In the first spherical of the playoffs, the Lakers played properly sufficient to succeed in a 3–1 collection lead over the Phoenix Suns, culminating with Bryant's overtime-forcing and game-winning shots in Game 4. They came within six seconds of eliminating the second-seeded Suns in Game 6, nevertheless, they misplaced that sport 126–118 in overtime. Despite Bryant's 27.9 factors per sport within the sequence, the Lakers broke down and finally fell to the Suns in seven video games. After scoring 50 points on 20 of 35 taking pictures within the Game 6 loss, Bryant was criticized for under taking three shots in the second half of the 121–90 Game 7 loss to Phoenix. Bryant acquired a quantity of awards for his excellent efficiency throughout his senior year at Lower Merion.

The two-time Finals MVP scored 33,643 points throughout his career, with 81 of these daggers approaching January 22, 2006 in a game against the Toronto Raptors. The 18-time All-Star led the NBA in scoring 4 seasons and still managed to make the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team nine occasions, making him top-of-the-line two-way gamers in history. Bryant was relentless, and when he matched wits with Shaquille O’Neal in 1996, there got here a renewed sense that playing for the Los Angeles Lakers meant taking half in for the ring. Bryant and O’Neal opened the twenty first Century with three championships in a row. Bryant’s encore efficiency came in 2009 and once more in 2010 when the Lakers went back-to-back.

His 18 All-Star designations are the second most all time, while it's the document for many consecutive appearances as a starter. Bryant's four All-Star Game MVP Awards are tied with Bob Pettit for the most in NBA history. He gave himself the nickname "Black Mamba" in the mid-2000s, and the epithet grew to become extensively adopted by most people. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he received two gold medals as a member of the united states national group. In 2018, he gained the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his 2017 movie Dear Basketball.

The 34-year-old Bryant was averaging his most minutes (38.6) in six years, and only Portland rookie Damian Lillard was averaging extra minutes. Bryant's assists have been the second-highest of his profession and his area goal proportion was its highest since 2008–09. On April 2, 2010, Bryant signed a three-year contract extension value $87 million. Bryant completed the regular season lacking four of the ultimate five games, as a end result of accidents to his knee and finger. Bryant suffered a quantity of accidents throughout the season and as a result, missed nine games. The Lakers started the playoffs as the primary seed within the Western Conference against the Oklahoma City Thunder, eventually defeating them in six games.

For all of the tales you hear about Kobe speaking trash and demanding lots from his teammates, on many occasions he’s picked us up, too. He leads by instance; however, you don’t hear about that a lot in the media. When I obtained traded to the Lakers in ’97, Kobe Bryant was only a rookie. We would play this shooting game every day after follow.

On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 factors in a 122–104 victory towards the Toronto Raptors. In addition to breaking the previous franchise record of seventy one set by Elgin Baylor, Bryant's 81-point sport was the second-highest level total in NBA historical past, surpassed solely by Chamberlain's 100-point recreation in 1962. Whereas Chamberlain was fed repeatedly by teammates for inside pictures in a blowout win, Bryant created his own shot—mostly from the outside—in a sport which the Lakers trailed at halftime by 14 and didn't draw back till the fourth quarter. In that very same month, Bryant additionally grew to become the first player since 1964 to attain 45 points or extra in 4 consecutive games, becoming a member of Chamberlain and Baylor as the one players to do so. For the month of January, Bryant averaged forty three.four factors per recreation, the eighth highest single month scoring average in NBA historical past and highest for any player aside from Chamberlain.

That made Denver the primary 50-win team to be swept out of the primary spherical of the playoffs because the Memphis Grizzlies fell in four video games to the San Antonio Spurs in 2004. In the first game of the next spherical, towards the Jazz, Bryant scored 38 points as the Lakers beat the Jazz in Game 1. The Lakers then gained the next two video games to win the semifinals. The Lakers defeated the Spurs in five video games, sending themselves to the NBA Finals, in opposition to the Boston Celtics. This marked the fifth time in Bryant's career, and the first time with out O'Neal, that he made the NBA Finals. The Lakers then lost to the Boston Celtics in six video games.

While discovery and pretrial hearings consequentially occurred, Bryant's accuser finally asked the prosecutors to drop the criminal case. The girl's attorneys mentioned the truth that her name and extremely sensitive transcripts have been leaked to the media caused her to lose faith in the justice system, and one of her attorneys didn't anticipate the trial to obtain success for the woman. In 1997 throughout Bryant's rookie yr, he made history because the youngest Slam Dunk Champion ever. An 18-year-old Bryant put on a present with unimaginable style, rhythm, attitude, and confidence to appeal the judges in opposition to other competitors together with Ray Allen, Chris Carr, and Michael Finley. The determination was made just one day after what would have been Kobe's forty fourth birthday.