| Product: |
Kobe Bryant |
| Date: |
02/10/07 (90 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Talent, Money,
Disadvantages: Court Case
......Introduction........
I Have been monitoring the situation with Kobe Bryant ever since The Los Angeles Lakers Shooting Guard made it clear he wasnt happy with the Lakers front office who he accused of messing up the team and doing nothing to bring in new players to make the team a championship contender again. Plus there was that video where Kobe dissed the decision to keep Andrew Bynum when The Lakers had the chance to trade for Jason Kidd.
Now training camp has arrived and as The Lakers said would happen Kobe arrived this morning at the Lakers press conference before they fly to Hawaii on their Training Camp. Kobe had previously said he wanted to be traded after 11 years at Los Angeles Lakers, something he has since backed down from. Here is my review of the NBA player who everyone in the know is talking about.
....Biography....
Position Shooting guard
Nickname Black Mamba, KB24
Height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg)
Team Los Angeles Lakers
Nationality USA
Born August 23, 1978 (1978-08-23) (age 29)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
High school Lower Merion HS,
Lower Merion, Pennsylvania
Draft 13th overall, 1996
Charlotte Hornets
Pro career 1996–present
Awards 9-time NBA All-Star
9-time All-NBA Selection
7-time All-Defensive Selection
2-time NBA All-Star MVP
2-time NBA Scoring Champion
1997 NBA Slam Dunk Champion
1996 Naismith Prep Player of the Year
1996-1997 All Rookie Second Team
....Early life....
Kobe Bean Bryant was born on 23rd August 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the son of former NBA player Joe Jelly Bean Bryant who played for the Philadelphia 76ers. Kobe was introduced to the game of Basketball at a young age and moved to Italy as a youngster as his dad played Pro Basketball in Italy after his NBA stint.
Aged Eight years old Kobe was already showing natural talent for the game when he beat members of the Italian national team at a three point contest. Kobe also liked to play Soccer when he lived in Italy and has often said he would probably have been a footballer if he wasnt a Basketball player.
.....High School.....
Kobe moved back to the United States and went to Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia and was a star of his Basketball team breaking numerous records including most career points in the history of the school.
Kobe decided to pass on College and enter the NBA Draft in 1996, he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets and was then traded to Los Angeles Lakers for Centre Vlade Divac who he would later play alongside when the 7ft 1in Yugoslavian returned to the Lakers.
...NBA....
Upon entering the NBA Kobe wasnt yet 18 and he was then the youngest player to enter the NBA, He was soon playing his first games for the team and although coming off the bench behind as a Shooting Guard, Point Guard and Small Forward he showed promise in his first season.
He won the Slam Dunk Contest in his second season and his averages improved dramatically as he was given more and more minutes. And he was quickly gaining recognition of his talents as a Basketball player even at such a young age against the NBA's best.
The following season he was improving even more and averaged 19.9ppg which was four points better than his previous season and 12 higher than his rookie season. This was his first year as a starter and he didnt dissapoint.
In 1999 the Lakers signed Phil Jackson as their new Head Coach, Jackson had won six titles with Michael Jordan as was regarded as one of the best coaches in NBA history even then. Kobe went on to strike up a deadly partnership with Shaquille O'Neal which led to an amazing run of three straight titles. Kobe was regarded then as one of the best sidekicks in NBA History up there with Scottie Pippen who had so much success with Michael Jordan.
....Kobe's split with Shaq.....
Kobe Bryant had become the lead player in the 2002-2003 season when Shaquille O'Neal struggled with Injury and Kobe had a then career high 30ppg which is higher than Shaq had ever acheived. Shaq and Kobe's relationship was doomed as they were at each others throats about the Lakers situation and in 2004 after a 4-1 defeat in the NBA Finals against Detroit Shaq was traded to Miami Heat for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom and Brian Grant.
...After Shaq...
Kobe has developed into one of the greatest players of all time and some including me say he can become even greater than Michael Jordan. Just after the Shaq trade there were a lot of angry Lakers fans upset that their golden duo had broken up and a small section blamed Kobe for the trade.
I never believed that Kobe could have been responsible for the Shaquille O'Neal trade as Kobe had always said that he was still willing to play alongside Shaq but Shaq wanted out. Shaq won a title in Miami with new star Dwyane Wade where Wade was the star and the MVP.
Kobe however has been frustrated since Shaq left as although the Lakers had a good setup with Butler and Odom the Front office broke that up when they signed a deal to take Kwame Brown from Washington and sent Caron Butler to them.
Kobe Bryant has shown how good he is in so many games since 2004 but the Lakers havent been passed the first round of the playoffs. Losing both times to the Phoenix Suns.
....As A player.....
Kobe has shown how good he is at adapting to different situations over his career. He was an amazing sidekick for Shaquille O'Neal in the Lakers glory days and has taken a front seat for the new era.
Kobe posseses amazing skills with a superb shot that can get going at anytime. He is also a fine passer and rebounder and is one of the most amazing scorers I have ever seen in the game of Basketball as his 81 point performance against Toronto Raptors shows.
Kobe has the amazing ability to take over games and it is something magical to behold when he is truly in the zone as nobody can stop him and he just hits some unbelievable shots.
For me and many pundits he is the greatest in the game right now and I reckon he can have 8 or so more great years in the NBA as he's only just turned 29 and many players retire around 40ish. I believe he can go on and pass Jordan as the Greatest of All Time.
Career Highlights/Performances
Kobe's finest moment individually came when he made history scoring an awe inspiring 81 points against Toronto Raptors on the 22nd January 2006. What was more amazing was that he led them to a comeback win in this game when the Lakers were playing terribly.
Four straight 50 point plus games. Kobe last season passed 50 points in four straight games. Something which is so remarkable as many players never have one 50 point game in their career let alone four in a row.
Kobe went on an amazing run where he went ten games in a rown scoring 40 or more points in each game. This is a better record than Michael Jordan ever managed, he had nine straight.
Kobe Scored 62 points in a win against Dallas Mavericks when he sat out the whole of the fourth quarter and beat the entire Dallas Mavericks team 62-61 over three quarters. That shows how quickly he can get it going.
There are many more great games that are part of history from Kobe Bryant but this one sticks in my mind as much as the ones I have mentioned. He scored 45 Points against Seattle which involved 12 three pointers and an amazing nine straight.
Controversies
As I have mentioned previously, he caused a stir when he publicly made a trade demand and directed his anger towards the front office at their lack of activity in getting in quality players. And of course there's the Shaq sitaution which I believe Kobe over.
But probably the thing he may be remembered for off the court is the Colorado Sexual assault case in which he was alleged to have sexually assaulted a hotel worker in Vail while he was awaiting Knee surgery the following day.
Although he was acquited he still cheated on his wife, I am confident in his innocence of rape after reading the book on the case but he still commited adultery but that's something for his family to live with and sort out.
.....The Future....
Well there we have his past but what about his future? well only time will tell, Now he seems to have decided to stay with the Lakers, My team have every chance of being able to get back to the glory days. Kobe is a born leader and he needs his team mates to come to the fore otherwise it will just being Kobe having another great season and then The Lakers being dumped out in the first round of the playoffs like that the last two seasons.
I will check again in 10 years or so time when he has retired and reasses my opinion of Kobe being a possible greater than Jordan candidate. I am sure he will atleast be not far away atleast number two.
.....And Finally Family Life.....
Kobe is married to Vannessa Laine who he met at a music video shoot in which she was a dancer. She was still at High School in Los Angeles at the time and the couple married in April 2001 when Kobe was 22 and Vannessa was 19.
The Bryants' first child, a daughter named Natalia Diamante Bryant, was born on January 19, 2003. The birth of Natalia influenced Bryant to reconcile his differences with his parents. Vanessa Bryant suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic pregnancy in the Spring of 2005. In the Fall of 2005 the Bryants announced that they were expecting their second child. Their second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, was born on May 1, An interesting thing is that Kobe and Vannessa child was born on the same day as Shaquille O'Neal's when he had moved to Miami.
....Career Stats....
Rebounds
YR TM G GS MIN FG FG% 3P 3P% FT FT% STL BLK TO PF OFF DEF TOT AST PTS
96-97 Lal 71 6 15.5 2.5-5.9 .417 0.7-1.9 .375 1.9-2.3 .819 0.7 0.3 1.6 1.4 0.7 1.2 1.9 1.3 7.6
97-98 Lal 79 1 26.0 4.9-11.6 .428 0.9-2.8 .341 4.6-5.8 .794 0.9 0.5 2.0 2.3 1.0 2.1 3.1 2.5 15.4
98-99 Lal 50 50 37.9 7.2-15.6 .465 0.5-2.0 .267 4.9-5.8 .839 1.4 1.0 3.1 3.1 1.1 4.2 5.3 3.8 19.9
99-00 Lal 66 62 38.2 8.4-17.9 .468 0.7-2.2 .319 5.0-6.1 .821 1.6 0.9 2.8 3.3 1.6 4.7 6.3 4.9 22.5
00-01 Lal 68 68 40.9 10.3-22.2 .464 0.9-2.9 .305 7.0-8.2 .853 1.7 0.6 3.2 3.3 1.5 4.3 5.8 5.0 28.5
01-02 Lal 80 80 38.3 9.4-20.0 .469 0.4-1.6 .250 6.1-7.4 .829 1.5 0.4 2.8 2.9 1.4 4.1 5.5 5.5 25.2
02-03 Lal 82 82 41.5 10.6-23.5 .451 1.5-4.0 .383 7.3-8.7 .843 2.2 0.8 3.5 2.7 1.3 5.6 6.9 5.9 30.0
03-04 Lal 65 64 37.6 7.9-18.1 .438 1.1-3.3 .327 7.0-8.2 .852 1.7 0.4 2.6 2.7 1.6 3.9 5.5 5.1 24.0
04-05 Lal 66 66 40.7 8.7-20.1 .433 2.0-5.9 .339 8.2-10.1 .816 1.3 0.8 4.1 2.6 1.4 4.5 5.9 6.0 27.6
05-06 Lal 80 80 40.9 12.2-27.2 .450 2.3-6.5 .347 8.7-10.2 .850 1.8 0.4 3.1 2.9 0.9 4.4 5.3 4.5 35.4
06-07 Lal 77 77 40.8 10.6-22.8 .463 1.8-5.2 .344 8.7-10.0 .868 1.4 0.5 3.3 2.7 1.0 4.7 5.7 5.4 31.6
G GS MIN FG FG% 3P 3P% FT FT% STL BLK TO PF OFF DEF TOT AST PTS
Totals 784 636 36.2 8.5-18.8 .453 1.2-3.5 .337 6.4-7.6 .838 1.5 0.6 2.9 2.7 1.2 4.0 5.2 4.5 24.6
Career Totals Rebounds
YR TM G GS MIN FG FG% 3P 3P% FT FT% STL BLK TO OFF DEF TOT AST PTS
96-97 Lal 71 6 1103 176-422 .417 51-136 .375 136-166 .819 49 23 112 47 85 132 91 539
97-98 Lal 79 1 2056 391-913 .428 75-220 .341 363-457 .794 74 40 157 79 163 242 199 1220
98-99 Lal 50 50 1896 362-779 .465 27-101 .267 245-292 .839 72 50 157 53 211 264 190 996
99-00 Lal 66 62 2524 554-1183 .468 46-144 .319 331-403 .821 106 62 182 108 308 416 323 1485
00-01 Lal 68 68 2783 701-1510 .464 61-200 .305 475-557 .853 114 43 220 104 295 399 338 1938
01-02 Lal 80 80 3063 749-1597 .469 33-132 .250 488-589 .829 118 35 223 112 329 441 438 2019
02-03 Lal 82 82 3401 868-1924 .451 124-324 .383 601-713 .843 181 67 288 106 458 564 481 2461
03-04 Lal 65 64 2447 516-1178 .438 71-217 .327 454-533 .852 112 28 171 103 256 359 330 1557
04-05 Lal 66 66 2689 573-1324 .433 131-387 .339 542-664 .816 86 53 270 95 297 392 398 1819
05-06 Lal 80 80 3273 978-2173 .450 180-518 .347 696-819 .850 147 30 250 71 354 425 360 2832
06-07 Lal 77 77 3142 813-1757 .463 137-398 .344 667-768 .868 111 36 255 75 364 439 413 2430
G GS MIN FG FG% 3P 3P% FT FT% STL BLK TO OFF DEF TOT AST PTS
Totals 784 636 28377 6681-14760 .453 936-2777 .337 4998-5961 .838 1170 467 2285 953 3120 4073 3561 19296
Career highlights
3-time NBA Champion: 2000, 2001, 2002
2-time Scoring Champion: 2006, 2007
9-time NBA All-Star: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Has started in each of his appearances
9 consecutive appearances (No All-Star game in 1999 due to league-wide lock-out)
2-time NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2002, 2007
9-time All-NBA Selection:
First Team: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007
Second Team: 2000, 2001
Third Team: 1999, 2005
7-time All-Defensive Selection:
First Team: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007
Second Team: 2001, 2002
NBA All-Rookie Second Team: 1997
NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Champion: 1997
NBA regular season leader in:
points: 2003 (2,461), 2006 (2,832, 7th in NBA history), 2007 (2,430)
points per game: 2006 (35.4, 9th in NBA history), 2007 (31.6)
field goals attempted: 2006 (2,173), 2007 (1,757)
field goals made: 2003 (868), 2006 (978), 2007 (813)
free throws attempted: 2007 (768)
free throws made: 2006 (696), 2007 (667)
2nd most points in a Game: 81 (January 22, 2006 vs. the Toronto Raptors)
Summary: A Great
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