Cobe bryant

Early life
Bryant was born on August 23, 1978, in Philadelphia,[7] the youngest of three children and the only son of Pamela Cox Bryant and former NBA player Joe Bryant. He was also the maternal nephew of NBA player John "Chubby" Cox.[8] His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu.[9][10] His middle name, Bean, was derived from his father's nickname "Jellybean".[11] Bryant's family was Catholic and he was brought up with this faith.[12][13][14]

Bryant started playing basketball when he was three,[15] and the Lakers were his favorite team when he was growing up.[16] When he was six, his father retired from the NBA and moved his family to Rieti in Italy to continue playing professional basketball.[17][18] After two years, they moved first to Reggio Calabria, then to Pistoia and Reggio Emilia. Kobe became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to speak fluent Italian.[19] He was especially fond of Reggio Emilia, which he considered a loving place and where some of his best childhood memories were made.[20][21] He began to play basketball seriously while living in Reggio Emilia.[22][23] His grandfather mailed him videos of NBA games for him to study.[24] Another source of inspiration was animated European films about sports, from which he learned more about basketball.[25] From 1987 to 1989, his father played for Olimpia Basket Pistoia where he paired with former Detroit Pistons player Leon Douglas. Kobe worked at the games as a ball and mop boy and practiced shooting at halftime. Douglas said, "At every one of our games at halftime, it was the Kobe show. He'd get out there and get his shot up. We'd come out of the locker room at halftime and have to chase him off the court".[26]

Bryant also learned to play soccer, and his favorite soccer team was A.C. Milan.[27][28] During summers, he returned to the United States to play in a basketball summer league.[29] When he was 13, he and his family moved back to Philadelphia, where he enrolled in eighth grade at Bala Cynwyd Middle School.[19][30]

Philadelphia 76ers in overtime. They would go on to win the next four games and bring their second championship to Los Angeles in as many seasons. During the playoffs, Bryant played heavy minutes which brought his stats up to 29.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game. In the playoffs, teammate O'Neal declared Bryant the best player in the league.[39] Bryant ended up making the All-NBA Second Team and All-NBA Defensive Team for the second year in a row. In addition, he was also voted to start in the NBA All-Star Game for the third year in a row (no game in 1999).

In the 2001–02 season, Bryant played 80 games for the first time in his career. On January 14, 2002, Bryant recorded a then career-high 56 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists in a 120–81 win over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies.[85] He continued his all-round play by averaging 25.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. Bryant also had a career-high 46.9% shooting and once again led his team in assists. He claimed his first All-Star MVP trophy after a 31-point performance in Philadelphia when he was loudly booed by fans as they had throughout the game, stemming from his earlier comment to a 76ers heckler during the Finals that the Lakers were "going to cut your hearts out".[86][87] While making the All-NBA Defensive Team again, Bryant was also named to the All-NBA First Team for the first time in his career. The Lakers won 58 games that year and finished second in the Pacific Division behind in-state rival Sacramento Kings. Bryant was suspended one game after he punched Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers after the Lakers' March 1, 2002, victory over the Pacers.[88][89]

The road to the Finals would prove a lot tougher than the record run the Lakers had enjoyed the previous year. While the Lakers swept the Blazers and defeated the Spurs 4–1 in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Lakers did not have home-court advantage against the Sacramento Kings. The series would stretch to seven games, the first time this had happened to the Lakers since the 2000 Western Conference Finals. However, the Lakers were able to beat their division rivals and make their third consecutive NBA Finals appearance. In the 2002 Finals, against the New Jersey Nets, Bryant averaged 26.8 points, 51.4% shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists per game, which included scoring a quarter of the team's points.[90] At age 23, Bryant became the youngest player to win three championships.[90] Bryant's play was notable and praised for his performance in the fourth quarter of games, specifically the last two rounds of the playoffs.[90][91] This cemented Bryant's reputation as a "clutch player".

on March 9, he elbowed Kyle Korver in the face which was retroactively re-classified as a Type 1 flagrant foul.[139]

On March 16, Bryant scored a season-high 65 points in a home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, which helped end the Lakers 7-game losing streak. This was the second-best scoring performance of his 11-year career.[142] The following game, Bryant recorded 50 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves,[143] after which he scored 60 points in a road win against the Memphis Grizzlies—becoming the second Laker to score three straight 50-plus point games, a feat not seen since Jordan last did it in 1987.[144] The only other Laker to do so was Baylor, who also scored 50+ in three consecutive contests in December 1962.[144] In the following day, in a game against the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, Bryant scored 50 points, making him the second player in NBA history to have four straight 50-point games behind Chamberlain, who achieved it twice with streaks of five and seven.[145] Bryant finished the year with a total of ten 50-plus point games, surpassed only by Chamberlain.[c] Bryant also won his second straight scoring title that season.[146] Throughout the 2006–07 season, his jersey became the top selling NBA jersey in the United States and China.[147] A number of journalists have attributed the improved sales to Bryant's new number, as well as his continuing All-Star performance on the court.[148][149] In the 2007 NBA playoffs, the Lakers were once again eliminated in the first round by the Phoenix Suns, 4–1.[150]

Back on top (2007–2010)
On May 27, 2007, ESPN reported that Bryant stated that he wanted to be traded if Jerry West did not return to the team with full authority.[151] Bryant later confirmed his desire for West's return to the franchise but denied stating that he would want to be traded if that did not take place.[152] However, three days later, on Stephen A. Smith's radio program, Bryant expressed anger over a Lakers "insider" who claimed that Bryant was responsible for Shaquille O'Neal's departure from the team, and publicly stated, "I want to be traded."[153] Three hours after making that statement, Bryant stated in another interview that after having a conversation with head coach Jackson, he had reconsidered his decision and backed off his trade request.[154] Bryant was later shown in an infamous amateur video saying that center Andrew Bynum should have been traded for All-Star Jason Kidd.[155][156]