Q 01/05

Kobe Bryant was named after what?

A) A style of Japanese beef

B) A city his parents honeymooned in

C) A jazz trumpeter

D) A Buddhist temple

Answer · why

A) A style of Japanese beef

His father spotted it on a restaurant menu. His middle name, Bean, came from his dad's own nickname, Jellybean.

Q 02/05

How many seasons did Kobe's father, Joe Bryant, play in the NBA?

A) Eight

B) Two

C) Twelve

D) Fifteen

Answer · why

A) Eight

Joe then took the family to Italy, where he kept playing professionally into Kobe's early teens.

Q 03/05

When Kobe was six, his family moved to which Italian town so his father could keep playing?

A) Rieti

B) Bologna

C) Treviso

D) Varese

Answer · why

A) Rieti

They later lived in Reggio Calabria, Pistoia and Reggio Emilia, and Kobe grew up fluent in Italian.

Q 04/05

Which soccer club did Kobe, who played the game as a boy in Italy, call his favourite team?

A) Juventus

B) Inter Milan

C) AS Roma

D) A.C. Milan

Answer · why

D) A.C. Milan

He kept up the Serie A fandom for life and was often spotted at Milan matches.

Q 05/05

Kobe played high school basketball at Lower Merion, located just outside which city?

A) Baltimore

B) Newark

C) Pittsburgh

D) Philadelphia

Answer · why

D) Philadelphia

The family had moved back to Philadelphia when he was 13, and he first enrolled at Bala Cynwyd Middle School.