Not long after retiring from his playing career and returning to family life, the ill-fated legend of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, had to leave this world after a tragic plane accident in early 2020. , leaving behind a huge “legacy” for the American professional basketball community in particular and world sports in general.
At the end of an illustrious 20-year playing career with countless titles, the name Kobe Bryant is obviously always on the table compared to famous legends such as Michael Jordan, Jerry West,… However, when standing At the peak of glory and with all the fame that any NBA player desires, the ill-fated Kobe was unable to fully live the life that he had worked hard to create with his own passion.
The journey to conquer the world basketball village
Kobe Bryant was born on August 23, 1978 in Philadelphia as the youngest child in a family of three siblings. He is the only son of former basketball player Joe Bryant, so from a young age, Kobe became acquainted with basketball and quickly showed his natural talent when entering high school. At the age of 6, Kobe and his family followed his father to Europe to compete until he was 13 years old. During that time, he often returned to his hometown to participate in movement tournaments for students every summer.
At the age of 14, Kobe Bryant and his father returned to America after his father officially retired and this was the time when the first stepping stones for Kobe Bryant’s illustrious career began. Entering High School, he began playing football for the Lower Merion Varsity team and won the school’s “best player of the year” title. That helped him receive many attractive offers from many recruiters from countless different universities, including schools like Duke, Michican or North Carolina (UNC), which were at the top of Kobe’s list. Favorite from before.
With good SAT scores and great football ability, Kobe Bryant was then able to get into any university he wanted. However, he chose the path that Kevin Garnett did 2 years earlier, which was to go straight to the professional level without going through university training. As the 5th person in history to choose that path at that time, Kobe Bryant received great attention from the media right from the first stage of entering the American professional basketball industry.
In 1996, Kobe Bryant signed a three-year contract with the Lakers worth $3.5 million. He debuted for the Lakers that summer with a great performance and is considered the most successful young player to start in the NBA. In the second tournament, Kobe Bryant began to play more and began to prove his abilities as a talented defender. He ranked 2nd in the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award voting, and from fan votes, he became the youngest player to be on the main roster of the NBA’s All-stars. .
In the years that followed, the Los Angeles Lakers won three consecutive NBA championships (2000, 2001, 2002) with no small contribution from Kobe. That achievement made Bryant the youngest player to achieve the feat in 23 years. After a few unsuccessful seasons, Kobe Bryant found himself again after changing his jersey number from 8 to 24 during the 2006 NBA season. In December 2007, Bryant became the youngest player to score scored 20,000 points at the age of 29 and won a series of consecutive awards, including All – NBA, All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team.
After re-signing with the Lakers in 2010, Bryant went on to win his 5th NBA championship and NBA Finals MVP while continuing to set the record for the youngest player to score 27,000 points and 30,000 points. However, by the 2013 season, Bryant’s performance gradually declined due to being affected by a knee injury.
In November 2015, Bryant announced that he would retire at the end of that season. Kobe Bryant played his last official match for the Los Angeles Lakers right at Staples Center home field in front of countless spectators and famous artists. In the end, with 60 points scored, Kobe’s performance is considered one of the most emotional farewell matches in NBA history.
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An illustrious legacy and an uncertain life
After spending 20 years of an illustrious professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant has reaped almost all the titles that any NBA player desires. In total, Kobe has won 5 NBA championships in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010. He also has 18 NBA All-Star appearances, and is the NBA scoring king in the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons. time helping the American basketball team win gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics. After Kobe Bryant retired in 2016, the Los Angeles Lakers decided to retire both the jersey numbers he used to wear, number 8 and number 24. to pay tribute to his contributions during his 20 years with the club.
Despite his illustrious playing career, Kobe has been involved in scandals many times due to rape and adultery scandals. Talking about his personal life, in 2001, he married model and dancer Vanessa after meeting her when he was 21 years old. It seemed that family life would go smoothly, but in 2003, Kobe was accused of raping a female hotel employee in Colorado. The incident was later resolved smoothly for Kobe and the basketball legend at that time also publicly apologized to the girl. In 2011, his wife Vanessa filed for divorce after discovering that Kobe continuously cheated on her to have affairs with many other women outside. However, two years later, Vanessa still decided to forgive her husband to continue building happiness with their small family with four young daughters.
Ignoring the above insignificant scandals, more than anything, Kobe Bryant still devoted all his love to his family and career. In addition to the above, he is also known in the sneaker industry for his line of Nike Kobe Bryant soccer shoes, which are always in the top of the most famous basketball shoe models among players. Not only that, the basketball legend of the Los Angeles Lakers team also entered the film industry when participating in writing the script and narrating the short animated film Dear Basketball . The work is based on the letter he wrote when announcing his farewell to his career and won the Best Animated Short Film award at the Oscars in 2018.
Death of a legend
It was thought that after retiring from his professional football career to return to family life, Kobe Bryant would live a full and fulfilling life, but no, on January 26, 2020, a private helicopter carrying Kobe and his wife Second daughter Gianna had an accident and crashed into a hill in Calabasas, California, killing both father and daughter and 9 other people on the flight .
According to The New York Times, the accident occurred when Kobe Bryant was on his way to the sports academy, where a youth basketball tournament took place and he was currently coaching his daughter’s team. After the incident happened, at the Mamba Sports Academy, Thousand Oaks, California, hundreds of fans immediately wore different jerseys, brought pictures of Kobe Bryant and flags of the Lakers team, and they came in. silence to lay flowers and candles in memory of the ill-fated star. Many celebrities and fellow NBA stars, as well as some athletes from other sports, also expressed their condolences and shock at Kobe’s sudden death.
Although he passed away forever at the age of 42, when we look back at his playing career and what “The Black Mamba” Kobe Bryant accomplished, we see that the will and determination can become What a wonderful source of strength. Now, his legacy will be forever remembered not only throughout the American professional basketball community but also throughout the world of sports.
