Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as
the youngest of three children and the only son of former Philadelphia 76ers
player and former Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant
and Pamela Cox Bryant.[3] He is also the maternal nephew of John "Chubby"
Cox. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they
saw on a restaurant menu.[3] When Bryant was six, his father left the NBA and
moved his family to Italy to begin playing professional basketball.[8] Bryant
became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to speak Italian and Spanish
fluently.[8][9] During summers, Bryant would come back to the United States
to play in a basketball summer league.[10] He started playing basketball when
he was 3 years old,[11] and at an early age he learned to play soccer; his favorite
team was AC Milan.[12] He has said that if he had stayed in Italy, he would
have tried to become a professional soccer player;[12] Bryant is a big fan of
former FC Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard and their former player Ronaldinho.[13]
In 1991, the Bryant family moved back to the United States.
M.
V.P NBA 2008
M.V .P All Star Game 2008
Bryant was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable
Player Award (MVP) in the 2007–08 NBA season and led his team to the 2008
NBA Finals as the first seed in the Western Conference.[5] In 2008, he won a
gold medal as a member of the 2008 Summer Olympics U.S. Men's Basketball Team,
occasionally referred to as "The Redeem Team," a play on the name
of the first Olympic team that featured NBA players, the Dream Team.[6] Since
his second year in the league, Bryant has started in every NBA All-Star Game
that has been hosted, including winning the All-Star MVP award in 2002, 2007,
and 2009. Although known by several names throughout his career, Bryant's current
nickname is Black Mamba.
Bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular
high school career at Lower Merion High School located in the Philadelphia suburb
of Lower Merion. His father coached him his sophomore (second) year of high
school. At Adidas ABCD camp, Bryant earned the 1995 senior MVP award,[14] while
playing alongside future NBA teammate Lamar Odom. While in high school, then
76ers coach John Lucas invited Bryant to workout and scrimmage with the team,
where he played one-on-one with Jerry Stackhouse.[16] In his senior year of
high school, Bryant led the Aces to their first state championship in 53 years.
During the run, he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals,
and 3.8 blocked shots in leading the Aces to a 31–3 record. He ended his
career as Southeastern Pennsylvania's all-time leading scorer at 2,883 points,
surpassing Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons.[18] Bryant received several
awards for his performance his senior year including being named Naismith High
School Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American, and a USA Today All-USA
First Team player.Bryant's varsity coach, Greg Downer, commented that Bryant
was "a complete player who dominates".In 1996, Bryant took R&B
singer Brandy Norwood to his senior prom, though the two were/are just friends.
His SAT score of 1080 would have ensured his basketball scholarship to various
top-tier colleges. Ultimately, however, the 17-year-old Bryant made the decision
to go directly into the NBA. Bryant's news was met with a lot of publicity at
a time when prep-to-pro NBA players wasn't very common (Kevin Garnett being
the only exception in 20 years). Bryant has stated that had he decided to go
to college after high school, he would have attended Duke University..
