It’s simple to identify one or two NBA greats who dominated their generation when you look back at the league’s past. In fact, you are familiar enough with them to address them by their first name alone.
Larry, Magic, Michael, Bill, Wilt, Kareem, and how could you forget Kobe.
Kobe Bryant was more than simply a basketball player; he was also one of the greatest scorers, leaders, and contributors to the current generation of celebrities that play the sport.
Bryant, the youngest of his family’s three children, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on this date in 1978.
Basketball was always in Kobe’s blood from the very moment he was born and after spending the vast majority of his life growing up in Italy, Bryant’s family moved back to Philadelphia when he was 13-years-old. From that moment, his journey to basketball immortality began, especially during his time at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore.
Drafted 13th overall out of high school, Kobe was initially selected by the Charlotte Hornets before being traded on draft night to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that involved Vlade Divac, an already proven talent that Charlotte believed could not only help them win games, but raise their attendance numbers.
Well, that turned out to be a huge mistake!
Spending all 20 years of his NBA career with the Lakers, Kobe Bryant ranks fourth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, eighth in career minutes played in NBA history, sixth in total field goals made in NBA history and he is one of three players in NBA history to make the All-Star game 18 times in his career, the others being Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James.
A true ambassador for the game of basketball, Bryant reminded many in his early years of Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player of all-time and someone who had just dominated the last decade or so in the league when Kobe Bryant was drafted. Squaring off eight times against one another in the four years they were in the NBA at the same time, Kobe beat Michael in five of these meetings.