Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American All-Star
shooting guard in the National Basketball
Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles
Lakers. Bryant is the only son of former
Philadelphia 76ers player and former Los Angeles
Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. His
parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe,
Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu.
Bryant rose to national prominence in 1996 when he
became the first guard in league history to be
drafted out of high school. Bryant and then-teammate
Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive
NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. Since O'Neal's
departure following the 2003-04 season, Bryant has
become the cornerstone of the Lakers franchise, and
was the NBA's leading scorer during the 2005-06 and
2006-07 seasons.
In 2003, Bryant made headlines when he was accused
of sexual assault. The charges were dropped after
Bryant's accuser declined to testify. In 2006,
Bryant scored an all-time high of 81 points against
the Toronto Raptors, the second highest number of
points ever scored in an NBA game. He, also remains
the youngest player in NBA history to have 20,000
career points.
