96 Fun Facts About Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant was named after what?

A style of Japanese beef: his father picked the name after spotting Kobe beef on a restaurant menu.

Which future WNBA star befriended young Kobe while both of their fathers were playing pro basketball abroad?

Tamika Catchings: decades later she and Kobe were enshrined together in the Naismith Hall of Fame's class of 2020.

Which soccer club did Kobe call his favourite team growing up?

A.C. Milan: he spent ages 6 to 13 abroad while his father played pro basketball, and grew up loving the club.

Kobe was the first guard to jump straight from high school to the NBA; which forward had done it a year earlier?

Kevin Garnett: owners wanted to stop deals like his record $126 million contract, and the 1998-99 lockout followed.

Kobe's 2000 rap single 'K.O.B.E.' featured which supermodel singing the hook?

Tyra Banks: they performed it at NBA All-Star Weekend in 2000, but the single flopped and Sony dropped him.

Kobe turned down the lead role in Spike Lee's 'He Got Game'; which NBA player took the part?

Ray Allen: Kobe passed on the part to spend that summer in the gym, and Allen starred opposite Denzel Washington.

In May 1996, Kobe was the prom date of which R&B singer?

Kobe took Brandy, then starring in the sitcom Moesha, to Lower Merion's senior prom in Philadelphia in May 1996; the two had met earlier that year and stayed friends.

Which team originally selected Kobe in the 1996 NBA draft before trading him to the Lakers?

The Charlotte Hornets took Kobe 13th overall in 1996 on the Lakers' behalf, having agreed before the draft to trade his rights to Los Angeles.

The Lakers acquired Kobe's draft rights in exchange for which center?

Vlade Divac: he threatened to retire rather than leave Los Angeles, before relenting and letting the deal go through.

Which Lakers general manager made the trade for Kobe after watching him work out?

Jerry West: the same trade cleared the cap space he used to sign Shaquille O'Neal.

Which former Lakers coach entered the Naismith Hall of Fame in the same class as Kobe?

Rudy Tomjanovich: he had stepped down as the Lakers' coach midway through 2004-05, citing concerns for his health.

At 18 years and 158 days, Kobe became the youngest what in NBA history?

Starter: he was that young because he had skipped college to go straight from high school to the NBA.

Kobe won which All-Star weekend event in 1997, at 18 the youngest champion ever?

Slam Dunk Contest: he was only third after the first round, then won the final.

In his second season, Kobe Bryant was runner-up for which NBA award?

In 1997-98 Kobe, then a bench player, finished second to Danny Manning for Sixth Man of the Year; fans also voted the 19-year-old into the All-Star starting five.

Kobe's play took a leap in 1999 when which coach was hired by the Lakers?

Phil Jackson: he brought the triangle offense from Chicago, and Kobe and Shaq won the next three NBA titles.

In the 2000 Finals against Indiana, Kobe hurt his ankle in Game 2 after landing on whose foot?

Jalen Rose: Rose later admitted he slid his foot under Kobe on purpose, and Kobe missed the next game.

The Lakers completed their three-peat in 2002 by sweeping which team in the Finals?

New Jersey Nets: after Shaquille O'Neal overpowered their big men, they traded for center Dikembe Mutombo that summer.

Kobe returned from his torn Achilles, only to fracture what six games later?

His knee: he missed the rest of that season, and the Lakers finished 27-55.

Kobe hit a record 12 threes in 2003; who raised the record to 14 in 2018?

Klay Thompson: he had struggled to start that season, then made 14 of 24 threes against the Chicago Bulls in just 27 minutes.

The Lakers lost the 2004 Finals in five games to which team, after which Shaq was traded?

Detroit Pistons: that summer Shaq was sent to Miami, leaving Kobe as the team's undisputed leader.

Kobe took the nickname 'Black Mamba' from a codename in which films?

Kobe borrowed 'Black Mamba' from the assassin codename in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films, saying he wanted to strike with the snake's 99% accuracy at maximum speed.

On December 20, 2005, Kobe scored 62 points in just three quarters against which team?

Against the Dallas Mavericks on December 20, 2005, Kobe had 62 points after three quarters, more than the whole Dallas team's 61, and sat out the fourth.

Kobe scored his career-high 81 points in January 2006 against which team?

Toronto Raptors: the first Kobe statue outside the Lakers' arena, unveiled in 2024, depicts him right after that game.

Kobe's career-high game in 2006 broke a Lakers single-game record of 71 points held by whom?

Elgin Baylor: Wilt Chamberlain's famous 100 came for another franchise, so it never counted as a Lakers record.

Kobe averaged 35.4 points a game in 2005-06, but who won that season's MVP?

Steve Nash: his Phoenix Suns then knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs, rallying from 3-1 down.

Why did Kobe switch from 8 to 24 in 2006?

It was his first high-school number: in 2017 the Lakers retired both of his numbers, 8 and 24.

Which player, acquired in a mid-season 2008 trade, helped Kobe lead the Lakers to his only MVP season?

Pau Gasol: that season ended in a Finals loss, but with Gasol the Lakers won the next two titles.

Kobe played all 82 games of 2007-08 despite an injury to which body part, rather than opting for surgery?

Kobe tore a ligament in his shooting-hand pinkie in February 2008, with an avulsion fracture, but postponed surgery, played all 82 games and carried the injury through the Beijing Olympics.

In the 2008 Olympic final, Team USA beat which country 118-107 for its first gold since 2000?

Spain: the Americans had routed Spain by 37 points earlier in the Games, yet the final stayed close until late.

Kobe won his first Finals MVP in 2009 as the Lakers beat which team in five games?

The Lakers beat the Orlando Magic 4-1 in the 2009 Finals and Kobe, averaging 32.4 points, was named Finals MVP; he repeated a year later against Boston for his fifth ring.

On December 4, 2009, Kobe beat the Miami Heat with a buzzer-beating one-legged three-pointer over whom?

Dwyane Wade: the Lakers trailed by two with 3.2 seconds left, and Kobe called the banked, one-legged three his luckiest shot.

Kobe's four All-Star Game MVP awards tied a record held by which Hall of Famer?

Bob Pettit: weeks after Kobe's death in 2020, the NBA renamed the All-Star Game MVP award in his honour.

At the 2012 All-Star Game, Kobe scored 27 points to pass whom as the career All-Star Game scoring leader?

Michael Jordan: in that same game a hard foul left Kobe with a broken nose and a concussion.

Kobe travelled to which country in 2011 for experimental Orthokine platelet-rich plasma therapy?

Germany: he flew back for the same therapy in 2013.

In April 2013, Kobe tore his Achilles tendon in a game against which team?

Golden State Warriors: he had played at least 40 minutes in seven straight games as the Lakers chased a playoff spot.

Which former teammate coached Kobe in his 19th season, 2014-15?

Byron Scott, a Lakers teammate in Kobe's rookie year, coached him for his final two seasons; 2014-15 ended in January with a torn rotator cuff against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Kobe announced his retirement on November 29, 2015, through which outlet?

The Players' Tribune: in the poem he wrote that his heart and mind could keep going, but his body knew it was time.

In his final NBA game, Kobe scored 60 points against which team?

Utah Jazz: he outscored the Jazz 23-21 by himself in the fourth quarter to turn a deficit into a 101-96 win.

Which 2015 No. 2 pick joined Kobe's Lakers for his final season?

D'Angelo Russell: the Lakers traded him away in 2017, then traded to bring him back in 2023.

In January 2020, which player passed Kobe for third place on the NBA's career scoring list?

LeBron James: he did it on January 25, and Kobe died in a helicopter crash the next morning.

Kobe won an Academy Award in 2018 for which animated short film?

Dear Basketball: it grew out of the poem Kobe wrote to announce his retirement, and he narrated the film himself.

Beginning in 2018, Kobe wrote, produced and hosted which film-breakdown series on ESPN?

Detail: when Kobe used a 2018 episode to break down rookie Donovan Mitchell's playoff game, Mitchell watched it twice.

In 2014, Kobe invested about $6 million for roughly 10% of which sports drink company?

Bodyarmor: when Coca-Cola bought a minority stake in 2018, his share was valued at about $200 million.

Before his rookie season, Kobe signed his first shoe deal with which brand?

Adidas: he later left for Nike, which signed him in 2003 and went on to launch the Zoom Kobe shoes.

Kobe met Vanessa in 1999 while she was working as what?

A background dancer on a music video: Kobe was on set because he was working on his own rap album.

In which Los Angeles-area city did the helicopter carrying Kobe crash in January 2020?

Calabasas: the group was flying to a youth basketball game at Kobe's academy, and all nine people aboard died.

The NTSB concluded that the pilot of Kobe's helicopter probably became disoriented by what?

Thick clouds: the NTSB also cited the pilot's likely self-induced pressure to complete the flight.

Kobe's second Naismith Hall of Fame induction, in 2025, was as part of which group?

The 2008 Redeem Team: the U.S. had settled for bronze at the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 World Championship, hence the name.

Which Grammys host called Staples Center 'the house that Kobe Bryant built'?

Alicia Keys: she and Boyz II Men then sang 'It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday' in his memory.

Kobe's Hall of Fame class of 2020 also included which Spurs great?

Tim Duncan: that class was enshrined in May 2021, postponed from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kobe's middle name, Bean, came from what?

His father's nickname, Jellybean: Joe Bryant earned it for his fondness for the candy.

Besides English, which two languages did Kobe speak fluently?

Kobe spoke Italian and Spanish fluently: Italian from his boyhood in Italy, and Spanish, which he used in interviews and spoke with his wife Vanessa's Mexican-American family.

Which Team USA assistant coach took over Kobe's Lakers in 2012?

Mike D'Antoni: the Lakers hired him after firing Mike Brown just five games into the season.

Kobe skipped college, but later said he wondered how he'd look in which school's uniform?

Duke: its coach, Mike Krzyzewski, later coached him to Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008.

What was the name of the multimedia production company Kobe founded?

Granity Studios: Kobe set it up to tell sports stories meant to inspire young athletes.

In 1996, Kobe's camp had to talk which coach's team out of drafting him eighth overall?

John Calipari: his team drafted Kerry Kittles instead, and Kobe went five picks later.

Who had to co-sign Kobe Bryant's first NBA contract with the Lakers in 1996?

His parents signed alongside him because he was still a minor, putting their names to a three-year rookie deal worth about $3.5 million.

Moments after tearing his Achilles tendon in April 2013, what did Kobe Bryant do before leaving the court?

He made two free throws to tie the score on a leg he could not walk on, then left for the locker room with the team trainer's help.

On the day Kobe Bryant died, NBA teams honored him by deliberately committing which two violations as their games began?

Shot clock and backcourt violations run 24 and 8 seconds, the two numbers he wore, so teams simply held the ball on their opening possessions.

Months after winning an Oscar in 2018, Kobe Bryant was refused which other form of Hollywood recognition?

Academy membership was denied because he lacked a larger body of work, even though he was the first professional athlete to win an Oscar.

Kobe Bryant retired holding which unflattering NBA career record, a mark that stood until 2024?

Most missed shots, 14,481 of them, was a record he shrugged off: he said he would rather go 0 for 30 than lose his nerve after going 0 for 9.

Which of Kobe Bryant's four daughters, a promising young basketball player, died with him in the 2020 helicopter crash?

Gianna, 13, hoped to play college basketball at Connecticut, whose coach Geno Auriemma spoke at the public memorial for father and daughter.

In December 2017, Kobe Bryant became the first NBA player to receive which honor from a single franchise?

Two retired jersey numbers, 8 and 24, went up together because he wore each for ten seasons and won championships in both.

Kobe Bryant left high school as Southeastern Pennsylvania's all-time top scorer, passing which future NBA giant's total?

Wilt Chamberlain's schoolboy total fell as he reached 2,883 points, a tally built even though his varsity team won only four games in his first year.

Kobe Bryant shared the 2009 All-Star Game MVP award in Phoenix with which fellow Western Conference player?

Shaquille O'Neal, by then playing for Phoenix, split the trophy with his old Lakers partner nearly five years after their time together in Los Angeles ended.

Kobe Bryant described his fifth title as his most satisfying after the Lakers won Game 7 against which rival?

The Boston Celtics had beaten him in the Finals two years earlier, and the Lakers had never before won a Finals Game 7 against them.

Kobe Bryant led which Pennsylvania high school, nicknamed the Aces, to a state championship in 1996?

Lower Merion went 31–3 in his senior year, capping three seasons in which he played all five positions for the school.

Kobe Bryant was booed throughout the 2002 All-Star Game, where he won his first MVP trophy, in which city?

Philadelphia, the city of his birth, had not forgiven a taunt he aimed at a local heckler during the previous year's Finals.

Which star center joined Kobe Bryant's Lakers in a 2012 trade but left for Houston after one season?

Dwight Howard arrived still recovering from back surgery, and a starting five of All-Stars expected to chase a title was swept in the first round.

In December 2011 the NBA blocked a trade that would have paired Kobe Bryant with which All-Star point guard?

Chris Paul was bound for the Lakers until the league, which owned his New Orleans team at the time, cancelled the deal; days later he went to the Clippers instead.

Kobe Bryant's Lakers lost just once in the 2001 playoffs, a Finals opener taken by which opposing star's team?

Allen Iverson's team won that opener in overtime, then lost four straight as the Lakers, who had swept all three earlier rounds, finished 15–1.

In November 2012, Kobe Bryant passed which Lakers legend to become the franchise's career leader in steals?

Magic Johnson had held the mark with 1,724; Kobe passed it on a night he scored 40, though the Lakers still lost to the Clippers.

Kobe Bryant's 61 points on the road in February 2009 set a new single-game scoring record for which arena?

Madison Square Garden's old record belonged to Bernard King; Kobe's 61 topped it and lasted until Carmelo Anthony scored 62 there in 2014.

Kobe Bryant's Oscar-winning animated short film was scored by which celebrated Hollywood composer?

John Williams supplied the music, while Glen Keane, a veteran Disney animator, directed and drew the film by hand.

Kobe Bryant fulfilled more than 200 requests from young fans through which children's charity?

Make-A-Wish was only part of his giving: he and his wife set up a family foundation in 2007 and were founding donors of a Smithsonian museum.

Kobe Bryant won all five championships in which offensive system, made famous by the 1990s Chicago Bulls?

The triangle offense came to Los Angeles in 1999 with assistant coach Tex Winter, who had developed it from a system he learned as a college player.

Kobe Bryant's alley-oop pass sealed a Game 7 comeback in the 2000 Western Conference Finals against which team?

The Portland Trail Blazers had led by double digits in the fourth quarter; Kobe finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks.

Kobe Bryant's Lakers needed seven games in the 2002 Western Conference Finals to get past which division rival?

The Sacramento Kings had the league's best record and home-court advantage, so the Lakers had to win the deciding game on the road, in overtime.

Kobe Bryant was suspended in 2002 after throwing a punch at which Indiana Pacers star?

Reggie Miller was the target, and the ban that followed was one of five suspensions Kobe served during his NBA career.

By starting a 20th season with the Lakers in 2015, Kobe Bryant broke whose record for seasons with one NBA team?

John Stockton had spent 19 seasons with a single club; Kobe's 20th also made him the first guard in league history to play that many.

Which NBA team owner suggested in 2013 that the Lakers use the amnesty clause to cut Kobe Bryant?

Mark Cuban floated it as a way to save on luxury tax; two days later Kobe scored 38 in a road win over Cuban's team and tweeted a two-word reply.

A January 2015 injury left the right-handed Kobe Bryant playing almost entirely left-handed; what had he torn?

His rotator cuff gave way in his right shoulder against New Orleans, yet he stayed on the floor shooting, dribbling and passing with his other hand.

Kobe Bryant sharpened his post moves in 2009 through private sessions with which Hall of Fame center?

Hakeem Olajuwon taught him the Dream Shake and later called Kobe the best low-post student he ever worked with.

Early in his NBA career, Kobe Bryant rapped a guest verse on a version of a hit by which girl group?

Destiny's Child featured him on a version of Say My Name, part of a brief rap career that ended when his label shelved his debut album.

A 1998 basketball video game named after the 19-year-old Kobe Bryant was released for which console?

The Nintendo 64 title, Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside, made him the youngest player to have a game named for him.

Kobe Bryant signed a two-year endorsement deal as a brand ambassador for which national airline?

Turkish Airlines built its marketing around global stars, also signing Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney and Caroline Wozniacki.

Which point guard, drafted by the Lakers in 1996, won all five of his championships alongside Kobe Bryant?

Derek Fisher arrived as the 24th pick in the same summer the Lakers traded for Kobe, who later called him his favorite teammate.

The first Kobe Bryant statue outside the Lakers' arena shows him pointing skyward after which famous performance?

His 81-point game is also etched into the bronze: the 19-foot statue carries that night's box score, which had to be corrected after fans spotted misspelled names.

Which Lakers teammate did the coach call the most valuable player of Game 7 in Kobe Bryant's 2010 Finals win?

Ron Artest scored 20 points and hit a three-pointer with a minute left on a night when Kobe made only 6 of his 24 shots.

Who was Kobe Bryant's first NBA head coach, in charge of the Lakers when he arrived as a teenager in 1996?

Del Harris, a former Coach of the Year, mostly brought the rookie off the bench behind guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel.

Kobe Bryant was co-writing a children's book with which best-selling novelist, who deleted the draft after his death?

Paulo Coelho, the Brazilian author, said it made no sense to publish without him; the book was meant to inspire underprivileged children.

Kobe Bryant chose to wear 8 as a Lakers rookie by adding together the digits of what?

His camp number at the ABCD showcase was 143, and 1 + 4 + 3 gave him 8; he later said he had really wanted 24 as a rookie.

Kobe Bryant appeared on a 2011 charity single, and in its video, with which Taiwanese pop star?

Jay Chou's track raised money through downloads and ringtones to give poor schools basketball courts and equipment.

Kobe Bryant's fantasy novel Legacy and the Queen, created through his own studio, is built around which sport?

Tennis unlocks magic in the book's world, where a twelve-year-old named Legacy plays to save her family's orphanage.

Which two veteran stars joined Kobe Bryant's Lakers in 2003 chasing a first championship?

Karl Malone and Gary Payton made the Lakers instant title favorites, but the team lost the Finals in five games and was broken up that summer.

Kobe Bryant set up a charity fund for education and health programs in which country, where his jersey was a top seller?

China was also where he served as a global ambassador for the 2019 basketball World Cup; his fund partnered with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation.