April 13, 2016, Kobe Bryant played his final game in the NBA against the Utah Jazz doing what no player in decades had done: take 50 shots in a game. He ended the night and his career with a season-high 60-point game, the sixth of his career.
Bryant announced his plans to retire on Nov. 29, 2015 in a lengthy poem on the Players’ Tribune website, entitled “Dear Basketball.” “This season is all I have left to give,” he wrote. “My heart can take the pounding / My mind can handle the grind / But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.”
His tragic death five years later, at age 41, in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020, stunned fans worldwide and cut short a promising new chapter in Bryant’s life.
Here are 24 fascinating facts you might not have known about the Lakers’ legendary #24…
More than Jordan
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Most people, for example, probably know that Kobe Bryant is one of the highest scoring players of all time. But did you know he’s actually scored more points than Michael Jordan?
Named after a steak
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Kobe’s father named him after the expensive and renowned Japanese cut of meat, Kobe beef, after seeing it on a menu.
Sued a whole Japanese city
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As it turns out, Kobe didn’t love sharing his name with a cut of tender, fatty beef. So, in 2010, he sued the Japanese city of Kobe for the rights to rename their signature product.
When asked about the case, his attorney, Jeff Rundvlees, told LA Weekly, “While we are aware the city of Kobe has been around longer than my client, Mr. Bryant has clearly become more famous and influential. I mean, just type ‘Kobe’ into Google and tell me what comes up first… If Gatorade had a flavor named Kobe and wasn’t paying him for it, we’d be suing them too.”
A Laker through and through
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Kobe Bryant played all 20 years of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning five championships. He was the first NBA player to ever play 20 seasons with the same team.
Almost a Hornet
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Kobe was originally drafted to the Charlotte Hornets. Then, in July 1996, just two weeks after they chose him as the 13th pick in the first round of the NBA draft, Charlotte traded Kobe to the Lakers for Vlade Divac.
Almost a hip-hop star
SONY ENTERTAINMENT
In January 2000, Kobe Bryant released a single with Sony Entertainment, called “K.O.B.E.” It featured him rapping about his love for “basketball, beats and broads,” and supermodel Tyra Banks singing the hook.
There were initially plans for an entire album, called “Visions,” which would have been released later that spring. But when the debut single landed like a ton of bricks, Sony dropped the NBA star.
Fluent in Italian
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After living in Italy for a number of years during his childhood, Kobe became fluent in Italian.
The next great soccer player?
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Growing up in Italy, Kobe grew to love the sport of soccer and its culture. He played in frequent pick-up games at the park, first as a goalie and then as a midfielder.
So, when the Chicago Tribune asked him what would have happened if his family had never moved back to the states, Kobe responded, “I would have kept playing, that’s for sure. I loved basketball so much, but I also wanted to play for AC Milan.” Then he added, “If myself, Tracy McGrady and LeBron James had a soccer ball at our feet instead of a basketball at 2 years old, with our size, it could have been something.”
Five golden rings
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Kobe Bryant has won five NBA titles. The only other LA Lakers with that many rings are Derek Fisher, Michael Cooper, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson.
How’s that for a five man team?
The boy is mine
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At the age of 17, Kobe went to his high school prom with Brandy.
81 points
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On January 22, 2006, Kobe scored 81 points in a single game against the Toronto Raptors.
The only player to have ever scored more points than that in a single game was Wilt Chamberlain, who put up 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in 1962.
No love in Philly
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Kobe was born and went to high school in the Philadelphia area, but fans there took to booing him. A lot of that hometown hatred stems from a comment Kobe made back in 2001, when he told reporters that the Lakers were coming to Philly to cut the 76ers’ hearts out.
