These included being named Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Men's National Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American, a first-team Parade All-American and a USA Today All-USA First Team participant. Bryant's varsity coach, Greg Downer, commented that he was "an entire participant who dominates" and praised his work ethic, even because the group's prime player. In 1996, Bryant took R&B singer Brandy to her Hollywood High senior prom. Ultimately, the 17-year-old Bryant decided to go directly into the NBA, changing into solely the sixth player in NBA history to do so. Bryant's news was met with lots of publicity at a time when prep-to-pro NBA gamers weren't quite common . His basketball abilities and SAT score of 1080 would have ensured admission to any school he chose, but he did not formally go to any campuses.

While taking part in second fiddle to O'Neal in the playoffs, Bryant had some clutch performances together with a 25-point, 11 rebound, 7 help, 4 block game in sport 7 of the Western Conference finals towards the Portland Trail Blazers. He additionally threw an alley-oop move to O'Neal to clinch the game and the sequence. In the 2000 NBA Finals towards the Indiana Pacers, Bryant injured his ankle within the second quarter of Game 2 after landing on the Pacers' Jalen Rose's foot. Rose later admitted he placed his foot beneath Bryant intentionally. Bryant didn't return to the game, and he also missed Game three because of the damage.

In 2012, Bryant was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald's All-Americans for his high-school play in addition to his later accomplishments. Kobe Bryant's life was minimize quick in a helicopter accident in Calabasas, California, on Jan. 26, 2020. The legendary basketball player died alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and 7 different individuals on board, including the pilot. The group was traveling to a basketball game on the Mamba Sports Academy. None of that would cease the 6-foot-6 capturing guard from becoming one of the best within the historical past of the game, equally dangerous driving to the basket or shooting from exterior. None of it may dull the sense of shock that came over Los Angeles, a city that grew to like him, when he died Sunday in a helicopter crash that additionally took the lives of his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.

Kobe Bryant was an expert basketball participant in the NBA. In 1996, he was chosen as the thirteenth decide in the NBA draft and have become the youngest participant in NBA history. After a 20-year profession with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant retired in 2016 with 5 NBA championship rings and 4 NBA All-Star recreation MVP titles. In January 2020, Bryant tragically died in a helicopter crash alongside his daughter Gianna Bryant. In Game 1, Bryant, who stated he made himself a decoy via most of the sport, scored 18 of his 32 points within the ultimate eight minutes to maintain Los Angeles safely ahead.

Underneath his sock, bone was protruding through his skin. “If you return and look at the video,” Prescott advised The Ringer in August, “I tried to plant my toes and put my foot again in place, simply so I might get off the field.” Prescott at all times tries to rise up shortly. That was how he let his mother know he was OK after a tricky hit on the soccer field. The verdict in her favour was erroneously learn as $16m in courtroom, but was later amended to $15m. Deputies and firefighters responding to the crash scene shot cellphone photographs of the bodies and the wreckage, which Hashmall argued at trial have been a vital part of assessing the scenario.

His center name, Bean, was derived from his father's nickname "Jellybean". Bryant's household was Catholic and he was introduced up with this religion. In 2003, Bryant was charged with sexual assault, with the alleged sufferer being a 19-year-old lodge worker.

In the 2003 playoffs the Lakers were defeated within the second spherical. Several months later Bryant was accused of raping a younger lady in Colorado. He maintained his innocence, and all expenses have been finally dropped when the girl refused to testify after a monthslong marketing campaign of harassment by followers of Bryant and some members of the media. (Bryant later apologized, admitting that he realized his accuser did not believe their sexual encounter was consensual, and a civil suit was settled in 2005.) The incident greatly tarnished his image. Led by Bryant, the Lakers returned to the finals in 2004, but they were upset by the Detroit Pistons.

I can still hear his voice when I take into consideration the exercise I had with him. He was my hero, my idol, the reason I started playing basketball. I know he’s watching us making an attempt to hold on that legacy, and I know I’m not alone. It is rare for an athlete on this trendy period of sports activities to spend their entire career with one group. I was lucky that I was present to document every step of Kobe's twenty-year journey from a teenage rookie phenom to a five-time NBA champion, chief, veteran, husband and father.