor, David Robinson), and only the second player to score 80.

Bryant's 2005-2006 scoring splurge--especially his two career best games--have sparked a widespread discussion in the media and among sports fans regarding the implications of his scoring so many points. Commentators have vehemently debated whether Bryant's 81 point-game in the modern NBA era is a more impressive feat then Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962.

Additionally, there are frequent arguments over whether Bryant's prolific scoring is a good thing for the Laker team as a whole. Some consider him to be a "ball hog" and argue that Bryant taking so many shots is not true 'team' basketball and thus sets a bad example and inhibits the development of other Laker players. Others argue that the other players on the current Laker team are not nearly as talented as Bryant, and thus having Bryant take the bulk of the team's shots gives the team the best chance to win. Nevertheless, the Lakers are fighting for their first playoff birth since the departure of Shaquille O'Neal and currently hold the 8th and last seed in the Western Conference.

(19 years, 175 days), making his debut at the 48th annual All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden on February 8, 1998.first player ever to outscore the opposing team through three quarters since the advent of the 24-second shot clock. (the others are Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain), and the first to accomplish it since Chamberlain, who did it in November of 1964. with a seasonal average of 30.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.9 blocks per game.Led Lower Merion High School to a 31-3 record, including 27 straight wins, and the PIAA Class AAAA state title as a senior (1996)."Bryant's game-tying 4th quarter buzzer beater, in Game 2 of the 2004 NBA Finals, helped pave the way to the Lakers' overtime win." Bryant's game-tying 4th quarter buzzer beater, in Game 2 of the 2004 NBA Finals, helped pave the way to the Lakers' overtime win.

Throughout much of his career, Kobe Bryant has been heralded as arguably the premier "clutch" scorer in the NBA. In a sense, this term refers to a player's ability to take over and lead his team to victory under pressure during tight games, notably at the end of regulation or in overtime periods. Bryant's exceptional ability to will his team to victory in the last seconds of a close game has often been compared to the legendary Michael Jordan's capacity to do the same thing. According to an NBA poll directed at general managers throughout the league before the 2005–06 season, Bryant was overwhelmingly voted as the player they would choose to take the last shot during the crucial moments of basketball games.

Bryant has made a total of game-winning shots so far in his career. In this instance, a game-winning shot is defined as the final made field goal in the game, bringing the team from a trailing or tied position into a lead that is not relinquished. (It should be noted that other criteria exist to determine what is and isn't a game winning shot.)

As a young student in Italy, he was considered unapt to any sports activity by his sports professor.Has a number of nicknames including Black Mamba, Izzo, KB8, Three Rings or Lord of the Rings (when at Rucker Park), The Dagger, Neo, Kobe-Wan Kenobi, The Assassin, Employee #8, Ocho, The 8th Wonder of the World, and most recently, The 80-1 and Mr. 81.His 81-point-game was the 666th game of his professional career. It came from 66 shots, 46 from the field and 20 from the free-throw line.