Early Life
Bryant spent part of his childhood in Italy, where his father Joe played professionally, and entered the NBA directly out of Lower Merion High School in 1996.
Career
He won five NBA championships (2000–2002, 2009 and 2010), the 2008 NBA MVP award and two Finals MVP awards, and scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in 2006, the second-highest single-game total in NBA history. He also won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012.
Legacy
After retiring in 2016 he won an Academy Award in 2018 for the animated short Dear Basketball. Bryant died with his daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in January 2020. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in the class of 2020.
Sources and further reading
Last updated: 2026-09-24