Lloyda Martinez 6th block

Black History Project : Kobe Byrant

Kobe Bryant

He was born on August 23 of the year 1978 in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. His family contains his parents Joe and Pam Bryant, and with his two older siblings Sharia and Shaya Bryant. When Kobe was six years old, His dad started to play basketball in Europe. So, his family moved to Italy. The family stayed there for seven year and then moved back to Philadelphia. During his stay at Italy, he learned to speak fluent Italian.

At the age of 13, he started to play basketball. He went to school at Lower Merion High school. He lead the basketball team to Pennsylvania State championships for four years in a row. He was also name Naismith Player of the Year.

Even though he had high and good grades on SAT scores. He decided to go straight to the NBA. In the year 1996, Charlotte picked him in the draft and was placed to the Los Angeles ( LA ) Lakers. During his second season as guard, he was voted as a starter for the 1998 All-Star Game, becoming the youngest All-Star in NBA history, at the age of 19. He also helped the team win three consecutive NBA championships and was voted first-team all-NBA in 2002 and 2003. Kobe and Oneal teamed up and they lead the Lakers to 3 straight NBA championships titles.

This is his family. His divorced wife Vanessa Bryant, and his two girls Natalia and Gianna Bryant.

He passed Michael Jordan taking #1 for most points scored in NBA-All-Star game history. He needed 19 points to pass Jordan and he did with his dunk. That he officially took the #1 spot. At the end of the game, he finished with 27 points.

Quotes :
I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber. Everything negativepressure, challengesis all an opportunity for me to rise. You always have to be on edge. You always have to take every practice, every game, like it is your last. What I'm doing right now, I'm chasing perfection. "I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant."

CREDITS :
Pictures from :
http://www.lolyland.net/2010/09/kobe-dunks-over-shaq.html http://www.moviespad.com/pictures/28614/kobebryant-24/ http://projects.latimes.com/lakers/season/2003-2004/

http://gossiponthis.com/2009/10/16/seen-scene-kobe-bryant-sisters-estelle-mary-blige-garcelle-beauvais/evpix16a1/ http://lakers.topbuzz.com/gallery/v/kobebryant/Kobe+Bryant_s+mom+Pam+Bryant+and+dad+Joe+Bryant.JPG.html http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1005/nba.stars.in.high.school/content.1.html http://mrslebronwade.com/?paged=2 http://urbanislandz.com/2011/12/18/vanessa-bryant-files-for-divorce-from-kobe-bryant/nba-most-valuable-playeraward/ http://celebritybabies.people.com/2011/02/26/family-photo-kobe-bryants-lovely-ladies/ Information : http://www.kidzworld.com/article/3690-kobe-bryant-biography http://www.mademan.com/mm/10-best-kobe-bryant-quotes.html Kobe Bryant Biography http://www.jockbio.com/Bios/Bryant/Bryant_bio.html http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_Kobe_Bryant's_kids'_names http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1101483/bio http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/kobe-bryant-divorce-couple-divides-assets-despite-kiss-photo.html http://celebritybabies.people.com/2011/02/26/family-photo-kobe-bryants-lovely-ladies/ http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-kobe-bryant-passes-michael-jordan-for-most-allstar-points20120227,0,3636372.story http://ballislife.com/kobe-bryant-passes-michael-jordan-for-most-points-in-nba-all-star-game/