Bryant, Kobe Bean (1978– )

US basketball player. Playing as a shooting guard, he helped the Los Angeles Lakers win three consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in 2000–02. In January 2006, he scored the second-most points ever in a NBA game when he scored 81 points against the Dallas Mavericks.

Career highlights

regular season scoring: 21,619 points (average 25.0); play-off scoring: 3,686 points (average 24.3)

NBA Championship 2000, 2001, 2002

Awards

Most Valuable Player (regular season) 2008

In 1997, at age 18, Bryant became the youngest player ever to start a NBA game. In 1998, he started his first NBA All-Star Game. By 2008 he had played in his tenth consecutive All-Star game, winning the All-Star game Most Valuable Player (MVP) award twice (2002 and 2007). After his third NBA championship in 2002, Bryant had public disagreements both with teammate Shaquille O'Neal and with coach Phil Jackson. The Lakers reached the 2004 NBA Finals but were swept 4–0 by the Detroit Pistons and O'Neal and Jackson left the team soon afterwards. In 2007 Bryant won his second consecutive NBA scoring title. In 2008 Bryant won the league's MVP award and led the Lakers to the NBA Finals but they lost 4–2 to the Boston Celtics.

In the summer of 2003, Bryant was charged with sexual assault and the subsequent trial continued throughout much of the following season. The case was dismissed before a conclusion was reached and a civil lawsuit was settled out of court. Despite the absence of any conviction, the trial severely damaged Bryant's reputation and he lost many of his off-court endorsements. His father Joe Bryant also played in the NBA from 1975 to 1983.