US basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in the city of Calabasas, California.
Bryant, 41, and Gianna, 13, were on Sunday travelling in a private helicopter when it came down and burst into flames.
Here are few things you probably didn’t know about the Basketball legend.
- Kobe Bean Bryant was born on August 23, 1978. He was an American professional basketball player. Bryant played his entire 20-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Los Angeles Lakers.
2. Bryant was born in Philadelphia, the youngest of three children and only son of former NBA player Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant.
3. Bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, located in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion. He played on the varsity basketball team as a freshman.
4. He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships.
5. He attended Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as the top high-school basketball player in the country.
6. At 34 years of age, Bryant became the youngest player in league history to reach 30,000 career points. He became the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history on February 1, 2010, when he surpassed Jerry West.
7. He was the first Guard taken out of high school, In 1996, Bryant was drafted with the 13th pick by the Charlotte Hornets.
8. At the age of 16, Kobe beat his father who was also an NBA player.
9. Bryant’s United States national team career finally began in 2007. He was a member of the 2007 USA Men’s Senior National Team and USA FIBA Americas Championship Team that finished 10–0, won gold and qualified the United States men for the 2008 Olympics.
10. According to sportswriter Mark Heisler of Forbes, “circa 2004–2007, Bryant was the most alienated superstar the NBA had ever seen.
