Kobe Bryant; the most important superstar of the 21st century in the Lakers franchise, which has a huge history full of celebrities and legends…
The unknown trivia regarding the “Black Mamba”s most famous career full of achievements is brought to you under these lines..
What is the origin of the name ‘Kobe’?
Several months prior to his birth, his mother and father went to a restaurant in Philadelphia. There, the Japanese “Kobe beef” in the menu sounded interesting to them and as his dad as overjoyed such beef after ordering it, he declared that he shall name his child Kobe if their yet unborn child is a boy.
Why didn’t he wear number 33 in the NBA, why did he choose number 8 first, and number 24 afterwards?
There are two reasons for him to choose number 8. First one is related to Mike D’Antoni, whom Kobe was a real fan of in his childhood years spent in Italy, where D’Antoni was wreaking havoc in the Italian League between 1978-90 as a basketball star, and was also wearing number 8.
The other reason is the number 8 calculated as the sum of numbers 1 + 3 + 4 that belong to ABCD 134 basketball camp of Adidas took place in the year 1996, which was a huge leverage to his career at that time…
Number 24 is the first jersey number in his first high school years, he wore number 33 afterwards. Another myth about choosing number 24 is that he wanted to surpass the almighty Michael Jordan by 1, who was wearing number 23 as we all know, as His Majesty was the only player whom Kobe desired to catch and get ahead of in his whole basketball career!
The reason for not selecting his high school jersey number and his father’s jersey number as an NBA player, number 33, is really simple: number 33 is retired and dedicated to another Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, hence 33 is not available for anyone in the Lakers franchise anymore.
The youngest guard to become drafted
With being drafted at the age of 18 (to be precise, two months prior to the age of 18) directly from the high school without going to the NCAAs, Kobe became the youngest guard drafted in the NBA.
Who was his idol?
Everyone claims that Michael Jordan was his idol, but Kobe’s first idol was another MJ, “Magic” Johnson. The reason for such is that in his childhood years spent in Italy, the local TVs were airing only the matches of the truly popular Los Angeles Lakers and legendary point guard MJ was the biggest star of that team.
Place and date of birth, name of the high school graduated
Place of birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of birth: August 23, 1978
High school: Lower Marion (PA)
Where does the origin of his basketball talents come from?
Kobe’s father is an ex-NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, who had played for 76ers, Clippers and Rockets in the league.
How many siblings does he have?
He is one of the three children of the family. He has two older sisters, whose names are Sahay and Sahria.
The football team he supports in Europe
A.C. Milan, because he spent his childhood in Italy and the mighty squad of A.C. Milan was absolutely dominant in that era.
The All-time scoring leader of the high school basketball in Pennsylvania State history
He surpassed the record of 2359 points that belonged to the legendary Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain, with a total of 2883 points.
The Rape Case…
In 2004, he was put on a trial on the grounds of raping an underaged girl. He had denied the accusations of raping and declared that they had a sexual intercourse with her consent. The parties have reconciliated afterwards and the case was dismissed accordingly. Thus, he avoided being put in prison.
The youngest All-Star player as a Starter
In the ’98 All-Star game in New York, he selected as a Starter of the Western All-Star team at the age of 19, and became the youngest player to become a Starter in an All-Star game.
Favorite Colors
Yellow and Purple (surprised?)
Favorite Movie
Star Wars Saga
Favorite Music
Hip – hop and R&B
Favorite Food
Cheese and Chili Mexican Food
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