Basketball Star Kobe Bryant Dies In Helicopter Crash

During the season, Bryant signed a six-year contract extension value $70 million. The all-time leading scorer in Lakers history, Bryant was the primary guard in NBA historical past to play 20 seasons. His 18 All-Star designations are the second most all time, and he has the second most consecutive appearances as a starter.

He performed guard for the Los Angeles Lakers for 20 years. He was identified for his robust protection, vertical leap, and skill to attain profitable baskets on the end of the sport. He is extensively thought-about one of the best basketball player of the 2000s and maybe top-of-the-line of all time.

The Lakers swept the Utah Jazz in the second spherical and advanced to the Western Conference Finals, the place they confronted Phoenix Suns. In Game 2, Bryant finished the game with thirteen assists, setting a new playoff career excessive; it was the most assists by a Laker within the playoffs since Magic Johnson had thirteen in 1996. The Lakers went on to win the series in six games capturing the Western Conference Championship and advancing to the NBA Finals for a third straight season. Bryant gained his fifth championship and earned his second consecutive NBA Finals MVP award.

Despite winning three championships collectively, Shaq and Kobe have been continuously at one another's throats, ripping one another both within the media and behind closed doorways. Following Kobe's rape accusations in the summer of 2004, the Lakers went within the tank, sending their feud into overdrive and ultimately leading O'Neal to depart the group. Shaq followed up with his notorious rap verse, "Kobe, inform me how my ass tastes." Kobe... Kobe Bryant was a well-known determine on campus to many UCI college students during his taking half in days.

Although later seasons were marred by injuries, he surpassed Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA all-time scoring list in December 2014 and retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final game. In 2018, Bryant earned an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball. On January 26, 2020, he was in a helicopter crash that killed Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gigi and seven others. As of June 2012, Bryant ranks third and fifth on the league's all-time post-season scoring and all-time common season scoring lists, respectively. He is also the all-time main scorer in Lakers franchise historical past.

This caused Bryant to miss some games because of court appearances or attend court docket earlier in the day and travel to play video games later in same day. Bryant made two buzzer beaters to win the sport and the Pacific Division title. At the end of the fourth quarter, Bryant made a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to send it into overtime. The sport eventually went to a second extra time, during which Bryant made one other 3-pointer as time expired to lift the Lakers previous the Blazers, 105–104. Kobe Bryant is famous for being top-of-the-line basketball players within the history of the NBA.

They simply swept the Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, and San Antonio Spurs, before losing their first game in opposition to the Philadelphia 76ers in OT. They would go on to win the following four video games and convey their second championship to Los Angeles in as many seasons. Bryant ended up making the All NBA Second group and All NBA Defensive Team for the second year in a row.

He stated that if he had gone to college, he would have chosen Duke. The Charlotte Hornets drafted Kobe, but instantly traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers for heart Vlade Divac. He had turned 18 by the point his first NBA season started.