“There’s no such thing as having a balance,” Prescott mentioned about his takeaway from the studying. “Your stability is how much you take care of what you’re doing, your give consideration to what you’re doing. The method you balance that is catching a break when you probably can.

After the Lakers' season ended, Bryant stated on TNT that he needed 24 as a rookie, however it was unavailable, as was 33, retired with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Bryant wore 143 on the Adidas ABCD camp, and selected eight by including these numbers. In the primary spherical of the playoffs, the Lakers performed properly sufficient to succeed in a 3–1 collection lead over the Phoenix Suns, culminating with Bryant's OT-forcing and game-winning shots in Game 4. Despite Bryant's 27.9 points per game in the series, the Lakers broke down, and ultimately fell to the Suns in seven games.

Bryant’s encore performance came in 2009 and once more in 2010 when the Lakers went back-to-back. Bryant was an 18-time All-Star, which ranks second behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's and LeBron James’ 19. He was chosen a then-record 18 straight times, every time as a starter.

The more time he spent on campus, the more UC Irvine became part of him. The Bryants moved abroad so Joe may play for a collection of Italian pro teams after his NBA career ended. Kobe was 6 on the time and was obsessive about basketball, watching videotapes of U.S. video games mailed to him by his grandfather. 2K is celebrating its 25th anniversary by unveiling its latest edition of the popular NBA gaming sequence — and it’s formally out there for preorder. The new NBA 2K24 will not solely characteristic a slam dunk-worthy lineup of gamers to choose from, however comes in a quantity of covers, including two with the legendary Kobe Bryant on front, which you'll find a way to acquire. We have been in a battle with him, and we were trying to be the most effective participant in the world, just like he was.

This marked the primary time the Lakers received a Game 7 against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Bryant said that this was probably the most satisfying of all of his five championships. He was selected to his eleventh consecutive All-Star Game as a starter, and was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for December and January along with being named Western Conference Player of the week 3 times. During the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, Bryant who tallied 27 factors, four assists, four rebounds, and four steals was awarded All-Star Game co-MVP with former teammate Shaquille O'Neal. The Lakers completed the regular season with one of the best report within the west (65–17). Bryant was runner-up in the MVP voting behind LeBron James, and was selected to the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team for the seventh time in his profession.

Bryant thought-about the shot "one of many luckiest he has made". A week later, Bryant suffered an avulsion fracture in his right index finger in a recreation in opposition to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite the injury, Bryant elected to continue playing, rather than take any time off to rest the damage. Five days after his finger harm, he made another game-winning shot, after missing on a chance in regulation, this time in opposition to the Milwaukee Bucks in an overtime recreation. Bryant additionally grew to become the youngest player to succeed in 25,000 factors in his profession during the season, surpassing Chamberlain.

In 2018, Bryant grew to become the primary African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and the first former professional athlete to be nominated and to win an Academy Award in any class for his filmDear Basketball. On August 22, 2016, Bryant and his business partner Jeff Stibel launched Bryant-Stibel, a enterprise capital agency targeted on different businesses together with media, information, gaming, and know-how, with $100 million in funding. In 2011, Bryant was featured in Taiwanese singer Jay Chou's single, "The Heaven and Earth Challenge" (天地一鬥, pronounced "Tian Di Yi Dou").

Kobe Bryant had a profitable enterprise career off the court docket. He had a successful basketball profession even before joining the NBA. He tragically died in a helicopter accident in January 2020 alongside his daughter Gianna.