Kobe Bryant Biography
/0 Comments/in Biographies & Life Stories, Sports Icons/by rathodkethan1@gmail.comKobe Bryant: The Mamba Mentality

Kobe Bryant put winning over everything. Here he was a hopeless romantic and an obsessive maniac. But how good was he actually in early life and on the road to the NBA? . Accordingly, Kobe’s dad may have been a millionaire.
Kobe Bryant Early Life
But this didn’t make Kobe’s life easy, like Will Smith’s. Kobe took birth in Philadelphia, and his father, Joe Jellybean Bryant, played for the 76ers. After eight years in the NBA. Then Jellybean moved his family to Italy to play basketball abroad. At that time, Kobe was just six years old. And he didn’t speak a lick of Italian, switching schools every time.
Kobe Bryant hurdles for play Basket ball
His father changing teams didn’t help. And the cherry on top was that he was the only Black kid at all of them. This shaped Kobe as a person and a player struggling to fit in. Always he gravitated towards basketball. So he learned to play in isolation for hours.
Kobe Bryant dreamt of NBA player
Basketball became a safe space. Where he could prove himself against the kids who didn’t accept him. When he wasn’t playing, he watched NBA games on VHS. And dreamt of becoming an NBA player. When Kobe was 13, Brian’s family returned to Philadelphia once again.
Kobe Bryant insulted
People alienated him because he didn’t know American slang. Then he would silence those who teased him on the basketball court. But Bryant was obsessive about the game from a very early age. And worked on his basketball skills tirelessly.
As an upperclassman, he played all five positions for Lower Marion High School. And averaged 31 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and four blocks. Senior year, he led Lower Marion to their first state championship in 53 years. Then named Naismith High School Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American.
Kobe Bryant Education
There was a giant hype about where he’d go to college. Then Kobe surprised everybody. One day, Brian organized a press conference and announced that he would skip college. And take his talents to the NBA. In history, Kobe was just the sixth player to go to the NBA directly from high school.
Kobe Bryant Career

So naturally NBA executives were reluctant to draft him. But after he destroyed Michael Cooper in practice. Lakers GM Jerry West knew that he was watching the best pre-draft workout. In this, he’d ever seen and that Kobe was the best player in the 1996 draft.
Kobe Bryant - Slim Drunk Contest
So West finessed the Charlotte Hornets into drafting Kobe, as he determinedly had him drafted. The Hornets then traded Kobe to the LA Lakers in exchange for Vlade Divac, a brash youngster. So I’m Kobe Bryant, and nobody is going to punk me. That was the first thing Kobe said at his first training camp practice.
He let the other Lakers know he’s no ordinary rookie. Even as a skinny young kid, Kobe was fearless from the get-go, relentless in every practice and every game. Kobe entered the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest and won. His teammates lovingly called him.
Kobe Bryant 1st playoff game
showboat, but it wasn’t all good. In his first playoff series, Bryant famously shot four air balls in overtime against Utah. By his second season, he was already averaging 15 points per game. Even he became the youngest all-star starter in NBA history. But didn’t start on his own team.
Against Black Jesus
His most memorable moments from 98 were playing against Black Jesus. Kobe impressed MJ. How he would unapologetically ask for advice. And he never let Jordan intimidate him. Here Kobe went on to finish second in the Sixth Man of the Year voting. In the playoffs, the Lakers would repeat history and lose to Utah in 1999.
Nearly Kobe and O’Neill decapitated Bryant. However, Phil Jackson was called the Zen Master for a reason. Here he challenged O’Neill to get into the best shape of his life. And Shaq dominated like never before. So Kobe was an all-star averaging 22, 6, and 5, and the Lakers were firing on all cylinders.
MVP Trophy
In the regular season, they went on to win 67 games. Which was the fifth-best result in NBA history. So Shaq won the MVP trophy. And the NBA named Kobe to the All-NBA second team. So he became the youngest player ever selected to the All-Defense First Team. But once again, playoffs were no cakewalk for the Lakers.
It was the fourth quarter of game seven in the western finals, and the Lakers were losing by 15 against Portland. Everyone thought it was the end for the Lakers until Kobe and Shaq powered one of the best comebacks in NBA history. Bryant was phenomenal in the clutch with his crossover on Scottie Pippen, and the alley-oop duck clinched the game and the series, but their work wasn’t finished; they still had the finals against the Pacers, and in game two, it happened.
Kobe and Shaq journey
Jalen Rose had deliberately put his feet under Kobe in Game Two and twisted his ankle; Bryant was forced to miss Game Three, and Indiana comfortably won that game. What the Pacers didn’t realize is Kobe is one resilient SOB; he returned in Game Four with a vengeance.
When Shaq got ejected, Kobe put the team on his shoulders and carried them to a win. The Lakers would break the Pacers in six games, and Kobe jumped in Shaq’s arms to celebrate their first ever title together; however, things never stayed good for long between Shaq and Kobe.
Kobe was opportunistic
After the first title, Shaq was content, so content he spent his summer eating burgers and drinking piña coladas. Kobe, on the other hand, spent the summer in the gym, so when he saw Shaq in the preseason out of shape, Kobe lost his mind, and their feud started again, but Shaq’s laziness gave Kobe more opportunities to dominate.
Bryan averaged a career-high 28.5 points per game, and thankfully, once the playoffs came, Shaq was the athletic beast he was the year before, and the Lakers were unstoppable. They swept all three series in the western conference; who would stop them from doing the same in the finals? Well, he was small, but he was a problem.
His name was Allen Iverson. AI mercilessly dropped 48 in the Staples Center, stepped over Tyron Liu, and won game one for the Sixers, but Shaq and Kobe took AI’s disrespect personally, and they couldn’t let that slide.
Won game six
The Lakers came back and won the next four games to clinch their second consecutive title; their 15-1 playoff run was the best in history until 2017, when the Warriors went 16-1. In 2002, Kobe led the Lakers in assists, and he averaged 25 per game. Mamba made the first all-NBA team for the first time in his career, plus the first all-defense team.
He also won the all-star game MVP, and the Lakers continued to dominate the opposition until they reached the conference finals and the Sacramento Kings. The Kings were the best team throughout the season, and Chris Webber was playing at the MVP level.
The Kings took a 3-2 lead in the series, and to be honest, they would have probably won game six too had it not been for one of the worst refering jobs in NBA history.
Kobe was best offensive player
The ref stole that win for the Lakers, but LA won game seven fair and square in the finals; they quickly dismantled the Nets in four games. Shaq was the finals MVP for the third time in a row, and Kobe became the youngest player ever with three championships.
Fallout with Shaq after 2002: Kobe was one of the best offensive players in the game. He knew when to shoot and when to pass; the problem was sometimes he didn’t want to pass. Kobe, being one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, always guarded the best opposing guard in the clutch; he understood the game tactically.
He had all the moves and countermoves; in 2003, he dropped 55 on Jordan. He averaged over 32 points in the playoffs, but the Spurs were too strong that year. The only thing that Kobe had not fully mastered was emotional intelligence and being a leader.
Kobe behave childish
In 2004, his beef with Shaq became unbearable; both Shaq and Kobe acted childishly, but Kobe did Shaq dirty after discussing Shaq’s marriage with the media, ironic because he was also going through a court case in Colorado that proved his own infidelity.
The craziest part was it was at the same time as his trial; Kobe was playing in the playoffs. Only a cold-blooded individual can face a lengthy jail sentence. And still go out to perform as well as he did.
The Lakers added Carl Malone and Gary Payton, so everybody crowned them champions in their expectations again, but Kobe beefed with both Shaq and Malone. Lack of chemistry showed its ugly head when it was most important. Kobe was forcing things in the finals against the Pistons.
Perfect player in the Basket ball
He took by far the most shots on the team despite hitting only 38 from the field and 17 for three, and the Lakers lost in five games. Something had to change, so the Los Angeles Lakers traded Shaquille O’Neal to the Miami Heat in 2004, and Kobe had the chance to prove that he could win without him. Individual greatness: Kobe was a maniac.
For all the kids out there that want to be like Kobe, here’s some advice: don’t do it because Kobe was one in a billion. He ran himself into the ground to become a perfect basketball player.
He was in the gym up to three times a day, and he wouldn’t leave practice without making 400 shots. But it was because Kobe was such a maniac that he produced some of the greatest memories for basketball fans around the world in 2005.
Didnot true team player
He scored 62 points against the Mavs in just three quarters, and three weeks later, he notoriously scored 81 against the Raptors, the second highest scoring game in NBA history. Bryant averaged 35 points per game in 05 and 31 in 06.
He was in his athletic prime; Kobe led the league in scoring, and his highlights of that era are a thing of beauty, but that same year, the Lakers somehow missed the playoffs, and in 06 and 07, they lost to the Suns in the first round despite Mama’s heroics and game-winners in the clutch.
He still wasn’t proven as a true team player or leader. Buenos días. Pal Kobe’s selfishness almost got him traded to Detroit during the 2007-2008 season, but that fell through, and instead, the Lakers traded for Pau Gasol, one of the best European players ever.
Best player in the world
With the additions of Gasol and Trevor Ariza and the emergence of Andrew Bynum, the Lakers finally became championship contenders again. They clinched the number one seed, and Mamba was named the regular season MVP.
They dominated the west and made it to the finals against the Boston Celtics with Tom Thibodeau, a defensive mastermind in his revolutionary ice defense. The Celtics would load up defenders on Kobe in the finals, forcing Brian to get rid of the ball or take tough shots against multiple defenders.
Kobe was the best player in the world at the time, but Boston had a better team that season, and the Celtics won in six games after winning the 2008 Olympics with Team USA against Spain. Kobe left the gold medal in front of Palgas’s locker to rile him up for the season.
In 2009, Most Mature Player
He needed power to be aggressive. He played similar tricks on other teammates and was finally learning to be a leader. Kobe took it upon himself to hang out socially and bond with his teammates to learn what made them tick. He now knew he couldn’t win the title by himself.
In 2009, Bryant was playing the best and most mature basketball of his life. He led the Lakers to win the championship and earned the finals MVP award. In 2010, the Lakers made the finals once more and had a chance at revenge against the Celtics.
But as usual, there was a problem: Kobe was playing with a bone spur in his ankle and a broken finger on his shooting hand. As you would imagine, he couldn’t shoot the ball well.
Got 5th title
This series in particular was pretty ugly, but things were different than they were years ago: Kobe and the Lakers learned to play like a team and took the series to game seven. Kobe shot six from 24, incapable of putting the game away by himself, but with his mamba mentality.
He’d rather die than lose to the Celtics twice. Bryant had 15 rebounds that game, and he was doing everything possible to win, then in the last minute, Ron Artest would hit a three, and the Lakers prevailed.
Kobe got his fifth title that night, and when a reporter asked what the title means for him, Kobe truthfully and sarcastically answered, Just got one more than Shaq. The Lakers downfall and Kobe’s legacy in 2011 and 2012: Kobe was still his usual self, scoring and trying to win the title at any cost.
Love letter to Basket ball
But the Lakers were once again struggling, so in 2013, they traded for Dwight Howard, and Howard was a terrible fit. It was obvious that Kobe’s athleticism was slowly fading then. As if things weren’t already bad enough, it happened: Kobe snapped his Achilles, the most devastating injury in basketball.
Kobe made his two free throws and walked himself off the court like a boss. Frustrated, he cried in the locker room, but he was still determined to come back stronger. The thing is, even with the Mamba mentality, after the Achilles came the knee injury. After the knee, it was the shoulder. Kobe was getting older, and in 2016 it was obvious that he couldn’t do it anymore; everything was hurting.
That’s when Kobe wrote Dear Basketball, his love letter to the sport. It was the best retirement announcement in the history of sports. He opened a door into his beautiful and deep personality, which only a few people knew existed.
Retirement & his Legacy
Kobe had finally let his guard down for the first time in his life. He was no longer an athlete; he was kind, he was jovial, and he was giving the whole NBA a retirement tour and honoring his legacy. In the game of basketball, Bryant sucked for the majority of that season.
I think he dunked the ball maybe once that year, but in the final game of his career against an opponent who was fighting for a playoff spot, Kobe played one of the best games of his career. This motherfucker dropped 60.
He literally made every shot in the clutch with almost no lift in his legs, and just like Jordan inspired him, he became an inspiration to millions of kids around the world who would all yell Kobe while throwing their homework in the trash.