A tribute to the legend- Kobe Bryant

‘I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan; I only want to be Kobe Bryant’. – Kobe Bean Bryant.

Born in Philadelphia, USA. He was the son of the former NBA player Joe Bryant. At the age of 3, he started to play basketball and he loved it. He also spent his early years in Italy. He was an excellent basketball player during his schoolings. He started playing as a shooting guard. The 17-year-old Bryant made his decision to go directly into the NBA after his high school, becoming the sixth player in NBA history to do so. In 1996, he joined the NBA, playing for the Lakers. At the time, he became the youngest player ever to play in an NBA game. During the All-Star weekend, Bryant participated in the Rookie Challenge and won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, becoming the youngest dunk champion at the age of 18.

Bryant was a starter for the 1998 All-Star Game, becoming the youngest All-Star in NBA history at the age of 19. The shooting guard then teamed up with superstar Shaquille O'Neal to win three consecutive NBA championships. Though the Lakers struggled after O'Neal left in 2004, Kobe performed brilliantly. He scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006, the second-highest single-game mark in the NBA history. In 2008, Kobe was known as the Most Valuable Player and carried his team to the NBA Finals. In the 2009 NBA Finals, the Lakers beat the Orlando Magic to win the championship. He not only played for the Lakers but also represented his nation in the Olympics. Bryant played on both the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams, winning consecutive gold medals with teammates Kevin Durant, LeBron James and so on. In 2014, At age 36, he became the oldest NBA player to achieve 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a game.

In November 2015, he announced his retirement, that he would retire at the end of this season (2015-2016). On April 13, 2016, Kobe dazzled the crowd at the Staples Center and fans everywhere in the last game of his career, scoring 60 points and leading the Lakers to a win against the Utah Jazz. It was Bryant’s sixth 60-point game of his career.

Bryant was called "One of the greatest players in the history of our game" by NBA commissioner Adam Silver. On January 26, 2020, Bryant was onboard on a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter that crashed in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas. Nine people, including Bryant and his daughter, died. On April 4, 2020, Bryant was selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Kobe Bryant will never be forgotten.