Kobe Bryant died January 26, 2020 at age 41 in a helicopter crash, along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and 7 other passengers. His net worth at the time of his death was an estimated $600 million.
Kobe Bryant was a former American professional basketball player and entrepreneur. He played his entire 20-year career in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kobe Bryant was considered to be one of the best NBA players of all time, won multiple awards and trophies during his career, and was also one of the richest athletes of all time.
It came as an enormous shock to the world, when Kobe was pronounced dead after a tragic helicopter crash on the way to his daughter’s basketball game. His daughter and several others were also killed.
Early Life
Kobe was born on the 23rd August, 1978, in Philadelphia. He has two siblings, both of whom are older than him, and his father Joe is also a former NBA player.
Bryant started playing basketball when he was just 3 years old, and his favorite team growing up was, you guessed it, the Lakers. Bryant’s grandfather used to send him videos of NBA games in the NBA. Kobe would study these games religiously.
After Bryant’s father retired from playing basketball, their family moved back to the United States. Kobe played for the varsity basketball team of Lower Merion High School in his freshman year, and received recognition across the US for an incredible season.
Bryant ended his high school career as Southeastern Pennsylvania’s all-time leading scorer at 2,883 points and received several awards for his performance, including being named Naismith High School Player of the Year.
In 1996, Bryant was selected as a draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets. However, a trade was negotiated, which resulted in Bryant signing a contract with the LA Lakers. Since he was only 17 at the time, his parents had to co-sign the contract.
Bryant retired an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team.
He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and the 3rd best all-time regular season scoring player and 4th on the all-time postseason scoring list. And he even holds the record for the highest number of seasons played with one team for an entire career.