The Mamba Mentality: How I Play

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At the time, he was the second-youngest player ever to play in an NBA game (18 years, 72 days) and also became the youngest NBA starter (18 years, 158 days). A number of journalists have attributed the improved sales to Bryant's new number, as well as his continuing All-Star performance on the court. com, 2005–06 NBA Season Summary Archived September 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, accessed, December 8, 2007. Bernstein, an introduction by Phil Jackson, and a foreword by Pau Gasol, was published by MCD / Farrar, Straus and Giroux. In addition to winning his MVP award, Bryant was the only unanimous selection to the All-NBA team on May 8, 2008, for the third straight season and sixth time in his career.

On December 18, in a 101–100 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, Bryant scored 30+ points in his seventh consecutive game, the longest streak by an NBA player after turning 34 years old; it was the fourth-longest such streak in his career.Bryant scored just four points in 25 minutes on 1-for-14 shooting, matching the worst-shooting game of his career in which he attempted at least five shots. Bryant requested that opposing teams on the road not hold any on-court ceremonies in his honor or present him any gifts in public. Main article: 2020 Calabasas helicopter crash Fans gathered in front of Staples Center on the day of Bryant's death.

On December 5 against New Orleans, Bryant became the youngest player (34 years and 104 days) in league history to score 30,000 points, joining Hall of Famers Chamberlain, Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Karl Malone as the fifth player to reach that milestone.Bryant also started the Kobe Bryant China Fund which partnered with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, a charity backed by the Chinese government. A particularly exciting find was a Book of the Dead papyrus scroll measuring over 43 feet long—a rare surviving copy of the traditional burial item. Larry Bird held the previous record; he was 35 when he had 49 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists on March 15, 1992, against Portland.

His free throw attempts had dropped from his career average, and his game had become over-reliant on pump fakes and long-range shots, making a league-worst 19. After recovering to play in the 2015–16 preseason, [288] Bryant suffered a calf injury and missed the final two weeks of exhibition games.He claimed his first All-Star MVP trophy after a 31-point performance in Philadelphia when he was loudly booed by fans as they had throughout the game, stemming from his earlier comment to a 76ers heckler during the Finals that the Lakers were "going to cut your hearts out". In the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers played well enough to reach a 3–1 series lead over the Phoenix Suns, culminating with Bryant's overtime-forcing and game-winning shots in Game 4. In 2011, Bryant was featured in Taiwanese singer Jay Chou's single "The Heaven and Earth Challenge" (天地一鬥, pronounced "Tian Di Yi Dou"). The two began dating and became engaged six months later in May 2000, [400] while Laine was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. Bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular high-school career at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, located in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion.

He sat out the season finale against Sacramento, foregoing the chase for a possible third NBA scoring title, having needed 38 points to surpass Kevin Durant. In the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz in five games and the Houston Rockets in seven games in the opening two rounds. On December 16, 2011, Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, and the couple requested joint custody of their daughters. By finishing off the Denver Nuggets in the Conference Finals in six games, the Lakers earned their second straight trip to the NBA Finals. A public memorial service was held on February 24 (2/24, marking both Kobe's and Gianna's jersey numbers) at Staples Center with Jimmy Kimmel hosting.

Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "The NFL Pays Respects to Fallen Legend Kobe Bryant". points per game, becoming just the fifth player in league history to average at least 35 in a season.