Bryant was additionally a 12-time All-Defensive Team choice, trailing solely Duncan's 15, and nine times he was named to the All-Defensive First Team, tied with Jordan, Garnett, and Gary Payton for the most all time. He was the primary guard to play 20 seasons within the NBA. He also gained the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1997 and was its youngest winner. In his profession, Bryant scored 40-plus points in 121 video games, and 21 occasions he recorded a triple-double.

Bryant averaged 15.three factors, 2.9 assists, 2.zero rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game in the match. Bryant additionally discovered to play soccer, and his favorite soccer staff was A.C. During summers, Bryant would come again to the United States to play in a basketball summer time league. When Bryant was 13, he and his household moved again to Philadelphia, where he enrolled in eighth grade at Bala Cynwyd Middle School.

In 2006, he scored a career-high eighty one factors; the second most factors scored in a single sport in league historical past, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point sport in 1962. Bryant led the staff to 2 consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, and was named NBA Finals MVP on each events. He continued to be among the many high gamers within the league via 2013, when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon at age 34. He subsequently suffered season-ending accidents to his knee and shoulder, respectively, within the following two seasons. Citing physical decline, Bryant retired after the 2015–16 season. On January 10, 2012, Bryant scored 48 points towards the Suns.

In Game 4, Bryant scored 22 points within the second half, and led the group to an OT victory as O'Neal fouled out of the sport. Bryant scored the winning shot to place the Lakers ahead 120–118. With a 116–111 Game 6 victory, the Lakers received their first championship since 1988.

With profession averages of 25.0 factors, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.4 steals per game, Bryant was thought of one of the most full players in NBA historical past. He is the fourth-leading scorer in league history with 33,643 factors. He was the first participant in NBA history to have no less than 30,000 profession points and 6,000 profession assists, and was considered one of only 4 players with 25,000 factors, 6,000 rebounds, and 6,000 assists.

Bryant gained 5 NBA championships throughout his 20-year profession with the Los Angeles Lakers, changing into one of the greatest basketball players in NBA historical past. To know for certain, he must reply that himself, but as a Newport Coast resident, training at UC Irvine was as convenient as it was pragmatic. Like most people who visit campus for the primary time, the mix of shock and awe of the wonder and heat of campus was surprising. The synergy of the campus, facilities and folks created an surroundings that welcomed him with open arms. He was on first-name basis with school, employees, amenities employees, student-athletes and coaches, at all times shaking arms or fist-bumping as he handed by. He appreciated our neighborhood for permitting him to share the house and to provide him the respect to immerse himself in his craft.

In the primary round of the playoffs, the Lakers performed well sufficient to reach a 3–1 series lead over the Phoenix Suns, culminating with Bryant's overtime-forcing and game-winning photographs in Game four. They came inside six seconds of eliminating the second-seeded Suns in Game 6, nevertheless, they misplaced that recreation 126–118 in additional time. Despite Bryant's 27.9 factors per recreation in the sequence, the Lakers broke down and ultimately fell to the Suns in seven games. After scoring 50 points on 20 of 35 capturing in the Game 6 loss, Bryant was criticized for only taking three pictures within the second half of the 121–90 Game 7 loss to Phoenix. Bryant acquired a quantity of awards for his outstanding efficiency throughout his senior year at Lower Merion.

For her nineteenth birthday, he purchased her a Lamborghini with a special adapter so she wouldn’t need to drive a stick shift. When the Lakers received their second championship in Philadelphia in 2001, Kobe was spotted holding the trophy in the bathe and crying. Some wondered if the conflict with O’Neal was taking its toll; Bryant would later say he was serious about the rift in his household.