Kobe Bryant is an ex professional basketball player. He spent his entire career playing for Los Angeles Lakers. He joined NBA right after passing high school. He succeeded in winning five NBA championships playing for Lakers. He gave his leadership to his NBA team in scoring in two seasons. After the 20th season with Lakers and setting the record for spending most seasons with just one team, he announced his retirement.
He had a successful high school career in basketball too. Here Bryant was declared the top high-school basketball player. Later he was chosen for the 13th overall pick by Charlotte Hornet. He was traded to Los Angeles Lakers.
Eve as a rookie, Bryant earned fans admiration and reputation as a high flyer. He received the name of All-Star in his second season.
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Early Life
Bryant was born on August 23, 1978. He is the youngest of three children. His father Joe Bryant was also a basketball player. His father left basketball when Bryant was six year old and took the family to Italy. Bryant adjusted with the lifestyle. Bryant kept coming back to USA in summer to play basketball.
His recognition came when he was in high school. His outstanding career got him noticed by the entire nation. Even as a freshman, he played for various teams. He turned out to be the first freshman after a long time to begin with Lower Merion’s team. During the junior year, he succeeded in averaging 31.1 points. This attracted the attention of the college recruit. Bryant received senior MVP award in the year of 1995 Adidas ABCD.
During his senior year, Bryant led his team Aces to championship after 53 years. He ended the high school career in Southern Pennsylvania.
Career
Bryant debuted in 1996 with Summer Pro League. He scored 25 points in his first match. The defenders of the opposing team struggled to stop him and failed. This impressed the Laker’s coach. He also became the youngest player to play NBA.
When he started his career he was allowed to play limited time. However, with time, as he proved his worth, his play time increased. At the end of the season, he played 15 minutes per game. In the next season, he got more play time. This allowed him to showcase his talent even more.
In the year 1998, he became the premium guard of the league. In this season Bryant signed a contract of $70 million. This contract kept him with the Lakers until the end of the season. Even at the beginning of his career the sportswriters started to compare his skill with the legend Michael Jordon.
On 2007, he became the youngest basketball player to touch 20,000 points. LeBron James broke this record later. In 2009, Bryant scored six game winning shot. On Nov 29th 2015 he announced his retirement.
Kobe Bryant – Career Stats
Points 33,643 (25.0 ppg)
Rebounds -7,047 (5.2 rpg)
Assists -6,306 (4.7 apg)
Wife
The 1.98 feet (6 feet 6 inch tall) Kobe married Vanessa Laine in 2001. He met her first in 1999 when she was a background dancer on ‘G’d Up’ video by Tha Eastsidaz. The wedding was not attended by Kobe’s family because they had a problem with him not wedding an Afro-American. They have one daughter Natalia Diamante Bryant (b.2003) and Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant (b. 2006). In 2011, Kobe’s wife filed for divorce and the couple asked for joint custody of their children. But in 2013, the two announced through social media that they were not divorcing.
Kobe Bryant – Salary
During his time as a player, Kobe Bryant’s average annual salary was $24,250,000. In 2014, he had renewed a 2-year contract with Los Angeles Lakers for $48.5 million. Incidentally, the first Lakers contract which Bryant had for the first three years of his career was for $3.5 million. Since then, his salary showed sustained increase as he performed brilliantly for Los Angeles Lakers.
Kobe Bryant is the only player in the history of NBA apart from Michael Jordan to witness his salary increase $30 million in a particular year. Bryant is a brand ambassador to brands like Nike, Panini, Lenovo and Hublot.
Kobe Bryant -Net Worth
Kobe Bryant with a net worth exceeding $680 million, is of the highest paid NBA players in the world. The $680 million include $323 million from his career as a basketball player across 17 seasons and the rest are from endorsements. Bryant’s career earnings of $323 million is second only to Kevin Garnett’s $332 million. This means, he is the second highest player in the NBA League history.
He also started a business called Kobe Inc. in 2013, which is into sports merchandize. He has a 10 percent stake in the sports drink manufactured and marketed by the company.
Kobe Bryant – House
He owns three properties in Orange County, California. The overall worth of all these three home come to $18 million. He is selling one of the properties, a 14000 square foot home with access to a private lagoon, a model pirate ship, for sale at $10.9 million. He also owns homes in Pacific Palisades and Newport Coast.
