During the season, Bryant signed a six-year contract extension value $70 million. The all-time leading scorer in Lakers historical past, 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 was additionally the general league MVP in 2008.The accident shocked basketball fans and athletes from across the nation and all over the world. Countless tributes have been held to honor Bryant, his daughter and the others killed in the crash. Bryant returned for the 2014–15 season, his 19th season with the Lakers, who had replaced D'Antoni with Bryant's former Lakers teammate, Byron Scott. On November 30, 2014, in a 129–122 additional time victory in opposition to the Toronto Raptors, Bryant recorded his twentieth profession triple-double with 31 factors, 12 assists and 11 rebounds. At age 36, he turned the oldest NBA player to ever achieve 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a recreation.

In that very same month, Bryant additionally became the primary player since 1964 to attain 45 factors or more in 4 consecutive games, joining Chamberlain and Baylor as the one gamers to do so. For the month of January, Bryant averaged forty three.four factors per recreation, the eighth highest single month scoring common in NBA history and highest for any participant other than Chamberlain. By the top of the 2005–06 season, Bryant set Lakers single-season franchise information for most 40-point games and most points scored . He gained the league's scoring title for the primary time by averaging 35.four points per recreation, changing into just the fifth participant in league historical past to average no less than 35 in a season.

But he by no means left his American roots behind, returning to the us every summer season to play in developmental basketball leagues. The Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant, was greater than a basketball player. He was a logo of motivation and a picture of commitment and greatness.

But nonetheless filling the sports activities world, the world, with deep objective. The August 2023 concern of Sports Illustrated options The Power List, the definitive index of the 50 most influential figures and forces who drive the sports world, on and off the sphere and courtroom. For more on The Power List’s Icons and Leaders, like Kobe Bryant, click on right here.

Although later seasons were marred by accidents, he surpassed Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA all-time scoring list in December 2014 and retired in 2016 after scoring 60 factors in his final recreation. 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 7 others. As of June 2012, Bryant ranks third and fifth on the league's all-time post-season scoring and all-time regular season scoring lists, respectively. He is also the all-time main scorer in Lakers franchise historical past.

It goes without saying that both are iconic in their very own proper, although some still wonder who was the better participant. The reply to that question is honestly still up for debate however, amid that continued dialogue, Dennis Rodman, offered some eager ideas. The rebounding icon specifically got candid about what he views as the important thing distinction between Bryant and MJ. He went to highschool in the suburbs of Philadelphia, but he grew up in Italy.

He might not have been as willing to do those things at the time, and I wasn’t thrilled about that. Because I selected to increase my take care of the Lakers to play with Shaquille O’ Neal and win championships. I may have gone to another team and averaged 35 points a game. So it was infuriating to listen to people say I was selfish. Last night, Bryant hit a floater with 12 seconds on the clock to beat the struggling Indiana Pacers; tonight his staff is in Portland, but he’s not traveling to have the ability to rest his aging bones.