KOBE BRYANT - THE LEADER & LEGEND OF THE GAME, GREATEST BASKETBALL PLAYER IN HISTORY, period. From 1994 till 2013 ... This resume is unmatched by any basketball player in any league worldwide. * Bryant is often cited as one of the most dangerous scorers in the NBA, and holds numerous scoring and shooting records including the highest single game scoring performance ever recorded with 81 points and the most single game three-pointers made with 12. * In 2007, ESPN ranked him the second greatest shooting guard of all-time after Michael Jordan, who Bryant modeled is frequently compared to. With career averages of 25.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per game, he is considered one of the most complete players in the NBA. He has been selected to the last 15 All-Star Teams, earned All-NBA and All-Defensive honors every season since 2000, and was named to the All-Rookie Team in his debut season. His 15 All-NBA and 11 All-NBA First Team selections are both tied for the most selections in league history. * As a ROOKIE, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by WINNING the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest. Becoming the youngest player to be named the slam dunk champion at the age of 18. * He is also the youngest NBA All-Star starter in NBA history. * He entered the NBA directly from high school as the first guard to ever be taken out of high school. Bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School located in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion. As a freshman, he played for the varsity basketball team. He became the first freshman in decades to start for Lower Merions varsity team, but the team finished with a poor 4–20 record. The following three years, the Aces compiled a 77–13 record, with Bryant playing all five positions. During his junior year, he averaged 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists and was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year. At Adidas ABCD camp, Bryant earned the 1995 senior MVP award. In his senior year of high school, Bryant led the Aces to their first state championship in 53 years. During the run, he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals, and 3.8 blocked shots in leading the Aces to a 31–3 record. Bryant ended his high school career as Southeastern Pennsylvanias all-time leading scorer at 2,883 points, surpassing both Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons. Bryant received several awards for his performance his senior year including being named Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Mens National Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonalds All-American, and a USA Today All-USA First Team player. Bryants varsity coach, Greg Downer, commented that Bryant was a complete player who dominates. * During his rookie season, Bryant mostly came off the bench behind guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. At the time he became the youngest player ever to play in an NBA game, and also became the youngest NBA starter ever (18 years, 158 days) He has played for the Lakers his entire career, winning five NBA championships. Bryant is a 15-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. As of March 2013, he ranks 3rd and 4th on the leagues all-time postseason scoring and all-time regular season scoring lists, respectively. * At 34 years and 104 days of age, Bryant became the youngest player in league history to reach 30,000 career points. He is also the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. Since his second year in the league, Bryant has been selected to start every All-Star Game. He has won the All-Star MVP Award four times (2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011), tying him for the most All Star MVP Awards in NBA history. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals as a member of the USA national team. Sporting News and TNT named Bryant the top NBA player of the 2000s. * On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points in a victory against the Toronto Raptors. In addition to breaking the previous franchise record of 71 set by Elgin Baylor, Bryants 81-point game was the highest point total in NBA history ever RECORED. In that same month, Bryant also became the first player since 1964 to score 45 points or more in four consecutive games, joining Chamberlain and Baylor as the only players ever to do so. For the month of January, Bryant averaged 43.4 points per game. * By the end of the 2005–06 season, Bryant set Lakers single-season franchise records for most 40-point games (27) and most points scored (2,832). He won the leagues scoring title for the first time by averaging 35.4 points per game. During the 2006–07 season, Bryant was selected to his 9th All-Star Game appearance, and on February 18, he logged 31 points, 6 assists, and 6 steals, earning his second career All-Star Game MVP trophy. On March 16, Bryant scored a season-high 65 points in a home game against the Portland Trail Blazers. 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. In the following day, 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 a total of ten 50-plus point games. Throughout the 2006–07 season, Bryants jersey became the top selling NBA jersey in the United States and China. 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 hands 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. 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. Bryant receive his MVP trophy from NBA commissioner David Stern. He stated, Kobe deserved it. Hes had just another great season. Doesnt 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. During the 2009–10 season, Bryant also became the youngest player (31 years, 151 days) to reach 25,000 points during the season, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain. On December 5 against New Orleans, Bryant became the youngest player (34 years and 104 days) in league history to score 30,000 points, joining Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain as one of five players to reach that milestone. On December 18, in a 101–100 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, Bryant scored 30+ points in his seventh consecutive game, the longest streak ever by an NBA player after turning 34 years old; it was the fourth-longest such streak in his career. ** LAST SEASON (EARLIER THIS YEAR OF 2013) - Bryant was leading the league in scoring though much of the first 42 games. Bryant had at least 10 assists in three wins with a three-game total of 39 assists, the most in his career. In two crucial wins in March, he scored at least 40 points and had at least 10 assists in back-to-back games, becoming the first Laker to accomplish the feat since Jerry West in 1970. With the Lakers fighting to secure the eighth and final playoff berth in the West, coupled with injuries on the team, Bryant began playing almost all 48 minutes each game. On April 10, 2013, Bryant became the first player in NBA history to get 47 points, eight rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals in an NBA game. His injury came while he was playing seven consecutive quarters and at least 40 minutes for seven consecutive games. The 34-year-old Bryant was averaging his most minutes (38.6) in six years, and only Portland rookie Damian Lillard was averaging more minutes. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak had spoken to Bryant about his extensive playing time 10 days earlier, but Bryant insisted the minutes needed to continue given the Lakers playoff push. Bryant had surgery on April 13 to repair the tear, and it was estimated he would miss six to nine months. He ended the season with his customary numbers scoring average of 27.3 points, 46.3 percent shooting, 5.6 rebounds and 6 assists. However, The New York Times called his leading of the Lakers back into playoff contention perhaps some of the finest work of his career. Eight times he reached 40 points during the season, and eleven times he had 10 or more assists in his role as distributor, dubbed Magic Mamba after the passing skills of Magic Johnson. Bryants assists were the second-highest of his career and his field goal percentage was its highest since since 2008–09. * In an annual survey of NBA general managers, Bryant was selected in 2012 for the 10th consecutive season as the player they most wanted taking the shot with the game on the line. WOW, A TRULY UNMATCHED PLAYER. Kobe in his 17th season is the king of the NBA, nobody else will ever achieve his greatness within longevity ... KING KOBE #8 & #24.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 20:30:44 +0000
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