Kobe Bryant

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Kobe Bryant

Bryant playing for the Lakers.
No. 24 - Los Angeles Lakers
Shooting guard
Personal information
Date of birth: August 23, 1978
Place of birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality: American
Height: 6 ft 6 in	Weight: 205 lbs
NBA debut
November 3, 1996 for the Los Angeles Lakers
Career information
High school:	Lower Merion (PA)
NBA Draft:	1996; Round 1 / Pick 13th
Selected by the Charlotte Hornets
Pro career:	1996-present
League:	NBA
Career history
Los Angeles Lakers (1996-present)
Career highlights and awards
4× NBA Champion NBA Finals MVP (2009) NBA Most Valuable Player 12× NBA All-Star 2× NBA scoring champion 8× All-NBA First Team 2× All-NBA Second Team 2× All-NBA Third Team 8× All-Defensive First Team 2× All-Defensive Second Team NBA All-Rookie Second Team 3× NBA All-Star Game MVP NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner (1997) Naismith Prep Player of the Year (1996)
Kobe Bryant at NBA.com

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an American professional basketball player at Shooting guard in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers. He is the son of former Philadelphia 76ers player and former Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his parents named him after the popular beef of the sixth-largest city in Japan, Kobe, which they saw on a restaurant menu. Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career and made instant headlines when he decided to go directly into the NBA upon graduation. He was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for the 7'1" Serbian center, Vlade Divac.

Bryant and then-teammate Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. After O'Neal's departure following the 2003–04 season, Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers franchise. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, setting numerous scoring records in the process. In 2006, Bryant scored a career high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second highest number of points scored in a single game in NBA history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point performance. He was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in the 2007–08 season and led his team to the 2008 NBA Finals as the first seed in the Western Conference. He won his fourth NBA championship in 2009, leading the Lakers to their fifteenth title and won his first Finals MVP award.

In 2010, Bryant became the all-time leading scorer in Lakers history. Since his second year in the league, Bryant has started in every NBA All-Star Game that has been hosted, winning the All-Star MVP award in 2002, 2007, and 2009. 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. Throughout the 2006–07 season, Bryant's jersey became the top selling NBA jersey in the United States and China. In 2009, Bryant had the top-selling jersey in the United States, Europe, and China. The following year, Bryant once again had the top-selling jersey in the United States. Both TNT and Sporting News named Bryant the "NBA Player of the Decade" for 2000-09

In 2003, Bryant made headlines when he was accused of sexual assault. The charges were dropped after Bryant's accuser declined to testify, and the two sides ultimately settled the matter outside of criminal court.

In 2009 Bryant won his fourth NBA championship leading the Lakers to their fifteenth title winning his first Finals MVP award.

Early Life

Kobe Bryant was born on August 23, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the youngest of three children and only son of Joe and Pam Bryant (they also have two daughters, Shaya and Sharia). His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu, shortly before his birth.

Bryant at Lower Merion High School, 1996.

Joe Bryant’s 16 years long basketball career took the family through Philadelphia, San Diego, Houston and even overseas to an Italian league. Joe left the NBA and the family moved to Pistoia in Italy, when Kobe was just 5 years old. There, he worked with the Italian Professional Basketball League for 8 years. Moving to Italy bonded the family further as initially, the Bryant family could not speak Italian and so had to stick by each other in a foreign land. Teaching sports to his children was a favorite pastime for Joe. Out of the three children, Kobe proved to be the finest student. He idolized his father and considered him his best friend. Kobe imbibed his father’s moves and the fundamentals of basketball as a young boy. He also enjoyed playing hoops and soccer. However, even at 11 years of age his options were clear as he chose to exclusively concentrate on basketball. Kobe got along very well with his siblings. All in all, a close knit family.

In 1991, Senior Bryant's career came to an end and the Bryants moved back to the United States. Kobe earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School, a Philadelphia suburban school. His SAT score of 1080 would have ensured his basketball scholarship to various top-tier colleges. Bryant has stated that had he decided to go to college after high school, he would have attended Duke University. At the time, however, speculation was that he would attend La Salle, his father's alma mater and the school where his father was an assistant coach at the time. Ultimately, however, the 17-year-old Bryant made the controversial decision to go directly into the NBA.

NBA

Bryant after being drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996.

Before he was chosen as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996, the 17-year-old Bryant had made a lasting impression on then-Lakers general manager Jerry West, who immediately foresaw potential in Bryant's basketball ability during pre-draft workouts. He went on to state that Bryant's workouts were some of the best he had seen. Immediately after the draft, Bryant expressed that he did not wish to play for the Hornets and wanted to play for the Lakers instead. Fifteen days later, West traded his starting center, Vlade Divac to the Hornets for the young Kobe Bryant.

First Two Seasons

During his first season, Bryant mostly came off the bench behind guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. Initially, he played limited minutes, but as the season continued, he began to see more playing time. He earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan-favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest.

In Bryant's second season (1997-98), he received more playing time and began showing more of his abilities as a talented young guard. He was the runner-up for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award, and through fan voting, he also became the youngest NBA All-Star starter. While his statistics were impressive for his age, he was still a young guard who lacked the experience to complement Shaquille O'Neal and significantly help the team contend for a championship.

Championship Years

However, Bryant's fortunes would soon change when Phil Jackson became coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. After years of steady improvement, Bryant had become one of the premier shooting guards in the league, a fact that was evidenced by his annual presence in the league's All-NBA, All-Star, and All-Defensive teams. The Los Angeles Lakers became perennial championship contenders under Bryant and O'Neal, who formed an outstanding center-guard combination. Their success gave the Lakers three consecutive NBA championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002.

End of a Dynasty

In the 2002-03 NBA season, Bryant averaged 30 points per game and embarked on a historic scoring run, posting 40 or more points per game in nine consecutive games while averaging 40.6 in the entire month of February. In addition, he averaged 6.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, all career highs up to that point. For the first time in his career Bryant was voted on to both--All-NBA and All-Defensive 1st teams. After finishing 50-32 in the regular season, the Lakers floundered in the playoffs and lost in the Western Conference Semi-finals to the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in six games.

In the following 2003-04 NBA season, the Lakers were able to acquire NBA All Stars Karl Malone and Gary Payton to make another push at the NBA Championship. With a starting lineup of four potential Hall of Fame players in Shaquille O'Neal, Malone, Payton, and Bryant, the Lakers were able to reach the NBA Finals. In the Finals, they were eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in 5 games. In that series, Bryant averaged 22.6 points per game, shooting 35.1% from the field, and 4.4 assists per game.

Conflicts and Turmoil

In 2003, Bryant's reputation was tainted by a sexual assault case in which Katelyn Faber, a young woman from Colorado, accused him of rape. With his image badly tarnished, the public's perception of Bryant plummeted, and his endorsement contracts with McDonald's, Nutella, and Ferrero Spa were terminated. Sales figures from NBA merchandisers indicated that sales of replicas of Bryant's jersey fell far off of their previous highs.

During the rape investigation, Kobe told police that “he should have done what Shaq does ... that Shaq would pay his women not to say anything” and that Shaq already had paid up to $1 million “for situations like this.” This was controversial because Kobe and Shaq were teammates at the time and many thought that Kobe broke "locker-room code" by revealing confidential information, or worse, by falsely accusing a teammate to deflect attention from himself.

The rape investigation was resolved when Kobe agreed to apologize to the victim for the incident, including his public mea culpa: "Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did." Details of financial compensation to the victim were not made public.

In 2004, a dispute between Bryant and former teammate Malone became public prior to Malone's expected re-signing with the Lakers. Bryant claimed Malone had made inappropriate comments to Bryant's wife. Malone claimed the comments were in jest and that Bryant was overreacting . In the subsequent months, rather than re-join Bryant and the Lakers, Malone turned his attention to the possibility of joining another team, but ultimately decided to retire.

2005-2006 Season

The 2005-06 NBA season would mark a crossroads in Bryant's basketball career. Despite past differences with Bryant, Phil Jackson returned to coach the Lakers. Bryant endorsed the move, and by all appearances, the two men worked together well the second time around, leading the Lakers back into the playoffs. Bryant also resolved his conflict with former teammate Shaquille O'Neal. The team posted a 45-37 record, an eleven-game improvement over the previous season, and the entire squad seemed to be clicking.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers played well enough (3-1 series lead) to come within six seconds of eliminating the second-seeded Phoenix Suns. Despite Bryant's remarkable game winning shot in Game 4, the Lakers broke down, and ultimately fell to the Suns in seven games. In the following offseason, Bryant had knee surgery, preventing him from participating in the 2006 FIBA World Championship tournament.

Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second highest number of points scored in a single game in NBA history on January 22, 2006.

Bryant's individual scoring accomplishments posted resulted in the finest statistical season of his career. The season included many spectacular individual performances including a game on December 20 in which Bryant scored 62 points despite playing only three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks. Entering the fourth quarter Bryant had, by himself, outscored the entire Mavericks team 62-61, the only time a player has done this through three quarters since the advent of the 24-second shot clock. When the Lakers faced the Miami Heat on January 16, 2006, Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal made headlines by engaging in handshakes and hugs before the game, signifying the end of the feud that had festered between the two players since O'Neal's acrimonious departure from Los Angeles. A month later, at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game, the two laughed and joked together on several occasions. On January 22, Bryant scored 81 points in a 122-104 victory against the Toronto Raptors. In addition to breaking the previous franchise record of 71 set by Elgin Baylor, his point total in that game was the second highest in NBA history only to Wilt Chamberlain's legendary 100-point game in 1962.

Also in January, Bryant became the first player since 1964, and the only player aside from Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor to score 45 points or more in four consecutive games. For the month of January, Bryant averaged 43.4 per game, the eighth highest single month scoring average in NBA history, and highest for any player other than Chamberlain. By the end of the season, Bryant had also set Lakers single-season franchise records for the most 40-point games (27) and most points scored (2,832), among others. Bryant won the league's scoring title for the first time, posting the highest scoring average (35.4) since Michael Jordan's 37.1 average in 1986-87. Bryant finished in fourth-place in the voting for the 2006 NBA Most Valuable Player Award, but also received 22 first place votes — second only to winner Steve Nash, and by far the highest number of first-place votes Bryant had ever received in his career.

Late in the season, it was reported that Bryant would change his jersey number from 8 to 24 at the start of the 2006-07 NBA season. 24 was Bryant's first high school number, before he switched to 33. After the Lakers' season ended, Bryant said on TNT that he wanted 24 as a rookie, but it was unavailable, as was 33, retired with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Bryant wore 143 at the Adidas ABCD camp, and chose 8 by adding those numbers. He had also worn number 8 as a child in Italy, as a salute to Mike D'Antoni, who was one of his early idols and wore number 8 as a professional basketball player in Italy. He mentioned some more reasons about his number switch, one to signify the start of the second half of his career.

2006-2007 Season

During the 2006-07 season, Bryant was selected to his 9th All-Star Game appearance, and on February 18, he logged 31 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 steals, earning his second career All-Star Game MVP trophy.

Over the course of the season, Bryant became involved in a number of on court incidents. On January 28 while attempting to draw contact on a potential game winning jumpshot, he flailed his arm striking San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili in the face with his elbow. Following league review, Bryant was suspended for the subsequent game at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, the basis given for the suspension was that Bryant had performed an "unnatural motion" in swinging his arm backwards. Later, on March 6, he seemed to repeat the motion this time striking Minnesota Timberwolves guard Marko Jarić. On March 7 the NBA handed Bryant his second one-game suspension, leading several commentators in the media to call recent happenings into question. In his first game back on March 9, he elbowed Kyle Korver in the face which was retrospectively re-classified as a Type 1 flagrant foul.

On March 16, Bryant scored a season-high 65 points in a home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, which helped end the Lakers 7-game losing streak. This was the second best scoring performance of his 11-year career. The following game, Bryant recorded 50 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves, after which he scored 60 points in a road win against the Memphis Grizzlies - becoming the second Laker to score three straight 50-plus point games, a feat not seen since Michael Jordan last did it in 1987. The only other Laker to do so was Elgin Baylor, who also scored 50 in three consecutive contests in December 1962. On March 23, in a game against the New Orleans Hornets, Bryant scored 50 points, making him the second player in NBA history to have 4 straight 50 point games behind Wilt Chamberlain, who is the all-time leader with seven consecutive 50 point games twice. Bryant finished the year with ten 50-plus point games becoming the only player other than Chamberlain in 1961-62 and 1962-63 to do it in one season, and won his second straight scoring title.

During the 2006-07 season, Bryant's jersey became the top selling NBA jersey in the United States and China. A number of journalists have attributed the improved sales to Bryant's new jersey number, as well as his continuing All-Star performance on the court.In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers were once again eliminated in the first round by the Phoenix Suns.

2007-2008 Season:MVP Year

In 2008 Bryant was named NBA Most Valuable Player. He was second in the league, behind LeBron James, in scoring with 28.3 PPG and was selected for the NBA All-Star Game for the tenth time in his career. He was also voted to the NBA All-Defensive Team for the eighth time in his career. Bryant also led the Lakers to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics but lost to them in six games.

On December 23 2007, Bryant became the youngest player (29 years, 122 days) to reach 20,000 points, in a game against the New York Knicks, in Madison Square Garden.

Despite an injury to his shooting hand's small finger, described as "a complete tear of the radial collateral ligament, an avulsion fracture, and a volar plate injury at the MCP joint" that occurred in a game on February 5, 2008, Bryant played all 82 games of the regular season instead of opting for surgery. Regarding his injury, he stated, "I would prefer to delay any surgical procedure until after our Lakers season, and this summer's Olympic Games. But, this is an injury that myself [sic] and the Lakers' medical staff will just have to continue to monitor on a day-to-day basis." In September 2008 Bryant decided not to have surgery to repair the injury.

Leading his team to a West best 57–25 record, they swept the Nuggets in the first round and on May 6, 2008, Bryant was officially announced as the NBA Most Valuable Player award, his first for his career. He said, "It's been a long ride. I'm very proud to represent this organization, to represent this city." Jerry West, who was responsible for bringing Bryant to the Lakers was on hand at the press conference to observe Bryant receive his MVP trophy from NBA commissioner David Stern. He stated, "Kobe deserved it. He's had just another great season. Doesn't surprise me one bit." In addition to winning his MVP award, Bryant was the only unanimous selection to the All-NBA team on May 8, 2008 for the third straight season and sixth time in his career. He would then headline the NBA All-Defensive First Team with Kevin Garnett, receiving 52 points overall including 24 first-place nods, earning his eighth selection.

The Lakers concluded the 2007–08 regular season with a 57–25 record, finishing first in the Western Conference and setting up themselves for a first-round contest against the Nuggets. In Game 1, Bryant, who said he made himself a decoy through most of the game, scored 18 of his 32 points in the final 8 minutes to keep Los Angeles safely ahead. That made Denver the first 50-win team to be swept out of the first round of the playoffs since the Memphis Grizzlies fell in four to the San Antonio Spurs in 2004. In the first game of the next round against the Jazz, Bryant scored 38 points as the Lakers beat the Jazz in Game 1. The Lakers won the next game as well, but dropped Games 3 and 4, even with Bryant putting up 33.5 points per game. The Lakers then won the next two games to win the semifinals in 6. This set up a Western Conference Finals berth against the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers defeated the Spurs in 5 games, sending them to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. This marked the fifth time in Bryant's career and the first time without Shaquille O'Neal to go to the NBA Finals. The Lakers then lost to the Boston Celtics in 6 games.

Back to the top (2008–09)

In the 2008–09 season the Lakers opened the 2008–2009 campaign by winning their first seven games. Bryant led the team to tie the franchise record for most wins to start the season, going 17–2, and the Lakers went to 21–3 by the middle of December. Bryant led the Lakers to several key games against contenders for the NBA title, including a 92–83 win against Boston on an anticipated Christmas Day matchup, a 105–88 win against Cleveland on January 19, 2009, and a 6–0 road trip dating from January 30 to February 8, 2009 (which included two more respective wins over the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers). As a result the Lakers remained the top seed in the Western Conference standings the entire season.

Bryant continued his dominant play in the season, earning his eleventh consecutive All-Star Game start and again positioning himself as one of the front runners for the NBA Most Valuable Player award. Bryant was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for December and January in addition to being named Western Conference Player of the week three times. In January, Bryant recorded 2 triple doubles to bring his career total to 16. These were the first two triple-doubles for Bryant since 2005. During the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, Bryant who tallied 27 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals was awarded All-Star Game co-MVP with former teammate Shaquille O'Neal as the Western Conference All-Stars defeated their Eastern counterparts, 146–119.

Bryant also had another notable scoring season. February 2nd, In a road game against the New York Knicks, Bryant scored 61 points on 61% shooting in a 126–117 win. Bryant's scoring outburst set a record for the most points ever scored at the historic Madison Square Garden, breaking Bernard King's record. Bryant's performance was also the highest single game point total of the 2008–2009 season in the NBA. By season's end, Bryant had moved from 21st to 17th place on the NBA All-Time scoring list, passing (in chronological order) Elgin Baylor, Adrian Dantley, Robert Parish, and Charles Barkley.

The Lakers finished the season first in the west with a 65–17 record, and finished second overall in the NBA. Bryant was runner-up in the MVP voting behind LeBron James. Bryant was also selected to the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team for the seventh time in his career. Due to an extended playoff run in the previous year and playing in the 2008 Olympics, Bryant played almost 3 minutes less per game than last season. This resulted in a slight decline of most of Bryant's stats.

The Lakers started the playoffs on April 19, 2009 against the Utah Jazz. The Lakers won that series 4–1. In the second round, the Lakers faced the Houston Rockets, prevailing in seven games, 4–3. In the third round, the Lakers faced the Denver Nuggets winning the series in six games, 4–2. The victory earned the Lakers their second straight trip to the NBA Finals and Bryant's 6th overall. The Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in the Finals and were named the 2009 NBA Champions. Bryant was awarded his first NBA Finals MVP trophy upon winning his fourth championship, becoming the first player since Jerry West in the 1969 NBA Finals to average at least 32.4 points and 7.4 assists for a series and the first since Michael Jordan to average 30 points. 5 rebounds and 5 assists for a title-winning team. His 162-point total also ranked fourth-most all-time for an individual player in a five-game Finals series.

Bryant is eligible to opt-out of his contract following the 2008–09 season.

International

FIBA Americas Championship

Bryant's senior international career with the U.S. national team began in 2006. He was a member of the 2007 USA Men's Senior National Team that appeared in the FIBA Americas Championship, finishing 10–0 and winning the gold medal to qualify for the 2008 Olympics. He started in all 10 of the USA's FIBA Americas Championship games. He ranked third on the team for made and attempted free throws, ranked fourth for made field goals, made 3-pointers. Among all FIBA Americas Championship competitors, Bryant is ranked 15th in scoring, 14th in assists, and eighth in steals. Scored in double-digits in eight of 10 games. He drained the game winner on a 14 feet (4.3 m) jumper above the foul line with second left in the game. He currently averages a .530 shooting percentage, with 16.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists.

Bryant provided a crucial late spark and the United States won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, defeating world champion Spain, 118-107.

As a part of his international expansion, he is also featured in a Chinese reality TV show, called the Kobe Mentu show, which documents Chinese basketball players on different teams going through drills, preparing to play each other while Bryant gives advice and words of encouragement to the players while they practice.

Beijing Olympics

On June 23, 2008, he was named to the USA Men's Senior National Team for the Beijing Olympics. This was his first time going to the Olympics.

Bryant scored 20 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, along with six assists, as Team USA defeated Spain 118-107 in the Gold Medal Game on August 24, 2008, breaking their drought of Olympics gold medals dating back to 2000. He averaged 15.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting .462 from the field in eight Olympic contests.

Off the court, because of his outstanding play and fluency in other languages, Bryant became hugely popular with the Chinese crowds and the international press.

Unquestioned Leader

When O'Neal was traded, Bryant became the Lakers' unquestioned leader of the team going into the 2004-05 season. As it turned out, however, his first season without O'Neal would prove to be a very rocky one. With his reputation badly damaged from all that had happened over the previous year, Bryant was closely scrutinized and criticized during the season.

A particularly damaging salvo came from Phil Jackson in The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul. The book detailed the events of the Lakers' tumultuous 2003-04 season and has a number of criticisms of Bryant. In the book Jackson also calls Bryant "uncoachable."

Then, midway through the season, Rudy Tomjanovich suddenly resigned as Lakers coach, citing the recurrence of health problems and exhaustion. Without "Rudy T," stewardship of the remainder of the Lakers' season fell to career assistant coach Frank Hamblen. Despite the fact that Bryant was the league's second leading scorer at 27.6 points per game, the Lakers floundered and missed the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. This year signified a drop in Bryant's overall status in the NBA by not making the NBA All-Defensive Team and being demoted to All-NBA Third Team.

Style of Play

Bryant is a shooting guard who plays small forward and point guard on some occasions. He is considered one of the most complete players in the NBA, and has been elected to every All-NBA Team from 1999 on and featured in the last nine NBA All-Star games. Bryant was a vital part of the three most recent Lakers' championships. He is a prolific scorer, averaging 24.6 points per game for his career, along with 4.5 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. He is known for his ability to create shots for himself, and is an adept outside shooter, sharing the single-game NBA record for three pointers made with twelve. Aside from this, he is also a standout defender having made the All-Defensive 1st or 2nd Team 7 of the last 8 seasons. In the Blue vs. White State Farm scrimmage game, he hit the game winner.

Personal Life

In November 1999, 21 year old Bryant met 17 year old Vanessa Laine while she was working as a background dancer on the Tha Eastsidaz music video G'd Up. Bryant was in the building working on his debut musical album, which was never released.

The two began dating and became engaged just six months later in May 2000, while Laine was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. To avoid media scrutiny, she finished high school through independent study. According to Vanessa's cousin Laila Laine, there was no prenuptial agreement. Vanessa said Kobe "loved her too much for one".

They married on April 18, 2001 in Dana Point, California. Neither Bryant's parents, his two sisters, longtime advisor and agent Arn Tellem, nor Bryant's Laker teammates attended. Bryant's parents were opposed to the marriage for a number of reasons. Reportedly Bryant's parents had problems with him marrying so young, especially to a woman who was not African-American. This disagreement resulted in an estrangement period of over two years, during which Kobe Bryant did not have any contact with his parents.

The Bryants' first child, a daughter named Natalia Diamante Bryant, was born on January 19, 2003. The birth of Natalia influenced Bryant to reconcile his differences with his parents. Vanessa Bryant suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic pregnancy in the Spring of 2005. In the Fall of 2005 the Bryants announced that they were expecting their second child. Their second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, was born on May 1, 2006. Interestingly, Gianna was born 6 minutes ahead of former teammate Shaquille O'Neal's daughter Me'arah Sanaa, who was born in Florida.

External Links

• NBA.com player file

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