The two gamers had been good associates and it’s clear Durant had earned Bryant’s respect on the hardwood—something he nonetheless appreciates to this day. In that game, Iverson also outrebounded Shaquille O'Neal with 5 rebounds towards Shaq's 4. AI also had extra assists than anyone from the Lakers and was simply 4 shy of L.A.'s total assists production. More than those, he scored 41 points with Kobe Bryant tasked to guard him, and that is what challenged Kobe Bryant. O’Neal would depart for the Miami Heat in 2004, serving to that staff to an NBA championship one season later, while the Lakers retooled their roster. Kobe Bryant enjoyed spending time with all his youngsters and needed to do every little thing he may to help his daughter Gianna play they game they liked.

I heard one time in a exercise that he practiced a shot for an hour. And it wasn’t like a three-pointer, it was a little shot in the mid-range space. Do you know the way locked in you must be to do one shot for an hour? And basically, Kobe’s accomplished that for each single shot in basketball. He’s thought of each totally different angle on the courtroom.

The picture of Bryant being lower than “thrilled” with the not-so-maniacal work ethic of a teammate has turn into the middle of his persona. Though he will never usurp the greatness of Michael Jordan throughout the public consciousness, he has probably already surpassed MJ by means of the phobia and antipathy he instills in those that play alongside him. His legacy is affected by the corpses of slackers who couldn't match his dedication, significantly underachievers of surprising measurement . It has turn out to be well-liked to recommend that his ego—and his two-year, $48.5 million contract—are now actively hurting the franchise.

The only different Laker to take action was Elgin Baylor, who also scored 50+ in three consecutive contests in December 1962. Bryant completed the 12 months with a total of ten 50-plus point video games, matched solely by Chamberlain. Bryant also won his second straight scoring title that season.

Bryant was an NBA Most Valuable Player, five-time NBA champion, and one of the influential players who has ever picked up a basketball. Here’s a take a look at how he dominated each on and off the court. It’s been three years since NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and 7 others tragically died in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles in January 2020.

A media village sprang up throughout the road from the Justice Center in Eagle in the course of the summer season of 2003 following an accusation of rape lodged on the basketball star. He performed for the Italian basketball group Virtus Bologna through the NBA lockout. Before helping to raise Cincinnati into the upper echelon of college football and earlier than the Seahawks made him a distinguished a half of their defensive overhaul, he was a child whose household liked the NBA. So when it came time to name his youngest son, Ronnie determined to pay homage to his favourite participant.

When the elder Bryant and his spouse, Pam, had a son on Aug. 23, 1978, they named him after the town in Japan. Kobe Bryant shares a laugh together with his daughter Gianna while attending a women’s basketball sport between Long Beach State and Oregon on Dec. 14, 2019. Kobe Bryant is congratulated by teammates after passing Michael Jordan on the NBA’s all-time scoring list throughout a game in opposition to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec. 14, 2014. Kobe Bryant walks off the court along with his wife, Vanessa, and daughter Natalia after scoring a career-high eighty one points in a Lakers win over the Toronto Raptors at Staples Center on Jan. 22, 2006. Despite Jason Kidd’s hand in his face, Kobe Bryant places up the winning shot within the Lakers’ victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals at Staples Arena. Kobe Bryant drives past Chris Webber in Game 4 of the primary round of the 2000 Western Conference playoffs at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

The basis given for the suspension was that Bryant had carried out an "unnatural movement" in swinging his arm backwards. Later, on March 6, he seemed to repeat the motion, this time putting Minnesota Timberwolves guard Marko Jarić. On March 7, the NBA handed Bryant his second one-game suspension. In his first recreation again on March 9, he elbowed Kyle Korver within the face which was retroactively re-classified as a Type 1 flagrant foul. In the 2002–03 season, Bryant set an NBA record for three-pointers on January 7, 2003, making 12 towards the Seattle SuperSonics. He averaged 30 factors per sport and launched into a historic run, posting forty or more points in nine consecutive games whereas averaging forty.6 in the complete month of February.