Kobe Bryant was born August 23, 1978 in Philadelphia, PA. His father is a former NBA star, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant" who enjoyed a mildly successful NBA career from 1975 to 1983. Joe Bryant then moved overeseas with his family to play basketball in Italy. Kobe spent a good part of his youth growing up in Italy where he picked up the language, culture and a love for soccer as well as basketball. Kobe made the decision to enter the NBA in 1996, fresh out of Lower Merion Academy High School. He was selected as the 13th pick in the NBA Draft (Charlotte Hornets). Since Kobe made a strong impression on Lakers GM, Jerry West, Kobe was quickly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Center Vlade Divac.

Despite his lack of a college basketball resume, a slow start to his NBA career, and controversy on/off the court, Kobe has now emerged as the top gun in the NBA. He is a scoring assassin capable of dropping 40, 50, even 80 points on a team any given night! No scorer has showed this type of cold-hearted mentality to his opponents since the legendary, Michael Jordan. To this date 2007, Kobe has many accolades and titles including: 3 NBA Championship rings, 9 NBA All-Star game appearances, 2 All-Star MVP awards, 1997 Slam Dunk Contest Trophy, an 81 point game and is 2 time NBA Scoring Champ.

Below are some of Kobe's many impressive NBA achievements
(courtesy of Wikipedia.com).

• 3-time NBA Champion: 2000, 2001, 2002
• 9-time NBA All-Star: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

• Has started in each of his appearances
• 9 consecutive appearances (No All-Star game in 1999 due to league-wide lock-out)

• 2-time NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2002, 2007
• 8-time All-NBA Selection:

• First Team: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
• Second Team: 2000, 2001
• Third Team: 1999, 2005

• 6-time All-Defensive Selection:

• First Team: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006
• Second Team: 2001, 2002

• NBA All-Rookie Second Team: 1997
• NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Champion: 1997
• NBA regular season leader in:

• points: 2003 (2,461), 2006 (2,832, 7th highest in NBA history), 2007 (2,430)
• points per game: 2006 (35.4, 9th highest in NBA history), 2007 (31.6)
• field goals attempted: 2006 (2,173), 2007 (1,757)
• field goals made: 2003 (868), 2006 (978), 2007 (813)
• free throws attempted: 2007 (768)
• free throws made: 2006 (696), 2007 (667)

• 2nd highest single-game point total in NBA history: 81 (January 22, 2006 vs. the Toronto Raptors)

• The All-Time record is 100 points by Wilt Chamberlain on March 2, 1962.

Kobe Bryant NBA Achievements

• Youngest player in NBA history to reach:

• 10,000 points (24 years, 194 days), set March 5, 2003 vs. the Indiana Pacers.
• 14,000 points (26 years, 240 days), set April 20, 2005 vs. the Portland Trail Blazers.
• 15,000 points (27 years, 136 days), set January 6, 2006 vs. the Philadelphia 76ers.
• 16,000 points (27 years, 192 days), set March 3, 2006 vs. the Golden State Warriors.
• 17,000 points (28 years, 86 days), set November 17, 2006 vs. the Toronto Raptors.
• 18,000 points (28 years, 156 days), set January 26, 2007 vs. the Charlotte Bobcats.[18]
• 19,000 points (28 years, 223 days), set April 3, 2007 vs, the Denver Nuggets.

• Youngest player to start an NBA game (18 years, 158 days), making his first start for the Los Angeles Lakers on January 28, 1997.
• Youngest player to start an NBA All-Star Game (19 years, 175 days), making his debut at the 48th annual All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden on February 8, 1998.
• Youngest player to be named to the NBA All-Defensive Team (1999-2000)[19]
• Youngest player to be named to the NBA All-Rookie Team (1996-1997)[20]
• Youngest NBA All-Star Slam Dunk champion (18 years, 175 days), after winning the contest at the 1997 NBA All-Star Weekend.

"Sometimes I do wonder what college would have been like. But I made my decision".

"What I'm doing right now, I'm chasing perfection".

"As far as carrying the torch for the years to come, I don't know. I just want to be the best basketball player I can be".

"My parents are my backbone. Still are. They're the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40".

"I'm playing against great players, playing against the best in the world. The competition - that's what I've always wanted".

NBA.com's Kobe Bryant Profile

ESPN.com Kobe Bryant Player Card

Wikipedia Kobe Bryant Entry

Kobe Bryant YouTube Results

Los Angeles Times - Kobe Bryant Sports News

AskMen.com Kobe Bryant Profile

CNNSI's Kobe Bryant Profile

Laker's NBA.com Homepage

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