Greg Thomas, the president of Visual Concepts, which developed the sport, mentioned in a statement that the choice was made to honor Bryant's "impact" on the game of basketball. The Kobe Bryant Edition will feature the Lakers legend leaping through the air in his No. 8 jersey. The Black Mamba Edition will feature Bryant in his No. 24 uniform. Both versions of the game will be available for buy later this 12 months.

On January 26, 2020, a helicopter carrying former pro basketball participant Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others crashes in Calabasas, California, roughly 30 miles north of Los Angeles; everybody on board dies. Bryant’s death despatched shockwaves through the American sporting world. Bryant was an avid helicopter commuter who began using this novel transport methodology during his Los Angeles Lakers days. Unfortunately, this time one thing went badly mistaken. According to eyewitnesses, the helicopter's engine had started "sputtering" before happening. All five people on board, together with Bryant himself and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, perished in the fiery crash.

His legacy is affected by the corpses of slackers who could not match his dedication, particularly underachievers of bizarre size . It has turn out to be popular to recommend that his ego—and his two-year, $48.5 million contract—are now actively hurting the franchise. The notion has turn into so universal that ESPN The Magazine revealed a narrative suggesting the Lakers can't signal top-flight free brokers so long as Bryant controls the system. Most of the story’s sources had been anonymous and Bryant claims he didn’t read the article.

This followed with O'Neal profitable the MVP and Bryant being named to the All-NBA Second Team and All-NBA Defensive Team for the first time in his career (the youngest participant to receive All-Defensive honors). While playing second fiddle to O'Neal in the playoffs, Bryant had some clutch performances, together with a 25-point, 11-rebound, 7-assist, 4-block game in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals towards the Portland Trail Blazers. In the 2000 Finals, against the Indiana Pacers, Bryant injured his ankle in the second quarter of Game 2 after landing on the Pacers' Jalen Rose's foot. In Game four, Bryant scored 22 points in the second half and led the staff to an OT victory as O'Neal fouled out of the game. With a 116–111 victory in Game 6, the Lakers gained their first championship since 1988.

With profession averages of 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.four steals per sport, Bryant was thought of one of the most full players in NBA historical past. He is the fourth-leading scorer in league history with 33,643 points. He was the primary player in NBA history to have at least 30,000 career factors and 6,000 career assists, and was one of solely four gamers with 25,000 points, 6,000 rebounds, and 6,000 assists. Bryant led the NBA in scoring in the course of the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. His 81-point performance against Toronto in 2006 was the second-highest in NBA historical past, behind only Chamberlain's 100. He scored no much less than 50 factors 24 times in his profession, which is third in league historical past behind Jordan and Chamberlain ; six occasions Bryant scored a minimal of 60.

Kobe Bryant, along with his spouse, Vanessa, at his facet, holds a information convention at Staples Center in 2003 to debate accusations by a 19-year-old Colorado girl that he sexually assaulted her. He conceded he was guilty of adultery, however he declared he was innocent of expenses of felonious sexual assault. Kobe Bryant is swarmed by teammates Derek Fisher, Rick Fox and Shaquille O’Neal as he heads to the foul line in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Bryant scored forty five factors because the Lakers beat the Spurs, , on their approach to a sweep of the sequence.

Bryant's varsity coach, Greg Downer, commented that he was "a complete player who dominates" and praised his work ethic, even as the team's high participant. In 1996, Bryant took R&B singer Brandy to her Hollywood High senior promenade. Ultimately, the 17-year-old Bryant determined to go immediately into the NBA, becoming only the sixth participant in NBA historical past to take action. Bryant's news was met with a lot of publicity at a time when prep-to-pro NBA gamers weren't quite common . His basketball expertise and SAT score of 1080 would have ensured admission to any college he selected, however he didn't formally visit any campuses. In 2012, Bryant was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald's All-Americans for his high-school play as well as his later accomplishments.

In the primary spherical of the playoffs, the Lakers performed well enough to reach a 3–1 series lead over the Phoenix Suns, culminating with Bryant's overtime-forcing and game-winning photographs in Game 4. They came inside six seconds of eliminating the second-seeded Suns in Game 6, nevertheless, they misplaced that sport 126–118 in additional time. Despite Bryant's 27.9 factors per sport within the sequence, the Lakers broke down and ultimately fell to the Suns in seven games. After scoring 50 factors on 20 of 35 shooting in the Game 6 loss, Bryant was criticized for only taking three shots in the second half of the 121–90 Game 7 loss to Phoenix. Bryant received several awards for his outstanding performance during his senior year at Lower Merion. These included being named Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Men's National Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American, a first-team Parade All-American and a USA Today All-USA First Team player.