Kobe Bryant
Basketball player and author
Kobe Bryant played 20 seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers, then turned to storytelling and won an Academy Award.
1 summary 14 min of listening
American Born 1978 in Philadelphia, United States Died 2020
About Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant (1978 to 2020) was an American basketball player known as the Black Mamba. Born in Philadelphia, he spent part of his childhood in Italy and entered the 1996 NBA draft straight from Lower Merion High School. He spent his whole 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He won five NBA championships, was named NBA Finals MVP twice, and took the league MVP award in 2008. He also won two Olympic gold medals, in 2008 and 2012. After he retired in 2016, the Lakers retired both of his jersey numbers, 8 and 24. After basketball, Bryant focused on storytelling for young athletes. His film Dear Basketball won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2018, and he led the media company Granity Studios. He wrote The Mamba Mentality. Bryant died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in January 2020, together with his daughter Gianna. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame later that year.