While his contemporaries were watching Care Bears on Saturday morning, Bryant spent his developmental years exploring the ancient fortress metropolis of Reiti. But he never left his American roots behind, returning to the us every summer season to play in developmental basketball leagues. The Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant, was more than a basketball participant. He was a symbol of motivation and a picture of dedication and greatness.

On April 13, 2016, Bryant performed his ultimate NBA sport in opposition to the Utah Jazz, scoring a season-high 60 factors , together with outscoring the complete Jazz staff 23–21 within the fourth quarter, within the Lakers' 101–96 victory. The Lakers completed the season with a document; this was the worst season document in the historical past of the group. Bryant turned the oldest player to score 60 or extra factors in a recreation at 37 years and 234 days old. At the time of his announcement, he was second on the team in minutes (30.8) behind Jordan Clarkson and leading the staff with sixteen.7 area goal makes an attempt per game, whereas averaging simply 15.7 points and taking pictures a career-low 31.5 %. In his press conference after the announcement, he acknowledged his declining skills.

"I can't consider how briskly 20 years glided by," he mentioned. Introducing proPLAY – a groundbreaking new technology that directly translates NBA footage into NBA 2K24 gameplay. ProPLAY delivers animations and movements by way of on-court NBA motion for a generational leap in authenticity.

O’Neal subsequently was traded, and Bryant emerged because the team’s sole chief. The figure consists of the $15 million she was awarded from L.A. County in a 2022 civil trial, with “additional funds to settle potential claims from her daughters”—20-year-old Natalia, Bianka , and Capri .

Bryant was main the league in scoring though a lot of the first forty two video games. He missed a triple double in each sport with nine rebounds twice and eight within the other. In two essential wins in March, he scored a minimal of 40 factors and had no much less than 10 assists in back-to-back games, becoming the primary Laker to accomplish the feat since Jerry West in 1970. Later within the season, it was reported that Bryant would change his jersey number from eight to 24 at the start of the 2006–07 NBA season. Bryant's first highschool number was 24 earlier than he switched to 33.

They married on April 18, 2001, at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point, California. The marriage ceremony was not attended by Bryant's dad and mom, his two sisters, his longtime advisor and agent Arn Tellem, or his Laker teammates. Reportedly Bryant's parents had issues with him marrying so younger, particularly to a girl who was not African-American. This disagreement resulted in an estrangement interval of over two years, which ended when the couple's first daughter was born.

Bill Branch, the Charlotte Hornets' head scout on the time, said that the Hornets agreed to commerce their No. thirteen pick to the Lakers the day earlier than the draft. Before the commerce agreement, the Hornets by no means thought-about drafting Bryant. During the draft, the Lakers advised the Hornets whom to pick minutes earlier than the choose was made. Bryant was the first guard drafted immediately out of excessive school. After the draft, the trade was put in jeopardy when Divac threatened to retire quite than be traded from Los Angeles. However, on June 30, Divac relented on his risk and the trade was made final on July 9, 1996, when the league's low season moratorium ended.

He additionally threw an alley-oop pass to O'Neal to clinch the sport and the collection. In the 2000 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Bryant injured his ankle within the second quarter of Game 2 after touchdown on the Pacers' Jalen Rose's foot. Rose later admitted he placed his foot underneath Bryant intentionally.