With a beginning lineup of O'Neal, Malone, Payton, and Bryant, the Lakers had been able to attain the NBA Finals. However, they have been upset in five games by the Detroit Pistons, who received their first championship since 1990. In that collection, Bryant averaged 22.6 points per sport and four.4 assists. Jackson's contract as coach was not renewed, and Rudy Tomjanovich took over.

He was also the overall league MVP in 2008.The accident shocked basketball followers and athletes from throughout the nation and all over the world. Countless tributes had been held to honor Bryant, his daughter and the others killed within 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 extra time victory in opposition to the Toronto Raptors, Bryant recorded his twentieth profession triple-double with 31 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds. At age 36, he turned the oldest NBA player to ever obtain 30 factors, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a game.

In 2006, he scored a career-high 81 points; the second most factors scored in a single sport in league historical past, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point recreation in 1962. Bryant led the team to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, and was named NBA Finals MVP on both occasions. He continued to be among the many high gamers within the league via 2013, when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon at age 34. He subsequently suffered season-ending accidents to his knee and shoulder, respectively, within the following two seasons. Citing bodily decline, Bryant retired after the 2015–16 season. On January 10, 2012, Bryant scored 48 points against the Suns.

I’m speaking, this kid was in the layup line like he was on the team. So one day I must have informed him to get out of the way, and he challenged me to a recreation of H-O-R-S-E. To be sincere, I can’t even remember what occurred within the recreation. It started as him beating me in H-O-R-S-E, to him beating me in a game of one-on-one. Bryant was main the league in scoring although much of the first forty two video games. He missed a triple double in each game with 9 rebounds twice and eight in the other.

“Shaq Diesel” and the crew watched footage of the iconic play earlier than sharing thoughts on the Los Angeles Lakers’ comeback win over the Portland Trailblazers that 12 months. Shaquille O’Neal reminisced on his days playing with Kobe Bryant during Game 2 of the 2023 NBA Finals. Intraday Data offered by FACTSET and subject to phrases of use. Historical and current end-of-day data supplied by FACTSET. Real-time last sale data for U.S. inventory quotes mirror trades reported through Nasdaq solely. Intraday knowledge delayed a minimum of 15 minutes or per exchange necessities.

Although later seasons had been marred by injuries, he surpassed Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA all-time scoring record in December 2014 and retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his ultimate game. 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 can additionally be the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise historical past.

After ending 50–32 in the regular season, the Lakers floundered in the playoffs and misplaced in the Western Conference semi-finals in six games to the eventual NBA champions San Antonio Spurs. The son of former NBA participant Joe Bryant, he was born in Philadelphia and partly raised in Italy. As a rookie, Bryant earned a status as a high-flyer by successful the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, and was named an All-Star by his second season. In the 1996 Western Conference Semifinals with the sport on the line, Bryant shot four airballs to the chagrin of his teammates and Laker followers. He later recounted in his "Muse" documentary that when he got back to Los Angeles, he went to a nearby high school, and spent the whole day taking pictures within the gym. It was a defining second that modified the trajectory of his profession with him coming out stronger the following season.

Today, The Black Mamba sits in fourth all-time in the NBA in scoring . 2K is making sure of that by continuing his memory with their announcement this morning. In a tweet they shared earlier today, they introduced that Bryant could be gracing the covers of this year’s version of NBA2K with NBA2K24. Kobe Bryant’s willpower as the quilt competitor for NBA 2K24 is an indication of his unmatched heritage. Kobe’s affect extends beyond basketball, and his legacy will live forever.