Kobe Bryant
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Kobe Bean Bryant ( KOH-bee; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star, four-time All-Star MVP, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), two-time NBA Finals MVP, and two-time scoring champion. He ranks fourth in league all-time regular season and postseason scoring. Bryant was posthumously named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021 and was a two-time inductee to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, for his playing career in 2020 and as a member of the 2008 U . Olympic team in 2025. The son of NBA player Joe Bryant, Bryant was born in Philadelphia and lived in Italy during part of his childhood. He was recognized as the top American high school basketball player during his senior season at Lower Merion High School outside of Philadelphia. He declared for the 1996 NBA draft and was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th pick; he was then traded to the Lakers. Following his rookie season, Bryant earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors and won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest. He was named an All-Star in his second season. He had a feud with teammate Shaquille O'Neal that was well-documented. Nevertheless, the pair led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. In 2003, Bryant was charged with sexual assault; the criminal charges were ultimately dismissed. In a related lawsuit, he settled and issued an apology while maintaining that the encounter was consensual. After the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals, O'Neal was traded and Bryant became the franchise's cornerstone. He led the NBA in scoring in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points, the third most in an NBA game. He led the Lakers to championships in 2009 and 2010, and was named NBA Finals MVP both times. He continued among the league's premier players through the 2012–13 season until he suffered a torn achilles tendon. His remaining playing career was hampered by injuries and reduced playing time. He retired after the 2015–16 season. In 2017, the Lakers retired both his jersey numbers: 8 and 24, making him the only NBA player to have multiple numbers retired by one franchise. The Lakers' all-time leading scorer, Bryant was the NBA's first guard to play 20 seasons. His 18 All-Star designations are the third most ever, and his four NBA All-Star Game MVP Awards tied Bob Pettit's record. Bryant took the nickname Black Mamba in the mid-2000s, which became widely adopted by the public. He won gold medals on the 2008 and 2012 U . Olympic teams. In 2018, Bryant won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball (2017), becoming the only person to win both an Olympic gold medal and an Oscar. In January 2020, Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Tributes and memorials followed his death, including murals throughout Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant Day (8/24), and two statues outside Crypto Arena. The NBA All-Star Game MVP was also renamed in Bryant's honor.