If you’ve ever been to your local gym’s basketball court or a school classroom, there’s one name that everyone shouts… and you’ve probably heard it repeated many times, “Kobe!” now whether or not this exclamation is followed by a swish or clanking of the ball off the rim is up to the ability of the person playing, but one things for sure, the name of the man their screaming rarely missed his opportunity to score when he’d shoot a basketball. His name was Kobe Bryant.
What made Kobe Bryant so special? We begin in 1996, when a young high-schooler by the name of Kobe Bean Bryant was drafted out of Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia. Though he’s synonymous with the colors of purple and gold, he could’ve switched that iconic gold for a drastically different color, teal. Originally, Kobe Bryant was drafted with the 13th pick in the NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets, before being traded for veteran Lakers center, Vlade Divac. It was with this one little change, that this young man from Philadelphia would go on to be a superstar in the City of Angels, Los Angeles.
Throughout his first few games in the league, NBA insiders and players didn’t really think much of Kobe. He was known more for his athleticism and his ability to dunk a basketball rather than his scoring outbursts and legendary practice methods. In the next few years that was subject to change, with the additions of a Hall of Fame coach, Phil Jackson and a 24-year-old superstar named Shaquille O’Neal. It was with these tweaks that the Lakers would change from a marginal playoff contender to an all-out powerhouse of a team. The Los Angeles Lakers would go on to win 3 championships in the span of 3 years!
With the departure of Shaquille O’Neal in 2004, the Lakers were lacking the depth they once had, but with Kobe Bryant at the helm, they always had a chance to win. In 2006, in a game against the Toronto Raptors, Kobe scored a career-high 81 points! This point total was second only to that of Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points in 1962. With this, Kobe became not only a domestic superstar, but a global one! He was adored by millions of people across the world, and his drive and determination were something that anyone, athlete or not, could look up to and admire.
During the span of a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant won 5 championships, third only to that of Bill Russell and Michael Jordan. He was an 18-time all-star, a 2-time finals MVP, the NBA’s MVP in 2008, a slam dunk contest champion in 1997 and a member of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic teams that would win gold in Beijing and Barcelona.
Following his retirement in 2016, with his last game in the NBA solidifying his greatness after he scored 60 points, Kobe Bryant carried that greatness into everything that he did… whether it be investing, producing, coaching or raising his 4 children. He invested in sports drinks like Body Armor and tech companies in California, he ventured into media and wrote a children’s books and created an Oscar Winning documentary titled, “Dear Basketball”, but Kobe was especially known for giving back to his communities in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Along with his wife, Vanessa, Kobe Bryant created the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation, which emphasizes the development of physical and social skills among young people.
In conclusion, Kobe Bryant was a basketball player, a father, a philanthropist, an Oscar winning movie producer and an all-around champion in the hearts and minds of so many
people around the world. On January 26th of 2020, Kobe Bryant tragically died in a helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and 7 other passengers. We remember Kobe not only for his prowess on the basketball court, but for the man he was off of the court as well. Though the world is mourning and devastated by the loss of an American icon, we will keep the victims of this tragedy in our hearts and minds whenever we shoot a basketball or a piece of paper while we scream out one simple phrase, “Kobe!”