Kobe Bryant Life Story: His spectacular journey cut short

✅ Did you know that besides basketball, he devoted himself to music, film and writing?
✅ Or that he won an Oscar?
✅ And why was he arrested and indicted?

KOBE BRYANT

It's August 23, 1978 in Philadelphia, where Joe and Pamela Cox Bryant give new life to a son named Kobe Bean Bryant. If you’ve heard the name Kobe, it may be because it’s very famously associated with the Japanese luxury beef, named after the city of Kobe in Japan. Well, Joe and Pamela Cox see Bryant's name Kobe on a restaurant menu just before the birth of their son. His middle name - Bean - comes from his father, nicknamed Jellybean as a basketball player. but enough about his name! Kobe is the youngest of three children and the family’s only son. He’s also the nephew of basketball player John Cox.

Having two professional basketball players in his family soon takes young Kobe on the same path.

Kobe starts playing basketball when he is three. As he becomes more interested in basketball, his favorite basketball team is the Los Angeles Lakers. At six, his father leaves the NBA and moves with his family to Rieti, Italy, where he continues to play basketball professionally, but of course at a much lower competitive level than the NBA. They are not here long. After two years they move to Reggio Calabria, then to Pistoia and also to Reggio Emilia, the place that Kobe loves the most and which he remembers most later in life. By the way, it’s here that young Kobe starts to get really interested in basketball and taking it seriously. Apparently, Kobe's grandfather also contributes to his interest by sending recordings of NBA games to his grandson in Italy so little Kobe can study the style and techniques of the best NBA players. In his free time, however, besides basketball Kobe also plays soccer. His favorite team becomes AC Milan.

When Bryant is 13, he returns home with his family to Philadelphia. At this point he already knows what he wants to do in his life, but do you think he’s already a good basketball player? Not by a long shot.

Summer comes and Kobe takes part in Sunny Hill basketball league, which means playing basketball the whole summer. For two whole months he doesn’t score a single point. He is really disappointed and cries. As he says later in one interview, at the time his father hugs him and says: "Listen, whether you score zero or 60, I'm gonna love you no matter what."
And because Kobe really loves the game, since that day he starts working harder every day to become a better player. And it soon pays off.

After a few years he attends Lower Merion High School in Ardmore. This school has never had any exceptional basketball players, until Kobe that is. During his studies, he becomes the best player on the school team with whom he wins a lot of awards. Even his high school coach says: "This is a finished player." And even though he would have been accepted at virtually any university at age 17, Kobe doesn’t apply to any of them. He decides to start writing his story in the best basketball league in the world, and at that time he is only the sixth NBA player to enter the league straight out of high school.

The Charlotte Hornets take him under their wing in the first round of the draft. But even though Charlotte chooses him, he joins the team he’s loved since his childhood- the Los Angeles Lakers. That’s because the Charlotte Hornets decide to trade Bryant for another player, Vlade Divac. And when he starts his first season with the Lakers in 1996, he’s the youngest player ever in the league. The rookie plays with legends like Larry Drew and Michael Cooper. Right along side them he becomes an even better player. In 1997, he becomes the youngest player in the All Star game and wins the dunking competition. In his third season with the Lakers, when he’s only 20 years old, he signs a $70 million six-year contract. He gets compared with Michael Jordan. But his playoff team's results aren’t good.

Kobe gets frustrated. He always wants to win and can't understand his teammates who just go to restaurants and have fun after losing a game. He tries to have a positive impact on them and pushes them to train harder instead of just enjoying nights out. Kobe develops new intense training sessions for himself where he practises every day. For example, in the off season he trains for 6 hours a day - a 2 hour run, 2 hours weight lifting, and 2 hours playing basketball.
The misery of the playoffs changes with the arrival of a new Coach - Phil Jackson. After years of improvement, Bryant becomes one of the leading shooting guard. He gets back into the All-Star game and the NBA selections. The Lakers suddenly become the main favorites to win the title.

▶️ For the rest of this amazing life story watch the video!