Early life

Kobe Bryant is the youngest child and only son of Joe and Pam Bryant. His parents named him after a steak: the famous beef in Kobe, Japan, which they had seen on the restaurant menu. At the age of six, Kobe, his parents and two sisters, Shaya and Charlias, moved to Italy, where his father began to play professional basketball. He is used to this lifestyle and can speak fluent Italian. He learned to play football when he was very young. His favorite team is AC Milan. Bryant once said that if he stayed in Italy, he would stick to playing football and try to become a professional football player. 199 1 year, the Bryans moved back to America. The outstanding high school career of Lower Merion High School in Lower Merion, a suburb of Philadelphia, won national recognition. Although his SAT score 1080[2] can ensure him to win basketball scholarships from various top universities, 17-year-old Kobe made a controversial decision and went directly to the NBA. -

Early NBA career

1996 draft

Even before 13 was selected as the draft pick by Charlotte Hornets in 1996, 17-year-old Kobe Bryant had left a deep impression on Jerry West, then the general manager of the Lakers. He immediately foresaw Bryant's basketball talent potential in the training before the draft. West said that Kobe's training was one of the best he had ever seen. West continued his pursuit to return the Lakers to the championship position, and shocked the audience. He proposed and completed the trade of Hornets starting center Vlade Divac for Kobe Bryant. -

Developmental pain

In his first season with the Lakers, he spent most of his time as a substitute behind guards eddie jones and nick van exel. Kobe played for only a few minutes at first, but as the season went on, this situation changed. He won the championship of 1997 slam dunk contest, which earned him an ambitious reputation and fans' love.

In Kobe's second season (1997-98), he gained more playing time and began to show his ability as a talented young guard. He was the runner-up of the sixth person in the NBA Y ear Award, and he became the youngest NBA All-Star starter through fan voting.

Although his statistics are impressive at his age, he is still a young defender, lacking experience to supplement shaquille o'neal and greatly helping the team to win the championship.

Champions suiyue

However, when Phil Jackson became the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe's fate changed quickly. After years of steady improvement, Kobe has become one of the leading shooting guards in the league, which can be proved by his appearance in the league's all-star team and the best defensive team every year. Under the leadership of Kobe Bryant and O 'Neal, the Los Angeles Lakers became strong contenders for the championship, and they formed an excellent center-guard combination. Their success enabled the Lakers to win the NBA championship three times in succession in 2000, 2006, 2005 and 2002.

The end of a dynasty

In the 2002-03 season, Kobe averaged 30 points per game, which started a historic scoring climax. He scored more than 40 points per game in nine consecutive games, and averaged 40.6 points per game throughout February. In addition, he averaged 6.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.2 steals, all of which were career highs. For the first time in his career, Kobe Bryant was selected as the best team and the best defensive team in the NBA. After the regular season ended 50-32, the Lakers struggled in the playoffs and lost to the final NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.

In the following 2003-04 season, the Lakers won legends karl malone and gary payton, and launched another impact on the NBA championship. With the starting lineup of four potential Hall of Famers, shaquille o'neal, Malone, Payton and Bryant, the Lakers were able to enter the NBA Finals. Game 5 in the finals was eliminated by Detroit Pistons. In that series, Kobe averaged 22.6 points, shot 35. 1% and averaged 4.4 assists.

Conflict and unrest

In 2003, Bryant's reputation was tarnished by criminal charges. A young woman from Colorado, Katelyn Faber, accused Bryant of sexual assault. With his image seriously damaged, the public's opinion of Kobe Bryant plummeted, and his endorsement contracts with McDonald's, Nutella and Ferriero SpA were terminated. According to the sales data of NBA vendors, the sales of Kobe Bryant jerseys are far below the previous highest level.

Even before he was arrested for rape, Kobe was openly at odds with his teammates, including shaquille o'neal, samaki walker and karl malone. In an isolated incident, he allegedly punched teammate Walker in the face outside the team bus. In 2004, before Malone was expected to renew his contract with the Lakers, a dispute between Kobe Bryant and former teammate Malone was made public. Kobe claimed that Malone made inappropriate comments about Kobe's wife. Malone claimed that these comments were a joke and Kobe overreacted. In the following months, Malone did not rejoin Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, but turned his attention to the possibility of joining another team, but finally decided to retire.

The undisputed leader

When O 'Neal was traded, Bryant became the undisputed leader of the Lakers in 2004-2005. However, it turns out that his first season without O 'Neal will be very difficult. Because of what happened in the past year, his reputation has been seriously damaged, and Kobe has been closely watched and criticized this season.

Last season, phil jackson launched a devastating attack: a team looking for souls. This book describes the events of the Lakers in detail.