Kobe+Bryant

[|Kobe Bean Bryant] was born August 23, 1978.[| Kobe] was born in Philadelphia as the youngest of three children and the only son of former [|76ers] player and former Los Angeles Sparks head coach. His parents named him after the beef from Kobe, Japan.[| Bryant] earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion Highschool. In his senior year of high school, [|Bryant] led the Aces to their first state championship in 53 years. During the run, he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals, and 3.8 blocked shots in leading the Aces to a 31–3 record. [|Bryant] received several awards for his performance his senior year including being named Naismith player of the year, Gatorade player of the year and was invited to play in the Mcdonalds All-American game. [|Kobe] highschool [|highlights]

After highschool Kobe entered the 1996[| NBA] Draft, and was drafted in the first round 13th pick by the [|Charlotte Hornets]. The [|Hornets] then traded him on draft day to the[|Los Angeles Lakers]. With the [|Lakers] he has won three consecutive championships from 2000-2002 and a fourth in the 2009 season. [|Bryant] was awarded the regular season's MVP in the 2007-2008 season. [|Bryant] has been to every All-Star Game since his second year in the league. With his excellent skill and deadly mentallity on the court, he has earned himself the nickname of the [|Black Mamba]. [|Kobe] also became the [|Lakers] all time leading scorer in 2010. He holds the second spot for most points in a single game by a player with 81. Wilt Chamberlain is first with 100. [|Bryant] was also apart of the 2008 USA Olympic team that won the gold medal. Kobe [|NBA] [|Highlights].



Kobe has had such a successful career that he has plenty of endorsements. Starting with a six year deal with adidas that he made in his rookie season. The contract was worth $48 million dollars. His first signature shoe was the Equipment KB 8. Bryant's other earlier endorsements included deals with The Coca Cola Company to endorse Upper Deck and appearing on his own series of video games by Nintendo. Another big deal was his Nike contract. Which was a 5 year $40-45 million deal. Kobe's current contract with the Lakers is $23 million. An is now tied with Michael Jordan as second highest paid athlete according to forbes.

Works Cited Web. []. Web. []. Web. [].