In professional sports, there are players and stars -- and then there are icons, including Kobe Bryant of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. Since entering the league directly from high school, Bryant has become one of the best players not only in the sport's modern era, but one of the best of all-time. A five-time NBA champion, Bryant is one of the most recognizable athletes in all of professional sports.
Background
A native of Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, Bryant passed on college basketball after averaging more than 30 points per game as a high school senior in the 1995-1996 season, when he was the national high school player of the year. As a high school senior, the high-flying 6-foot-6 small forward also made waves when he took pop star Brandy Norwood to the Lower Merion High School prom. The Charlotte Hornets picked him 13th in the 1996 NBA Draft before trading him to the Lakers for center Vlade Divac.
Early Year
Bryant entered the league with lofty credentials and immediately showed glimpses of his superb talent. Teamed with legendary center Shaquille O'Neal, he scored in double-figures 25 times and averaged 8.2 points per game during the playoffs. His 22 points against the Portland Trailblazers were the most in a playoff game by a Lakers rookie in more than a decade. He more than doubled his scoring average in his second year, averaging 15.4 points per game -- the highest average among all NBA reserves.
The Breakout
Bryant blossomed in his third and fourth years in the league, averaging 19.9 and 22.5 points per game, respectively. But it was the 2001-2002 season that provided Bryant's true emergence into stardom. he averaged 28.5 points -- fourth-best in the NBA -- 5.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists. With Bryant emerging as a bona fide star on the perimeter and O'Neal dominating the paint, the Lakers won the NBA title each season.
Bumps in Road
Despite their dominance on the court together, including three consecutive championships, Bryant and O'Neal openly feuded off it, as each player wanted to stake his claim as the face of the franchise. Their partnership came to an end in 2004, when the Lakers tabbed Bryant as the future of the franchise and O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat. That wasn't the only bump in the road fro Bryant, who in 2003 had been accused of sexual assault by a Colorado woman. Bryant denied the charges, but publicly admitted he's cheated on his wife with the woman. The charges were dismissed.
Career Overview
Bryant will go down as one of the greatest players in NBA history. An athletic specimen who is virtually unstoppable on offense and a tenacious defender, he had won five NBA titles as of the start of the 2010-2011 season. He scored an astounding 81 points in a 2006 game against the Toronto Raptors and carried a 25 point per game career scoring average into the 2011 playoffs. A two-time finals most valuable player and one-time league MVP, he's also become a fixture on the first-team all-NBA and all-defensive teams.
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