Bill Branch, the Charlotte Hornets' head scout on the time, stated that the Hornets agreed to trade their No. 13 pick to the Lakers the day earlier than the draft. Before the commerce settlement, the Hornets never thought-about drafting Bryant. During the draft, the Lakers informed the Hornets whom to pick out minutes before the pick was made.

Two weeks later, he made his sixth game-winning shot of the season, towards the Toronto Raptors. On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored a career-high eighty one points in a 122–104 victory against the Toronto Raptors. In addition to breaking the earlier franchise record of seventy one set by Elgin Baylor, Bryant's 81-point game was the second-highest level total in NBA historical past, surpassed only by Chamberlain's 100-point recreation in 1962. Whereas Chamberlain was fed repeatedly by teammates for inside shots in a blowout win, Bryant created his own shot—mostly from the outside—in a game which the Lakers trailed at halftime by 14 and didn't pull away till the fourth quarter.

Li confirmed that the settlement was for $28.85 million. That contains the $15 million that a jury in a federal courtroom awarded to Vanessa Bryant in August within the case after discovering that firefighters and deputies violated her privateness and brought on her emotional misery. "Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant's brave battle to hold accountable those who engaged on this grotesque conduct," stated Luis Li, legal professional for Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant's spouse. "She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the neighborhood whose deceased household had been treated with related disrespect."

I’m talking, this child was in the layup line like he was on the group. So one day I should have told him to get out of the way, and he challenged me to a sport of H-O-R-S-E. To be trustworthy, I can’t even bear in mind what happened within the game. It began as him beating me in H-O-R-S-E, to him beating me in a sport of one-on-one. Bryant was main the league in scoring although much of the primary 42 games. He missed a triple double in every game with 9 rebounds twice and eight in the different.

By the time he returns to the group lodge throughout the road, plenty of the players are hanging out on the hotel lobby bar. Kobe spent his 20-year profession with the Lakers where he gained 5 NBA championships. His other accomplishments embrace surpassing Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA all-time scoring listing in December 2014 and winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball in 2018. On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter have been amongst a gaggle touring to a women basketball sport in a helicopter when it crashed, killing all nine people aboard. Bryant rejoined the nationwide team for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

For exhibiting us that there’s no such thing as magic but solely onerous work. Thank you for making us smile, laugh, yell, cry, jump out of our seats, and chew on our jerseys. Thank you for playing the sport the means in which it was meant to be played. Thank you for educating us to believe in ourselves even if nobody else does. The explanation for the crash is still unknown, as the helicopter was not outfitted with a black field. The Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and the FBI have launched investigations into the crash.

In the primary round of the playoffs, the Lakers performed nicely sufficient to reach a 3–1 sequence lead over the Phoenix Suns, culminating with Bryant's overtime-forcing and game-winning pictures in Game 4. They came inside six seconds of eliminating the second-seeded Suns in Game 6, nonetheless, they lost that recreation 126–118 in additional time. Despite Bryant's 27.9 points per recreation within the series, the Lakers broke down and finally fell to the Suns in seven video games. After scoring 50 factors on 20 of 35 shooting in the Game 6 loss, Bryant was criticized for only taking three pictures in the second half of the 121–90 Game 7 loss to Phoenix. Bryant acquired a quantity of awards for his excellent performance during his senior yr at Lower Merion. These included being named Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Men's National Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American, a first-team Parade All-American and a USA Today All-USA First Team participant.

As he has at all times liked the particular challenges of superhero stories, Bryant loves the Harry Potter movies—until Seto starts needling him. Judy Seto, the physical therapist who has meant so much to Bryant in his profession, is over at Bryant's house in the offseason to work on the knee. Sports Illustrated, 60 Minutes, every little thing beneath the All-Star 1997 sun. Bryant's fame has erupted in his second NBA season, a lot to the consternation of Lakers vice chairman Jerry West and coach Del Harris. On this present day in 2012 after a day recreation at Staples Center, Macdonald is heading home and notices a familiar white Bentley momentarily slowed in a different lane of freeway site visitors. Macdonald passes Bryant's automotive for a change, however before he does, he looks instantly over with eyes broad and presents up to Bryant a friendly greeting with a sure a part of his hand.