Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant was a professional basketball player who was born on August 23, 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and died on January 26 in Calabasas, California, after a helicopter crash. His father, Joe Bryan, was also a former NBA player.

Kobe Bryant played a total of twenty seasons in the NBA, which for many is considered the best basketball league in the world. He played all of them defending the colors of the Los Angeles Lakers, the team of his life and the squad in which he became a historic American basketball player. His beginnings in the basketball world date back to 1996 when the Charlotte Hornets selected him in the 1996 draft. Bryant, who came to professional basketball after shining in Lower Merion, was immediately traded to the Lakers, where he later developed his entire career in professional and elite basketball.

A partnership within the reach of very few

His arrival to the Los Angeles franchise was a before and after for both the player and the team. In the team of his life he coincided with another colossus of the sport, Shaquille O'Neal, who became his perfect partner to take the Los Angeles Lakers to the highest peak of basketball. Their partnership will always be remembered by all fans of the Los Angeles Lakers, as they were the players in charge of leading the Lakers and the main architects of the three titles won between 2000 and 2002.

The idyll between Shaquille and the Lakers came to an end and Kobe Bryant emerged as the mainstay of a Lakers lacking leadership and franchise players. However, the role of No. 24 was enough to keep the Los Angeles squad afloat. Kobe Bryant, at the time one of the NBA's top draft stars, led the league in scoring (2006 and 2007) and orchestrated the vast majority of wins for the Lakers during that time.

Historic game

Kobe Bryant will always be remembered for his 81 points in a game against the Toronto Raptors, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 in 1962. This almost unprecedented feat in the world of basketball served to magnify the figure of Kobe Bryant, who is still remembered by the entire American basketball world that continues to mourn his loss and long for his role, both on and off the court.

The 81 points scored by the Philadelphia native against the Raptors were forever etched in the memory of an NBA that considered Kobe Bryan a legend of American basketball, because that same season (07/08), the American shooting guard won the MVP that established him as the best player in a competitive and disputed league. In addition, his brilliant performances wearing the Lakers' jersey contributed to Bryant winning the individual award. As if that were not enough, Kobe Bryant ranks fourth in the NBA's all-time scoring charts, behind only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Malone, all American basketball greats. In the case of the former, he is continuing his professional career in the NBA and is expected to continue to excel in this area.

A memorable retirement

Kobe Bryant's retirement took place on April 13, 2016 after quite a few games being the focus of criticism from an Angelino parish that reproached him for not giving up professional basketball earlier, since his last campaigns were full of ups and downs that tarnished and stained, in a minimal part, his figure and influence in elite American basketball.

In addition, his farewell to professional basketball was marked by a very poor Lakers game against the Jazz. In that game, the legendary Philadelphia-born basketball player scored up to sixty points, which was not enough for his team to qualify for the Conference playoffs. After leaving the Lakers but remaining closely linked to the best basketball league in the world, the Los Angeles franchise decided to retire the numbers 8 and 24. This event went down in the annals of history, as it was the first time that an NBA team retired two numbers at the same time; a fact that increases, even more, the impact of the Philadelphia native.n, the impact of the Philadelphia native on the Los Angeles Lakers, the only team where he played his basketball and the only team that managed to bring out his best version.

His retirement hit home and Los Angeles Lakers fans got a little surprise with the release of his short film Dear Basketball, a short audiovisual piece that tried to exemplify the impact of basketball in his life and Bryant's subsequent influence on American basketball. The short film was directed by Glen Keane and featured the letter written by Bryant at the time of his retirement, something that moved the entire United States to tears. The good pre-production, the sensational content and the excellent post-production process elevated the short film to win an Oscar in the category of Best Animated Short Film .

Pau Gasol, a brother of different blood

Pau Gasol came to the NBA as a child, a talented but inexperienced player. Despite all this, his incorporation to the Lakers was also a before and after for Kobe Bryant, who found in him a brother from a different mother and of different nationality. The Spanish center, inexperienced and shy, was soon "sponsored" by the historic No. 24 of the Los Angeles squad. It became a friendship that crossed borders, clubs and rivalries.

In fact, the Spanish center has confessed in numerous interviews that Kobe Bryant was like a father or a brother to him. In his last words about the American shooting guard, Pau Gasol said: "He tried to intimidate you when he needed the best from you. For example, in Beijing 2008 he was the leader of the opponent. We had lost the league final against the Celtics and found ourselves in the Olympic final against the United States. They beat us. At the first practice the next season he came with his Olympic gold medal and put it in my locker. He said to me, ' Last season we lost the final and it was very painful. You also lost the Olympic final. Don't let it happen again. This season we have to win the ring. He was a leader, a winner.

An unexpected tragedy

At the start of 2020 and with his retirement quite distant, Kobe Bryant continued to be linked to the NBA and the Los Angeles Lakers. However, a plane crash ended his life on January 26, 2020 in Calabasas (California), when the Philadelphia native, his daughter and friends were traveling in his private helicopter to the basketball academy that the American basketball legend still holds. Kobe Bryant passed away, and with him, his thirteen-year-old daughter, Gianna Maria, and seven other people.

This event moved an entire country, the United States, as a historic NBA player lost his life. After his death, he received many thanks, including a song by Bad Bunny. In addition to the countless expressions of affection that Kobe Bryant received, many soccer and other sports leagues decided to observe a minute of silence in his memory. Likewise, Juan Carlos Navarro, for example, was one of the many insignias of Spanish sports who spoke about this tragic event, attesting: "Kobe Bryant was an inspiration for any of us".

Kobe Bryan, however, will always be remembered for his relentless elite basketball career. He played 20 seasons in the NBA, all of them for the Los Angeles Lakers. He became one of the perfect examples of the one club man , because despite arriving in the NBA with the Hornets, the Los Angeles franchise soon trusted him. Today, despite his loss, he is still very much present and is considered a reference, an idol and a figure whose role in American basketball will always endure.