Kobe Bryant

Sunday, 17 March 2013

Kobe Bryant

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Kobe Bryant Full Highlights 2013.03.08 vs Raptors - 41 Pts, 12 Assists, Sick at Clutch!

Kobe Bryant's steely determination never wavers. It's his 34-year-old body he sometimes wo...

published: 09 Mar 2013

Kobe Bryant on Jimmy Kimmel Live PART 2

Jimmy Kimmel Live - The second part of Jimmy's interview with Kobe Bryant Jimmy Kimmel Li...

published: 08 Mar 2013

Kobe Bryant on Jimmy Kimmel Live PART 3

Jimmy Kimmel Live - The third part of Jimmy's interview with Kobe Bryant Jimmy Kimmel Liv...

published: 08 Mar 2013

HD - Kobe Bryant Highlights Vs New Orleans Hornets - 42 PTS | 12 AST | 7 REB - March 6th 2013 (720p)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StylishX80 | Got a request? Send a tweet! o matter how bad...

published: 07 Mar 2013

Kobe Bryant's Top 10 Plays of his Career

One of the best scorers in the history of the NBA, Kobe Bryant has dazzled crowds with end...

published: 09 Feb 2013

The Greatness of Kobe Bryant

Check out these four INCREDIBLE shots from Kobe Bryant as he hits three nearly impossible ...

published: 09 Mar 2013

The Forum: Kobe Bryant's Minutes

With Kobe Bryant averaging 38.2 minutes per game, should the Lakers be concerned about him...

published: 27 Feb 2013

Kobe's 42 leads AMAZING Lakers comeback!

Check out some of the highlights from Kobe Bryant's AMAZING 42 point performance as he led...

published: 07 Mar 2013

Kobe Bryant Full Highlights 2013.02.28 vs Timberwolves - 33 Pts, 5 Asists.

Boxscore - http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400278583...

published: 01 Mar 2013

Kobe Bryant 34 points (winning shot & sick dunk on Josh Smith) vs Hawks full highlights 03/03/13 HD

...

published: 04 Mar 2013

HD - Kobe Bryant Highlights Vs Dallas Mavericks - 38 PTS | 12 REB | 7 AST - February 24th 2013(720p)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StylishX80 | Got a request? Send a tweet! Kobe Bryant fire...

published: 24 Feb 2013

Kobe Bryant "Willing" the Lakers To Victory (March 8, 2013)

Kobe Bryant hitting some "Clutch 3's" late in the Lakers game vs. the Raptors on March 8, ...

published: 09 Mar 2013

Lakers vs. Mavericks: Kobe Bryant highlights - 38 points (2.24.13)

*Credits to Dawk Ins* Kobe Bryant had 38 points to win a scoring duel with Dirk Nowitzki ...

published: 24 Feb 2013

Kobe Bryant 42 points vs New Orleans Hornets (Full Highlights)

A vintage performance from Kobe leading the Lakers back from 25 points to a win over the N...

published: 07 Mar 2013

Vimeo results:

Kobe and Artest: The 'Lost' Trash Talk

The Basketball Jones uncovers the smack talk going on between Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest o...

published: 13 Mar 2009

author: The Basketball Jones

Kobe Bryant a Sassoferrato

published: 08 Oct 2009

author: Luigi Garofoli

Kobe Bryant Talks Nike, Lil' Wayne & LeBron James With the.LIFE Files!

LIVE from the legendary L.A. Forum and former locker room to greats such as Magic Johnson,...

published: 15 Dec 2009

author: the.LIFE Files

Nike Write the Future Ad Campaign Behind The Scenes

Let's go behind the scenes of Nike's amazing 'Write the Future' campaign. Some of the wor...

published: 20 May 2010

author: The Final Third

Youtube results:

Skip Bayless & Stephen A. Smith on Can Kobe Bryant Keep It Up? | ESPN First Take

First Take's Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless debate whether the Kobe Bryant and the Lake...

published: 04 Mar 2013

LA Lakers vs New Orleans Hornets 03/06/2013 ( Full Lakers Highlights/Recap ) Kobe Bryant 42 Pts.

LA Lakers vs New Orleans Hornets 03/06/2013 ( Full Lakers Highlights/Recap ) Kobe Bryant 4...

published: 07 Mar 2013

Kobe Bryant 40 Points vs Portland Trail Blazers - Highlights 22/02/2013

The Mamba finally with a great shooting night as he scored 40 points and added 4 assists. ...

published: 23 Feb 2013

Kobe Bryant on Lakers Owner Dr Jerry Buss Memorial Service - (21-2-13)

Kobey Bryant talks about his time with the late Lakers owner Dr Jerry Buss! I do not clai...

published: 22 Feb 2013

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Kobe Bryant

Bryant greeting some fans in February 2007

No. 24 – Los Angeles Lakers

Shooting guard

Personal information

Born (1978-08-23) August 23, 1978 (age 33)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Nationality American

High school Lower Merion HS, Ardmore, Pennsylvania

Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)

Listed weight 205 lb (93 kg)

Career information

NBA Draft 1996 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13th overall

Selected by the Charlotte Hornets

Pro career 1996–present

Career history

1996–present Los Angeles Lakers

Career highlights and awards

5× NBA Champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010)

2× NBA Finals MVP (2009–2010)

NBA Most Valuable Player (2008)

14× NBA All-Star (1998, 2000–2012)

2× NBA scoring champion (2006–2007)

10× All-NBA First Team (2002–2004, 2006–2012)

2× All-NBA Second Team (2000–2001)

2× All-NBA Third Team (1999, 2005)

9× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2000, 2003–2004, 2006–2011)

3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2001–2002, 2012)

NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1997)

4× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2002, 2007, 2009, 2011)

NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (1997)

Naismith Prep Player of the Year (1996)

Stats at NBA.com

Medals

Men's basketball

Competitor for the United States

Olympic Games

Gold 2008 Beijing National Team

FIBA Americas Championship

Gold 2007 Las Vegas Team competition

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. He decided to declare his eligibility for the NBA Draft upon graduation, and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest.

Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. A heated feud between the duo and a loss in the 2004 NBA Finals was followed by O'Neal's trade from the Lakers after the 2003–04 season. Following O'Neal's departure Bryant became the cornerstone of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, setting numerous scoring records in the process. In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in NBA history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. He was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2008. After losing in the 2008 NBA Finals, Bryant led the Lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, earning the NBA Finals MVP Award on both occasions.

As of February 2012^[update], Bryant ranks third and fifth on the league's all-time post-season scoring and all-time regular season scoring lists, respectively. He is also the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. Since his second year in the league, Bryant has started in every NBA All-Star Game that has been held with fourteen All-Star appearances, winning the All-Star MVP Award four times (2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011). Bryant is tied for the most All Star MVP Awards in NBA history. He is a 14-time member of the All-NBA team and an 12-time member of the All-Defensive team; he is also the youngest player ever to receive defensive honors. At the 2008 Olympics, he won a gold medal as a member of the USA national team. In 2009, Sporting News and TNT named Bryant the top NBA player of the 2000s decade.

In 2003, Bryant was accused of sexual assault after having sex with a hotel employee in Colorado. In September 2004, prosecutors dropped the case after his accuser refused to testify. A civil suit was later filed and settled out of court.

Contents

1 Early years

1.1 Childhood and youth

1.2 High school

2 NBA career

2.1 1996 NBA Draft

2.2 First three seasons (1996–99)

2.3 Three-peat (1999–2002)

2.4 Coming up short (2002–04)

2.5 Setting records and playoffs disappointments (2004–07)

2.6 MVP year and trip to the finals (2007–08)

2.7 Back on top (2008–10)

2.8 Chasing the sixth championship (2010–present)

3 International career

4 Player profile

5 NBA career statistics

5.1 Regular season

5.2 Playoffs

6 Accomplishments and records

7 Off the court

7.1 Personal life

7.2 Sexual assault allegation

7.3 Endorsements

7.4 Music

7.5 Philanthropy

8 See also

9 References

10 External links

Early years [link]

Childhood and youth [link]

Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the youngest of three children and the only son of former Philadelphia 76ers player and former Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant.^[1] He is also the maternal nephew of John "Chubby" Cox. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu.^[1] Bryant was raised Roman Catholic.^[2] When Bryant was six, his father left the NBA and moved his family to Italy to continue playing professional basketball.^[3] Bryant became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to speak Italian and Spanish.^[3]^[4] During summers, he would come back to the United States to play in a basketball summer league.^[5]

Bryant started playing basketball when he was 3 years old,^[6] and his favorite team growing up was the Lakers.^[7] Bryant's grandfather would mail him videos of NBA games, which Bryant would study.^[7] At an early age he also learned to play soccer; his favorite team is AC Milan.^[8] He has said that if he had stayed in Italy, he would have tried to become a professional soccer player;^[8] Bryant is a big fan of former FC Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard and their former player Ronaldinho.^[9] Upon Joe Bryant's retirement from playing basketball in 1991, the Bryant family moved back to the United States.

High school [link]

Bryant's retired No.33 jersey and banner at the Lower Merion High School gym.

Bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School located in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion. As a freshman, he played for the varsity basketball team.^[10] His father coached him his second year of high school. Although during his first year the team was mediocre, the following three years the Aces compiled a 77–13 record, with Bryant playing all five positions.^[10] During his junior year, he averaged 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists and was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year.^[11] College recruiters from across the country were lined up to recruit him after his breakout year.^[11] Duke, North Carolina, Villanova and Michigan were at the top of his list; however, when Kevin Garnett went in the first round of the 1995 NBA Draft, he began considering going directly to the pros.^[11]

At Adidas ABCD camp, Bryant earned the 1995 senior MVP award,^[12] while playing alongside future NBA teammate Lamar Odom.^[13] While in high school, then 76ers coach John Lucas invited Bryant to work out and scrimmage with the team, where he played one-on-one with Jerry Stackhouse.^[14] In his senior year of high school, Bryant led the Aces to their first state championship in 53 years. During the run, he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals, and 3.8 blocked shots in leading the Aces to a 31–3 record.^[15] Bryant ended his high school career as Southeastern Pennsylvania's all-time leading scorer at 2,883 points, surpassing both Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons.^[16]

Bryant received several awards for his performance his senior year including being named Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Men's National Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American, and a USA Today All-USA First Team player.^[17] Bryant's varsity coach, Greg Downer, commented that Bryant was "a complete player who dominates".^[15] In 1996, Bryant took R&B singer Brandy Norwood to his senior prom,^[18] though the two were, and remain, just friends. Ultimately, however, the 17-year-old Bryant made the decision to go directly into the NBA, only the sixth player in NBA history to do so.^[10] Bryant's news was met with a lot of publicity at a time when prep-to-pro NBA players were not very common (Garnett being the only exception in 20 years).^[10] His SAT score of 1080^[19] would have ensured his basketball scholarship to various top-tier colleges and Bryant has stated that had he decided to go to college after high school, he would have attended Duke University.^[20] In 2012, Bryant was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald's All-Americans.^[21]

NBA career [link]

1996 NBA Draft [link]

The first guard to ever be taken out of high school, Bryant was chosen as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996.^[22] According to Arn Tellem, Bryant's agent at the time, Bryant playing for the Charlotte Hornets was "an impossibility".^[23] However, Bill Branch, the Hornets' head scout at the time, said that the Hornets agreed to trade their draft selection to the Lakers before picking Bryant. The teams agreed to the trade the day before the draft and the Lakers did not tell the Hornets who to select until five minutes before the pick was made.^[24] Branch said that prior to the trade agreement, the Hornets never even considered drafting Bryant. Prior to the draft, Bryant had worked out in Los Angeles, in which he scrimmaged against former Lakers players Larry Drew and Michael Cooper, and according to then-Laker manager Jerry West "marched over these people".^[25] On July 1, 1996, West traded his starting center, Vlade Divac, to the Hornets in exchange for Bryant's draft rights.^[26] Since he was still 17 at the time of the draft, his parents had to cosign his contract with the Lakers until he was able to sign his own when he turned 18 before the season began.^[27]

First three seasons (1996–99)[link]

During his rookie season, Bryant mostly came off the bench behind guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel.^[28] At the time he became the youngest player ever to play in an NBA game (a record since broken by Jermaine O'Neal and Andrew Bynum), and also became the youngest NBA starter ever.^[29] Initially, Bryant played limited minutes, but as the season continued, he began to see some more playing time. By the end of the season, he averaged 15.5 minutes a game. During the All-Star weekend, Bryant was the winner of the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, becoming the youngest player to be named the slam dunk champion at the age of 18.^[30] Bryant's performance throughout the year earned him a spot on the NBA All Rookie second team with fellow bench teammate Travis Knight.^[31] His final minutes of the season ended in disaster when he shot 4 air balls at crucial times in the game.^[15] He first missed a jumper to win the game in the 4th quarter and 3 three-pointers in overtime (2 of which would have tied the game in the final minute). With that the Utah Jazz ended the playoffs for the Lakers in the second round. Shaquille O'Neal commented years later that "[Bryant] was the only guy who had the guts at the time to take shots like that."^[32]^[33]

In Bryant's second season, he received more playing time and began to show more of his abilities as a talented young guard. As a result Bryant's point averages more than doubled from 7.6 to 15.4 points per game.^[34] Bryant would see an increase in minutes when the Lakers "played small", which would feature Bryant playing small forward along side the guards he'd usually back up.^[35] Bryant was the runner-up for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award,^[36] and through fan voting, he also became the youngest NBA All-Star starter in NBA history.^[37] He was joined by teammates Shaquille O'Neal, Nick Van Exel, and Eddie Jones, making it the first time since 1983 that four players on the same team were selected to play in the same All-Star Game. Bryant's 15.4 points per game was the highest of any non-starter in the season.^[38]

The 1998–99 season marked Bryant's emergence as a premiere guard in the league. With starting guards Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones traded, Bryant started every game for the lockout-shortened 50 game season. During the season, Bryant signed a 6-year contract extension worth $70 million.^[38] This kept him with the Lakers until the end of the 2003–04 season. Even at an early stage of his career sportswriters were comparing his skills to that of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.^[27]^[39]^[40] The playoff results, however, were no better, as the Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals.^[41]

Three-peat (1999–2002)[link]

Bryant was a member of the Lakers teams that won three consecutive NBA Championships from 2000 to 2002.

Bryant's fortunes would soon change when Phil Jackson became coach for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1999.^[42] After years of steady improvement, Bryant became one of the premier shooting guards in the league, earning appearances in the league's All-NBA,^[43] All-Star, and All-Defensive teams.^[44] The Los Angeles Lakers became true championship contenders under Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, who formed a legendary center-guard combination. Jackson utilized the triangle offense he used to win six championships with the Chicago Bulls, which would help both Bryant and O'Neal rise to the elite class of the NBA. The three resulting championships won consecutively in 2000, 2001, and 2002 further proved such a fact.^[45]

Bryant started the 1999–2000 season sidelined for six weeks due to an injury to his hand in a preseason game against the Washington Wizards.^[46] With Bryant back and playing over 38 minutes a game, he saw an increase in all statistical categories in the 1999–2000 season. This included leading the team in assists per game and steals per game. The duo of O'Neal and Bryant backed with a strong bench led to the Lakers winning 67 games, tied for fifth-most in NBA history. This followed with O'Neal winning the MVP and Bryant being named to the All-NBA Team Second Team and All-NBA Defensive Team for the first time in his career (the youngest player ever to receive defensive honors).^[47] While playing second fiddle to O'Neal in the playoffs, Bryant had some clutch performances including a 25 point, 11 rebound, 7 assist, 4 block game in game 7 of the Western Conference finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.^[48] He also threw an alley-oop pass to O'Neal to clinch the game and the series. In the 2000 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Bryant injured his ankle in the second quarter of Game 2 and did not return to the game. He also missed Game 3 due to the injury. In Game 4, Bryant scored 22 points in the second half, and led the team to an OT victory as O'Neal fouled out of the game. Bryant scored the winning shot to put the Lakers ahead 120–118.^[49] With a 116–111 Game 6 victory, the Lakers won their first championship since 1988.^[50]

Statistically, the 2000–01 season saw Bryant perform similarly to the previous year, except Bryant averaged 6 more points a game (28.5). It was also the year when disagreements between Bryant and O'Neal began to surface.^[51] Once again he led the team in assists with 5 per game. The Lakers however, only won 56 games, an 11-game drop off from last year. The Lakers would respond by going 15–1 in the playoffs. They easily swept the Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, and San Antonio Spurs, before losing their first game against the Philadelphia 76ers in OT. They would go on to win the next 4 games and bring their second championship to Los Angeles in as many seasons. During the playoffs, Bryant played heavy minutes which brought his stats up to 29.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game. In the playoffs, teammate O'Neal declared Bryant the best player in the league.^[15]^[52] Bryant ended up making the All NBA Second team and All NBA Defensive Team for the second year in a row. In addition, he was also voted to start in the NBA All-Star Game for the 3rd year in a row (no game in 1999).

In the 2001–02 season, Bryant played 80 games for the first time in his career. He continued his all-round play by averaging 25.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. He also had a career high 46.9% shooting and once again led his team in assists. While making the All-Star team and All-NBA Defensive team again, he was also promoted to the All-NBA First Team for the first time in his career. The Lakers won 58 games that year and finished second place in the Pacific Division behind in-state rival Sacramento Kings. Bryant was suspended one game after he punched Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers after the Lakers' March 1, 2002 victory over the Pacers.^[53]^[54]

The road to the Finals would prove a lot tougher than the record run the Lakers had the previous year. While the Lakers swept the Blazers and defeated the Spurs 4–1, the Lakers did not have home court advantage against the Sacramento Kings. The series would stretch to 7 games, the first time this happened to the Lakers since the 2000 Western Conference Finals. However, the Lakers were able to beat their division rivals and make their third consecutive NBA Finals appearance. In the 2002 Finals, Bryant averaged 26.8 points, 51.4% shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists per game, which included scoring a quarter of the teams points.^[55] At age 23, Bryant became the youngest player to win three championships.^[55] Bryant's play was notable and praised for his performance in the 4th quarter of games, specifically the last 2 rounds of the playoffs.^[55]^[56] This cemented Bryant's reputation as a clutch player.

Coming up short (2002–04)[link]

Bryant prepares to shoot a free throw in 2005.

In the 2002–03 season, Bryant averaged 30 points per game and embarked on a historic run, posting 40 or more points in nine consecutive games while averaging 40.6 in the entire month of February. In addition, he averaged 6.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, all career highs up to that point. Bryant was once again voted on to both the All-NBA and All-Defensive 1st teams,^[1] and came in third place in voting for the MVP award. After finishing 50–32 in the regular season, the Lakers foundered in the playoffs and lost in the Western Conference semi-finals to the eventual NBA champions San Antonio Spurs in six games.^[57]

In the following 2003–04 season, the Lakers were able to acquire NBA All-Stars Karl Malone, and Gary Payton to make another push at the NBA Championship.^[58] Before the season began, Bryant was arrested for sexual assault.^[59] This caused Bryant to miss some games due to court appearances or attend court earlier in the day and travel to play games later in same day.^[60] In the final game of the regular season the Lakers played the Portland Trail Blazers. Bryant made two buzzer beaters to win the game and the Pacific Division title. At the end of the fourth quarter, Bryant made a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to tie the game at 87 and send it into OT.^[61] The game eventually went to a second overtime, in which Bryant made another 3-pointer as time expired to lift the Lakers past the Blazers 105–104.^[61]

With a starting lineup of four future Hall of Famers, O'Neal, Malone, Payton, and Bryant, the Lakers were able to reach the NBA Finals.^[62] In the Finals, they were defeated in five games by the Detroit Pistons, who won their first championship since 1990.^[63] In that series, Bryant averaged 22.6 points per game and 4.4 assists. He shot a mere 35.1% from the field.^[64] Phil Jackson's contract as coach was not renewed, and Rudy Tomjanovich took over.^[65] Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant.^[66] The following day, Bryant declined an offer to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers and re-signed with the Lakers on a seven-year contract.^[67]

Setting records and playoffs disappointments (2004–07)[link]

Bryant dunks against Golden State Warriors in October 2005

Bryant was closely scrutinized and criticized during the 2004–05 season with his reputation badly damaged from all that had happened over the previous year. A particularly damaging salvo came when Phil Jackson wrote The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul. The book detailed the events of the Lakers' tumultuous 2003–04 season and has a number of criticisms of Bryant. In the book Jackson called Bryant "uncoachable".^[68] Midway through the season, Rudy Tomjanovich suddenly resigned as Lakers coach, citing the recurrence of health problems and exhaustion.^[69] Without Tomjanovich, stewardship of the remainder of the Lakers' season fell to career assistant coach Frank Hamblen.^[70] Despite the fact that Bryant was the league's second leading scorer at 27.6 points per game, the Lakers floundered and missed the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. The year signified a drop in Bryant's overall status in the NBA, as he did not make the NBA All-Defensive Team and was also demoted to the All-NBA Third Team.^[71] During the season, Bryant also engaged in public feuds with Ray Allen and Karl Malone.^[72]^[73]

The 2005–06 NBA season would mark a crossroads in Bryant's basketball career. Despite past differences with Bryant, Phil Jackson returned to coach the Lakers.^[74] Bryant endorsed the move, and by all appearances, the two men worked together well the second time around, leading the Lakers back into the playoffs. Bryant's individual scoring accomplishments posted resulted in the finest statistical season of his career. On December 20, 2005, Bryant scored 62 points in three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks. Entering the fourth quarter, Bryant outscored the entire Mavericks team 62–61, the only time a player has done this through three quarters since the introduction of the shot clock.^[75] When the Lakers faced the Miami Heat on January 16, 2006, Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal made headlines by engaging in handshakes and hugs before the game, signifying a change in the feud that had festered between them.^[76] A month later, at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game, the two were seen laughing together.^[77]

Bryant scored a career high of 81-points against the Toronto Raptors in Staples Center, second highest single scoring performance in NBA history, surpassed only by Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962.

On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points in a victory against the Toronto Raptors.^[78]^[79] In addition to breaking the previous franchise record of 71 set by Elgin Baylor, Bryant's 81-point game was the second highest point total in NBA history, surpassed only by Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962.^[80] In that same month, Bryant also became the first player since 1964 to score 45 points or more in four consecutive games, joining Chamberlain and Baylor as the only players ever to do so.^[81] For the month of January, Bryant averaged 43.4 points per game,^[82] the eighth highest single month scoring average in NBA history and highest for any player other than Chamberlain.^[83] By the end of the 2005–06 season, Bryant set Lakers single-season franchise records for most 40-point games (27) and most points scored (2,832).^[84] He won the league's scoring title for the first time by averaging 35.4 points per game. Bryant finished in fourth place in the voting for the 2006 NBA Most Valuable Player Award, but received 22 first place votes—second only to winner Steve Nash.^[85] The Los Angeles Lakers posted a 45–37 record, an eleven-game improvement over the previous season, and the entire squad seemed to be clicking.^[86]

Later in the season, it was reported that Bryant would change his jersey number from 8 to 24 at the start of the 2006–07 NBA season. Bryant's first high school number was 24 before he switched to 33.^[87] After the Lakers' season ended, Bryant said on TNT that he wanted 24 as a rookie, but it was unavailable, as was 33, retired with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Bryant wore 143 at the Adidas ABCD camp, and chose 8 by adding those numbers.^[87] In the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers played well enough to reach a 3–1 series lead over the Phoenix Suns, culminating with Bryant's OT-forcing and game-winning shots in Game 4. They came within six seconds of eliminating the second-seeded Suns in Game 6, however, they lost that game 126–118 in overtime.^[88] Despite Bryant's 27.9 points per game in the series, the Lakers broke down, and ultimately fell to the Suns in seven games.^[88] Bryant received criticism for only taking three shots in the second half of the 121–90 Game 7 loss to Phoenix.^[89] In the 2006 off-season, Bryant had knee surgery, preventing him from participating in the 2006 FIBA World Championship tournament.^[90]

Bryant scored 50 points or more in four consecutive games and ten total in the 2006–07 season.

During the 2006–07 season, Bryant was selected to his 9th All-Star Game appearance, and on February 18, he logged 31 points, 6 assists, and 6 steals, earning his second career All-Star Game MVP trophy.^[91] Over the course of the season, Bryant became involved in a number of on court incidents. On January 28 while attempting to draw contact on a potential game winning jumpshot, he flailed his arm, striking San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginóbili in the face with his elbow.^[92] Following a league review, Bryant was suspended for the subsequent game at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks. The basis given for the suspension was that Bryant had performed an "unnatural motion" in swinging his arm backwards.^[93] Later, on March 6, he seemed to repeat the motion, this time striking Minnesota Timberwolves guard Marko Jarić.^[92] On March 7, the NBA handed Bryant his second one-game suspension.^[94] In his first game back on March 9, he elbowed Kyle Korver in the face which was retroactively re-classified as a Type 1 flagrant foul.^[92]

On March 16, Bryant scored a season-high 65 points in a home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, which helped end the Lakers 7-game losing streak. This was the second best scoring performance of his 11-year career.^[95] The following game, Bryant recorded 50 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves,^[96] after which he scored 60 points in a road win against the Memphis Grizzlies—becoming the second Laker to score three straight 50-plus point games, a feat not seen since Michael Jordan last did it in 1987.^[97] The only other Laker to do so was Elgin Baylor, who also scored 50+ in three consecutive contests in December 1962.^[97] In the following day, in a game against the New Orleans Hornets, Bryant scored 50 points, making him the second player in NBA history to have 4 straight 50 point games behind Wilt Chamberlain, who is the all-time leader with seven consecutive 50 point games twice.^[98] Bryant finished the year with a total of ten 50-plus point games,^[99] becoming the only player beside Wilt Chamberlain in 1961–62 and 1962–63 to do so in one season. He also won his second straight scoring title that season.^[100] Throughout the 2006–07 season, Bryant's jersey became the top selling NBA jersey in the United States and China.^[101] A number of journalists have attributed the improved sales to Bryant's new number, as well as his continuing All-Star performance on the court.^[102]^[103] In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers were once again eliminated in the first round by the Phoenix Suns, 4–1.^[104]

MVP year and trip to the finals (2007–08)[link]

On May 27, 2007, ESPN reported that Bryant stated that he wanted to be traded if Jerry West did not return to the team with full authority.^[105] Bryant later confirmed his desire for West's return to the franchise, but denied stating that he would want to be traded if that does not occur.^[106] However, three days later, on Stephen A. Smith's radio program, Bryant expressed anger over a Lakers "insider" who claimed that Bryant was responsible for Shaquille O'Neal's departure from the team, and publicly stated, "I want to be traded."^[107] Three hours after making that statement, Bryant stated in another interview that after having a conversation with head coach Phil Jackson, he has reconsidered his decision and backed off his trade request.^[108] Bryant would later be shown on an infamous amateur video saying that center Andrew Bynum should have been traded for All-Star Jason Kidd.^[109]^[110]

Bryant's Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in 6 games during the 2008 NBA Finals.

On December 23, 2007, Bryant became the youngest player (29 years, 122 days) to reach 20,000 points, in a game against the New York Knicks, in Madison Square Garden.^[111] Despite an injury to his shooting hand's small finger, described as "a complete tear of the radial collateral ligament, an avulsion fracture, and a volar plate injury at the MCP joint" that occurred in a game on February 5, 2008, Bryant played all 82 games of the regular season instead of opting for surgery. Regarding his injury, he stated, "I would prefer to delay any surgical procedure until after our Lakers season, and this summer's Olympic Games. But, this is an injury that myself [sic] and the Lakers' medical staff will just have to continue to monitor on a day-to-day basis."^[112] In early September 2008, Bryant decided not to have surgery to repair the injury.^[113]

Leading his team to a West best 57–25 record, they swept the Nuggets in the first round and on May 6, 2008, Bryant was officially announced as the NBA Most Valuable Player award, his first for his career.^[114] He said, "It's been a long ride. I'm very proud to represent this organization, to represent this city."^[115] Jerry West, who was responsible for bringing Bryant to the Lakers, was on hand at the press conference to observe Bryant receive his MVP trophy from NBA commissioner David Stern. He stated, "Kobe deserved it. He's had just another great season. Doesn't surprise me one bit."^[116] In addition to winning his MVP award, Bryant was the only unanimous selection to the All-NBA team on May 8, 2008 for the third straight season and sixth time in his career.^[117] He would then headline the NBA All-Defensive First Team with Kevin Garnett, receiving 52 points overall including 24 first-place nods, earning his eighth selection.^[118]

The Lakers concluded the 2007–08 regular season with a 57–25 record, finishing first in the Western Conference and setting up themselves for a first-round contest against the Nuggets. In Game 1, Bryant, who said he made himself a decoy through most of the game, scored 18 of his 32 points in the final 8 minutes to keep Los Angeles safely ahead.^[119] That made Denver the first 50-win team to be swept out of the first round of the playoffs since the Memphis Grizzlies fell in four to the San Antonio Spurs in 2004.^[120] In the first game of the next round against the Jazz, Bryant scored 38 points as the Lakers beat the Jazz in Game 1.^[121] The Lakers won the next game as well, but dropped Games 3 and 4, even with Bryant putting up 33.5 points per game.^[122] The Lakers then won the next two games to win the semifinals in 6.^[122] This set up a Western Conference Finals berth against the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers defeated the Spurs in 5 games, sending themselves to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. This marked the fifth time in Bryant's career and the first time without Shaquille O'Neal to go to the NBA Finals.^[123] The Lakers then lost to the Boston Celtics in 6 games.^[124]

Back on top (2008–10)[link]

Bryant set a Madison Square Garden record with 61 points

In the 2008–09 season, the Lakers opened the campaign by winning their first seven games.^[125] Bryant led the team to tie the franchise record for most wins to start the season going 17–2,^[126] and by the middle of December they compiled a 21–3 record. He was selected to his eleventh consecutive All-Star Game as a starter,^[127] and was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for December and January in addition to being named Western Conference Player of the week three times.^[128] In a game against the Knicks on February 2, 2009, Bryant scored 61 points, setting a record for the most points scored at Madison Square Garden.^[129] During the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, Bryant who tallied 27 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals was awarded All-Star Game co-MVP with former teammate Shaquille O'Neal.^[130] The Lakers finished the regular season with the best record in the west with a 65–17 record. Bryant was runner-up in the MVP voting behind LeBron James,^[131] and was selected to the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team for the seventh time in his career.

Bryant at the championship parade of the 2009 NBA Champions Los Angeles Lakers

In the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz in five games and the Houston Rockets in seven games in the opening two rounds. After finishing off the Denver Nuggets in the Conference Finals in six games, the Lakers earned their second straight trip to the NBA Finals where they defeated the Orlando Magic in five games. Bryant was awarded his first NBA Finals MVP trophy upon winning his fourth championship,^[132] achieving series averages: 32.4 points, 7.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks.^[133] He became the first player since Jerry West in the 1969 NBA Finals to average at least 32.4 points and 7.4 assists for a finals series^[134] and the first since Michael Jordan to average 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for a title-winning team in the finals.^[135]

Bryant shoots a left-handed floater over Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic on January 18, 2010

During the 2009–10 season, Bryant made six game-winning shots including a buzzer-beating, one-legged 3-pointer against the Miami Heat on December 4, 2009.^[136] Bryant considered the shot one of the luckiest he has made.^[136] A week later, Bryant suffered an avulsion fracture in his right index finger in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[137] Despite the injury, Bryant elected to continue playing with it, rather than take any time off to rest the injury.^[137] Five days after his finger injury, he made another game winning shot, after missing on an opportunity in regulation, this time against the Milwaukee Bucks in an overtime game.^[138] Bryant also became the youngest player (31 years, 151 days) to reach 25,000 points during the season, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain.^[139] He continued his dominant clutch plays making yet another game-winning three-pointer against the Sacramento Kings,^[140] and what would be the game-winning field goal against the Boston Celtics.^[141] The following day, he surpassed Jerry West to become the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history.^[142] After being sidelined for five games from an ankle injury, Bryant made his return and made another clutch three-pointer to give the Lakers a one point lead with four seconds remaining against the Memphis Grizzlies.^[143] Two weeks later, he made his sixth game-winning shot of the season against the Toronto Raptors.^[144]

On April 2, 2010, Bryant signed a three-year contract extension worth $87 million.^[145] Bryant finished the regular season missing four of the final five games, due to injuries to his knee and finger. Bryant suffered multiple injuries throughout the season and as a result, missed nine games. The Lakers began the playoffs as the number one seed in the Western Conference against the Oklahoma City Thunder,^[146] eventually defeating them in six games.^[147] The Lakers swept the Utah Jazz in the second round^[148] and advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they faced Phoenix Suns. In Game 2, Bryant finished the game with 13 assists, setting a new playoff career high; it was the most assists by a Laker in the playoffs since Magic Johnson had 13 in 1996.^[149] The Lakers went on to win the series in six games capturing the Western Conference Championship and advancing to the NBA Finals for a third straight season.^[150] In a rematch against the 2008 Champion Boston Celtics, Bryant, despite shooting 6 for 24 from the field, led the Lakers back from a thirteen-point third quarter deficit in Game 7 to win the championship; he scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter, and finished the game with 15 rebounds. Bryant won his fifth championship and earned his second consecutive NBA Finals MVP award.^[151] This marked the first time the Lakers won a Game 7 against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.^[152] Bryant said that this was the most satisfying of all of his five championships.^[153]

Chasing the sixth championship (2010–present)[link]

The Lakers started the 2010–11 season by winning their first eight games.^[154] In his ninth game of the season, playing against the Denver Nuggets, Bryant became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 26,000 career points.^[155] Bryant also recorded his first triple double since January 21, 2009.^[156] On January 30 against the Celtics, he become the youngest player to score 27,000 points.^[157] On February 1, 2011, Bryant became one of seven players with at least 25,000 points, 5,000 rebounds and 5,000 assists.^[158] In Boston on February 10, Bryant scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half as the Lakers rallied from an early 15-point deficit for a 92–86 win over the Celtics.^[159] It was the Lakers' first victory of the season against one of the league's top four teams, as they entered the game 0–5 in previous matchups and had been outscored by an average of 11 points.^[160] Bryant, selected to his 13th straight All-Star game after becoming the leading vote-getter, had 37 points, 14 rebounds, and three steals in the 2011 All-Star Game and won his fourth All-Star MVP, tying Hall of Famer Bob Pettit for the most All-Star MVP awards.^[161]^[162] During the season, Bryant moved from 12th to 6th place on the NBA all-time career scoring list, passing John Havlicek, Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes, and Moses Malone.^[163] Bryant finished the season averaging less than 20 shots a game, his fewest since the 2003–04 season.^[164]

On April 13, 2011, the NBA fined Bryant $100,000 for directing a gay slur at referee Bennie Adams in frustration in the previous day's game.^[165]^[166]^[167] The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation praised the NBA's decision to fine Bryant, and the Human Rights Campaign said that Bryant's language was a "disgrace" and "distasteful". Bryant stated that he was open to discussing the matter with gay rights groups and wanted to appeal his fine.^[168]^[169]^[170] He later apologized for the use of the word.^[171]^[172] Bryant and other Lakers appeared in a Lakers public service announcement denouncing his behavior.^[173] The team's quest for another three-peat was ended when they were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs. The Mavericks would go on to win the 2011 NBA Finals.

Bryant received experimental platelet-rich plasma therapy on his left knee and ankle,^[174] and Mike Brown replaced the retired Phil Jackson as coach of the Lakers in the offseason. Bryant began the season playing with an injured wrist.^[175] On January 10, 2012, Bryant scored 48 points against the Suns, the most ever by a player in his 16th season. "Not bad for the seventh-best player in the league," said Bryant, referring to a preseason ESPN ranking of the NBA's top players.^[176] He went on to score 40, 42, and 42 in his next three games.^[177] It was the sixth time in his career he scored 40 or more points in four straight games, a feat exceeded only by Wilt Chamberlain (19 times).^[178] At the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, Bryant scored 27 points to pass Michael Jordan as the career scoring leader in the All-Star Game.^[179] He also suffered a broken nose and a concussion in the third quarter of the All-Star Game after a hard foul from Dwyane Wade.^[180] In April, Bryant missed seven games with a bruised left shin.^[181] He returned three games before the end of the regular season. In the last game of the regular season, against Sacramento, he chose not to go for a possible third NBA scoring title, having needed 38 points to surpass Kevin Durant. ^[182]

International career [link]

Bryant in a game against China at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Kobe Bryant declined to play in the 2000 Olympics due to getting married in the off-season.^[183] He also decided not to play in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.^[184] Bryant was originally selected for the FIBA Americas Championship 2003 but withdrew due to surgeries and was replaced by Vince Carter.^[185] In the following summer, he had to withdraw from the Olympic team because of his legal case.^[186] Along with LeBron James, he was one of the first two players to publicly named to the 2006–2008 U.S. preliminary roster in 2006 by Jerry Colangelo.^[187] However, he was once again sidelined after knee surgery and didn't participate in the 2006 FIBA World Championship.^[188]

Bryant's senior international career with the United States national team finally began in 2007. He was a member of the 2007 USA Men's Senior National Team and USA FIBA Americas Championship Team that finished 10–0, won gold and qualified the United States men for the 2008 Olympics. He started in all 10 of the USA's FIBA Americas Championship games. He finished third on the team for made and attempted free throws, ranked fourth for made field goals, made 3-pointers. Among all FIBA Americas Championship competitors, Bryant is ranked 15th in scoring, 14th in assists, and eighth in steals. Bryant scored double-digits in eight of the 10 games played. Bryant also made the game winning 14 feet (4.3 m) jumper above the foul line with seconds left in the game. He currently averages a .530 shooting percentage, with 16.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists.^[189]

As a part of his international expansion, he is also featured in a Chinese reality TV show, called the Kobe Mentu show, which documents Chinese basketball players on different teams going through drills, preparing to play each other while Bryant gives advice and words of encouragement to the players while they practice.^[190]

On June 23, 2008, he was named to the USA Men's Senior National Team for the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[191] This was his first time going to the Olympics. Bryant scored 20 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, along with six assists, as Team USA defeated Spain 118–107 in the gold medal game of the 2008 Summer Olympics on August 24, 2008, for its first gold medal in a worldwide international competition since the 2000 Olympics.^[192] He averaged 15.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting .462 from the field in eight Olympic contests.

Bryant has committed to playing for the national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[193]

Player profile [link]

Bryant shoots over Shane Battier in April 2009.

Bryant is a shooting guard who is capable of playing the small forward position. He is considered one of the most complete players in the NBA,^[194]^[195] has been selected to every All-NBA Team since 1999, and has been featured in the last fourteen NBA All-Star games.^[1] Sportswriters and sportscasters frequently compare Bryant to Michael Jordan, a comparison Bryant dislikes.^[196] In 2007, an ESPN poll of sportswriters voted him as the second best shooting guard in NBA history behind Jordan.^[195]

He is a prolific scorer, averaging 25.4 points per game for his career, along with 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.5 steals (as of the end of the 2011–2012 regular season).^[197] He is known for his ability to create shots for himself and is a competent three-point shooter at 33.7%. Bryant shares the single-game NBA record for three pointers made with 12.^[198] Bryant is often cited as one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA,^[199] and utilizes his wide array of moves and shots to elude defenders and score from virtually anywhere on the floor. Some of Bryant's best moves are his turnaround jump shot, and his ability to post up his defenders and score with a fadeaway jumpshot. Chris Ballard, a Sports Illustrated NBA writer, describes a "jab step-and-pause" as a move Bryant uses where he jabs his non-pivot foot forward to let the defender relax and instead of bringing the jab foot back, he pushes off it and drive around his opponent to get to the basket.^[200]

Aside from his scoring ability, he has established himself as a standout defender, having made the All-Defensive first or second team twelve of the last thirteen seasons.^[1] Bryant has also been noted being one of the premier clutch performers in the NBA.^[201] In an annual survey of NBA general managers, Bryant was selected in 2012 for the 10th consecutive season as the player they most wanted taking the shot with the game on the line.^[202]^[203]^{[neutrality is disputed]} Both Sporting News and TNT named Bryant the NBA player of the 2000s decade.^[204]^[205]

NBA career statistics [link]

Legend

  GP Games played   GS Games started MPG Minutes per game

FG% Field-goal percentage 3P% 3-point field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage

RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game

BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high

† Denotes seasons in which the Lakers won an NBA Championship

Led the league

Regular season [link]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

1996–97 L.A. Lakers 71 6 15.5 .417 .375 .819 1.9 1.3 .7 .3 7.6

1997–98 L.A. Lakers 79 1 26.0 .428 .341 .794 3.1 2.5 .9 .5 15.4

1998–99 L.A. Lakers 50 50 37.9 .465 .267 .839 5.3 3.8 1.4 1.0 19.9

1999–00† L.A. Lakers 66 62 38.2 .468 .319 .821 6.3 4.9 1.6 .9 22.5

2000–01† L.A. Lakers 68 68 40.9 .464 .305 .853 5.9 5.0 1.7 .6 28.5

2001–02† L.A. Lakers 80 80 38.3 .469 .250 .829 5.5 5.5 1.5 .4 25.2

2002–03 L.A. Lakers 82 82 41.5 .451 .383 .843 6.9 5.9 2.2 .8 30.0

2003–04 L.A. Lakers 65 64 37.6 .438 .327 .852 5.5 5.1 1.7 .4 24.0

2004–05 L.A. Lakers 66 66 40.7 .433 .339 .816 5.9 6.0 1.3 .8 27.6

2005–06 L.A. Lakers 80 80 41.0 .450 .347 .850 5.3 4.5 1.8 .4 35.4^[206]

2006–07 L.A. Lakers 77 77 40.8 .463 .344 .868 5.7 5.4 1.4 .5 31.6^[207]

2007–08 L.A. Lakers 82 82 38.9 .459 .361 .840 6.3 5.4 1.8 .5 28.3

2008–09† L.A. Lakers 82 82 36.1 .467 .351 .856 5.2 4.9 1.5 .4 26.8

2009–10† L.A. Lakers 73 73 38.8 .456 .329 .811 5.4 5.0 1.6 .3 27.0

2010–11 L.A. Lakers 82 82 33.9 .451 .323 .828 5.1 4.7 1.2 .1 25.3

2011–12 L.A. Lakers 58 58 38.5 .430 .303 .845 5.4 4.6 1.2 .3 27.9

Career 1161 1013 36.5 .453 .337 .838 5.3 4.7 1.5 .5 25.4

All-Star 13 13 25.5 .509 .350 .824 5.0 4.2 2.7 .3 20.8

Playoffs [link]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

1997 L.A. Lakers 9 0 14.8 .382 .261 .867 1.2 1.2 .3 .2 8.2

1998 L.A. Lakers 11 0 20.0 .408 .214 .689 1.9 1.5 .3 .7 8.7

1999 L.A. Lakers 8 8 39.4 .430 .348 .800 6.9 4.6 1.9 1.2 19.8

2000† L.A. Lakers 22 22 39.0 .442 .344 .754 4.5 4.4 1.5 1.5 21.1

2001† L.A. Lakers 16 16 43.4 .469 .324 .821 7.3 6.1 1.6 .8 29.4

2002† L.A. Lakers 19 19 43.8 .434 .379 .759 5.8 4.6 1.4 .9 26.6

2003 L.A. Lakers 12 12 44.3 .432 .403 .827 5.1 5.2 1.2 .1 32.1^[208]

2004 L.A. Lakers 22 22 44.2 .413 .247 .813 4.7 5.5 1.9 .3 24.5

2006 L.A. Lakers 7 7 44.9 .497 .400 .771 6.3 5.1 1.1 .4 27.9

2007 L.A. Lakers 5 5 43.0 .462 .357 .919 5.2 4.4 1.0 .4 32.8^[209]

2008 L.A. Lakers 21 21 41.1 .479 .302 .809 5.7 5.6 1.7 .4 30.1^[210]

2009† L.A. Lakers 23 23 40.8 .457 .349 .883 5.3 5.5 1.7 .9 30.2

2010† L.A. Lakers 23 23 40.1 .458 .374 .842 6.0 5.5 1.4 .7 29.2

2011 L.A. Lakers 10 10 35.4 .446 .293 .820 3.4 3.3 1.6 .3 22.8

2012 L.A. Lakers 12 12 39.7 .439 .283 .832 4.8 4.3 1.3 .2 30.0

Career 220 200 39.3 .448 .331 .816 5.1 4.7 1.4 .6 25.6

Accomplishments and records [link]

Main article: List of career achievements by Kobe Bryant

Bryant led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons.^[1] In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second-highest number of points scored in a game in NBA history,^[78]^[211] behind only Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point performance. Bryant was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in the 2007–08 season and led his team to the 2008 NBA Finals as the first seed in the Western Conference.^[212] In the 2008 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. men's basketball team, occasionally referred to as "The Redeem Team".^[213] He led the Lakers to two more championships in 2009 and 2010, winning the Finals MVP award on both occasions.

Bryant has been selected to 14 All-NBA Teams (10 times to the All-NBA First Team) and 12 All-Defensive Teams (nine times to the All-Defensive First Team). He was selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game on 14 occasions, winning All-Star MVP Awards in 2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011 (he shared the 2009 award with Shaquille O'Neal). He also won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1997.^[214] As of May 2011, he has had 5 sixty-point games, 24 fifty-point games, and 107 forty-point games.

Off the court [link]

Personal life [link]

In November 1999, 21-year-old Bryant met 17-year-old Vanessa Laine while she was working as a background dancer on the Tha Eastsidaz music video "G'd Up".^[215] Bryant was in the building working on his debut musical album, which was never released. The two began dating and became engaged just six months later in May 2000,^[215] while Laine was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. To avoid media scrutiny, she finished high school through independent study.^[215] According to Vanessa's cousin Laila Laine, there was no prenuptial agreement. Vanessa said Bryant "loved her too much for one".^[216]

They married on April 18, 2001, at St. Edward Roman Catholic Church in Dana Point, California.^[217] Neither Bryant's parents, his two sisters, longtime advisor and agent Arn Tellem, nor Bryant's Laker teammates attended. Bryant's parents were opposed to the marriage for a number of reasons. Reportedly Bryant's parents had problems with him marrying so young, especially to a woman who was not African-American.^[215] This disagreement resulted in an estrangement period of over two years, which ended when Bryant had his first daughter.

In January 2002, Bryant bought a Mediterranean-style house for $4 million, located in a cul-de-sac in Newport Coast, Newport Beach.^[218] The Bryants' first child, a daughter named Natalia Diamante Bryant, was born on January 19, 2003. The birth of Natalia influenced Bryant to reconcile his differences with his parents. Vanessa Bryant suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic pregnancy in the spring of 2005. Their second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, was born on May 1, 2006. Gianna was born six minutes ahead of former teammate Shaquille O'Neal's daughter Me'arah Sanaa, who was born in Florida.^[219] On December 16, 2011, Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. Both parties resolved all the issues related to their divorce prior to the filing.^[220] Both Kobe and Vanessa requested joint custody of their daughters, Natalia and Gianna.^[221]

In an early 2007 interview, it was revealed that Bryant still speaks Italian fluently.^[3] Bryant assigned himself the nickname of "Black Mamba", citing a desire for his basketball skills to mimic the snake of that name's ability to "strike with 99% accuracy at maximum speed, in rapid succession."^[222]

Sexual assault allegation [link]

Main article: Kobe Bryant sexual assault case

In the summer of 2003, the sheriff's office of Eagle, Colorado, arrested Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by 19-year old hotel employee Katelyn Faber. Bryant had checked into The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Eagle County in advance of undergoing knee surgery nearby. Faber accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room the night before Bryant was to have the procedure. Bryant admitted an adulterous sexual encounter with his accuser, but denied her sexual assault allegation.^[223]^[224]

The accusation tarnished Bryant's reputation, as the public's perception of Bryant plummeted, and his endorsement contracts with McDonald's and Nutella were terminated. Sales for Bryant's replica jersey fell significantly from their previous highs.^[225] However, in September 2004, the assault case was dropped by prosecutors after Faber refused to testify in the trial. Afterward, Bryant agreed to apologize to Faber for the incident, including his public mea culpa: "Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter."^[226]^[227] Faber filed a separate civil lawsuit against Bryant, which the two sides ultimately settled with the specific terms of the settlement being undisclosed to the public.

Endorsements [link]

Bryant in Hong Kong for his 2009 Nike Asian Tour

Before starting the 1996–97 NBA season, Bryant signed a 6-year contract with Adidas worth approximately $48 million.^[228]^[229] His first signature shoe was the Equipment KB 8.^[230] Bryant's other earlier endorsements included deals with The Coca-Cola Company to endorse their Sprite soft drink, appearing in advertisements for McDonald's, promoting Spalding's new NBA Infusion Ball, Upper Deck, Italian chocolate company Ferrero SpA's brand Nutella, Russell Corporation,^[231] and appearing on his own series of video games by Nintendo. Many companies like McDonald's and Ferrero SpA terminated his contracts when rape allegations against him became public.^[232] A notable exception was Nike, Inc., who had signed him to a 5-year, $40–45 million contract just before the incident.^[233]^[234] However, they refused to use his image or market a new shoe of his for the year, but eventually did start promoting Bryant once his image recovered 2 years later.^[234] He has since resumed endorsement deals with The Coca-Cola Company, through their subsidiary Energy Brands to promote their Vitamin Water brand of drinks.^[235] Bryant was also the cover athlete for NBA '07: Featuring the Life Vol. 2 and appeared in commercials for the video games Guitar Hero World Tour (with Tony Hawk, Michael Phelps, and Alex Rodriguez) in 2008 and Call of Duty: Black Ops (alongside Jimmy Kimmel) in 2010.^[236]

Derek Fisher (left) and Bryant (center) with Barack Obama (right) on January 25, 2010

In a 2008 video promoting Nike's Hyperdunk shoes, Bryant appears to jump over a speeding Aston Martin. The stunt was considered to be fake, and the Los Angeles Times said a real stunt would probably be a violation of Bryant's Lakers contract.^[237] After promoting Nike's Hyperdunk shoes, Bryant came out with the fourth edition of his signature line by Nike, the Zoom Kobe IV. In 2010 Nike launched another shoe, Nike Zoom Kobe V.^[238] In 2009, Bryant signed a deal with Nubeo to market the "Black Mamba collection", a line of sports/luxury watches that range from $25,000 to $285,000.^[239] On February 9, 2009, Bryant was featured on the cover of ESPN The Magazine. However, it was not for anything basketball related, rather it was about Bryant being a big fan of FC Barcelona.^[240] CNN estimated Bryant's endorsement deals in 2007 to be worth $16 million a year.^[241] In 2010, Bryant was ranked third behind Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan in Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid athletes with $48 million.^[242]

On December 13, 2010, Bryant signed a two-year endorsement deal with Turkey's national airline, Turkish Airlines. The deal involved Bryant being in a promotional film to be aired in over 80 countries in addition to him being used in digital, print and billboard advertising.^[243]^[244]^[245]

Bryant has appeared as the cover athlete for the following video games:

Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside^[246]

NBA Courtside 2: Featuring Kobe Bryant^[247]

NBA Courtside 2002^[248]

NBA 3 On 3 Featuring Kobe Bryant^[249]

NBA '07: Featuring the Life Vol. 2^[250]

NBA '09: The Inside^[251]

NBA 2K10

Music [link]

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").^[252] The proceeds for downloads of both the single and ringtones were donated to impoverished schools for basketball facilities and equipment.^[253] The music video of the single also features Bryant.^[254] The song was also used by Sprite in its 2011 marketing campaign in China.^[255]

Philanthropy [link]

Bryant is the official ambassador for After-School All-Stars (ASAS), an American non-profit organization that provides comprehensive after-school programs to children in 13 US cities.^[256] Bryant also started the Kobe Bryant China Fund which partnered with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, a charity backed by the Chinese government.^[257] The Kobe Bryant China Fund raises money within China earmarked for education and health programs.^[257] On November 4, 2010, Bryant appeared alongside Zach Braff at the Call of Duty: Black Ops launch event at the Santa Monica Airport, where they presented a $1 million check to the Call of Duty Endowment, an Activision-founded nonprofit organization that helps veterans transition to civilian careers after their military service has ended.^[236]

See also [link]

Kobe Bryant (song) at Lil Wayne

Shaq–Kobe feud

Kobe Doin' Work

List of 40-plus point games by Kobe Bryant

List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with 50 or more points in a playoff game

List of National Basketball Association players with most points in a game

List of National Basketball Association season scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association franchise career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association top individual scoring season averages

List of NBA players with most championships

List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise

References [link]

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^ "Adidas Airs Out New Kobe Bryant Shoe, Ad Campaign". Sportsbusinessdaily.com. http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/35398. Retrieved June 8, 2010.

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^ ^a ^b Devine, Dan (November 5, 2010). "Kobe Bryant shoots 'em up in new 'Call of Duty' ad". Sports.Yahoo.com. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Kobe-Bryant-shoots-em-up-in-new-Call-of-Duty-?urn=nba-282854. Retrieved July 2, 2011.

^ "No, Kobe Bryant Did Not Jump Over a Car". rankingsandreviews.com (U.S. News & World Report). April 15, 2008. Archived from the original on April 20, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5y5cKyN5V.

^ "Nike launches Nike Zoom Kobe V with Kobe Bryant". TradingMarkets.com. December 9, 2009. http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2711325/. Retrieved June 8, 2010. ^{[dead link]}

^ 3 Comments. "Kobe Bryant Wearing Nubeo Black Mamba MVP Watch « UpscaleHype". Upscalehype.com. http://www.upscalehype.com/2009/10/kobe-bryant-wearing-nubeo-black-mamba-mvp-watch/. Retrieved June 8, 2010.

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^ Li, Shan (December 16, 2010). "Kobe Bryant's Turkish Airlines deal outrages Armenian Americans". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/16/local/la-me-kobe-bryant-armenian-20101216. Retrieved February 23, 2011.

^ "The first Kobe Bryant Turkish Airlines commercial has landed". NBC Sports. February 28, 2011. http://offthebench.nbcsports.com/2011/02/28/the-first-kobe-bryant-turkish-airlines-commercial-has-landed/. Retrieved February 23, 2011.

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^ "Sony Debuts SIX Cover Athletes for NBA 09: The Inside". DailyGame. http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/008110.php. Retrieved June 8, 2010. ^{[dead link]}

^ "CRI.com: Kobe Bryant Works with Jay Chou in New Song". :. 2011-02-23. http://english.cri.cn/6666/2011/02/23/1261s622251.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-16.

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^ "Official music video of". Youtube.com. 2011-04-06. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaW0jUGaHe0. Retrieved 2011-06-16.

^ 4 comments by Daniel Gilroy on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 (2011-02-23). "ChinaSmack: Sprite China – Kobe Bryant and Jay Chou music video " 天地一鬥 " ("Tian Di Yi Dou") with Jay Chou feat. Kobe Bryant". Advertising.chinasmack.com. http://advertising.chinasmack.com/2011/sprite-china-kobe-bryant-jay-chou-music-video.html. Retrieved 2011-06-16.

^ "Kobe Bryant's Charity Work, Events and Causes". looktothestars.org. http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/840-kobe-bryant. Retrieved April 1, 2010.

^ ^a ^b Paul, Alan (July 16, 2009). "Kobe Bryant Conquers China". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204556804574258222289862830.html. Retrieved October 21, 2009.

External links [link]

Find more about Kobe Bryant on Wikipedia's sister projects:

Images and media from Commons

News stories from Wikinews

Quotations from Wikiquote

Official website

Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com, or ESPN.com

Kobe Bryant at the Internet Movie Database

NBA.com – The Ultimate Kobe Page

Kobe Bryant Video on FoxSports Video Archive

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3 Devean George

5 Robert Horry

6 Jelani McCoy

8 Kobe Bryant

10 Lindsey Hunter

14 Slava Medvedenko

17 Rick Fox

20 Brian Shaw

23 Mitch Richmond

34 Shaquille O'Neal (Finals MVP)

35 Mark Madsen

52 Samaki Walker

Head coach Phil Jackson

Assistant coaches Tex Winter

Frank Hamblen

Jim Cleamons

Kurt Rambis

Regular season • Playoffs

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Los Angeles Lakers 2008–09 NBA Champions

2 Derek Fisher

3 Trevor Ariza

4 Luke Walton

5 Jordan Farmar

6 Adam Morrison

7 Lamar Odom

9 Sun Yue

12 Shannon Brown

16 Pau Gasol

17 Andrew Bynum

18 Sasha Vujačić

21 Josh Powell

24 Kobe Bryant (Finals MVP)

28 D. J. Mbenga

Head coach Phil Jackson

Assistant coaches Frank Hamblen

Kurt Rambis

Brian Shaw

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Craig Hodges

Jim Cleamons

Regular season • Playoffs

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Los Angeles Lakers 2009–10 NBA Champions

1 Jordan Farmar

2 Derek Fisher

4 Luke Walton

6 Adam Morrison

7 Lamar Odom

12 Shannon Brown

16 Pau Gasol

17 Andrew Bynum

18 Sasha Vujačić

21 Josh Powell

24 Kobe Bryant (Finals MVP)

28 D. J. Mbenga

37 Ron Artest

Head coach Phil Jackson

Assistant coaches Frank Hamblen

Brian Shaw

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Craig Hodges

Jim Cleamons

Chuck Person

Regular season • Playoffs

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United States squad – 2008 Summer Olympics – Gold medal

4 Boozer

5 Kidd

6 James

7 Williams

8 Redd

9 Wade

10 Bryant

11 Howard

12 Bosh

13 Paul

14 Prince

15 Anthony

Coach: Krzyzewski

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Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award

1969: West

1970: Reed

1971: Alcindor

1972: Chamberlain

1973: Reed

1974: Havlicek

1975: Barry

1976: White

1977: Walton

1978: Unseld

1979: D. Johnson

1980: E. Johnson

1981: Maxwell

1982: E. Johnson

1983: Malone

1984: Bird

1985: Abdul-Jabbar

1986: Bird

1987: E. Johnson

1988: Worthy

1989: Dumars

1990: Thomas

1991: Jordan

1992: Jordan

1993: Jordan

1994: Olajuwon

1995: Olajuwon

1996: Jordan

1997: Jordan

1998: Jordan

1999: Duncan

2000: O'Neal

2001: O'Neal

2002: O'Neal

2003: Duncan

2004: Billups

2005: Duncan

2006: Wade

2007: Parker

2008: Pierce

2009: Bryant

2010: Bryant

2011: Nowitzki

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NBA Most Valuable Player Award

1956: Pettit

1957: Cousy

1958: Russell

1959: Pettit

1960: Chamberlain

1961: Russell

1962: Russell

1963: Russell

1964: Robertson

1965: Russell

1966: Chamberlain

1967: Chamberlain

1968: Chamberlain

1969: Unseld

1970: Reed

1971: Alcindor

1972: Abdul-Jabbar

1973: Cowens

1974: Abdul-Jabbar

1975: McAdoo

1976: Abdul-Jabbar

1977: Abdul-Jabbar

1978: Walton

1979: M. Malone

1980: Abdul-Jabbar

1981: Erving

1982: M. Malone

1983: M. Malone

1984: Bird

1985: Bird

1986: Bird

1987: Johnson

1988: Jordan

1989: Johnson

1990: Johnson

1991: Jordan

1992: Jordan

1993: Barkley

1994: Olajuwon

1995: Robinson

1996: Jordan

1997: K. Malone

1998: Jordan

1999: K. Malone

2000: O'Neal

2001: Iverson

2002: Duncan

2003: Duncan

2004: Garnett

2005: Nash

2006: Nash

2007: Nowitzki

2008: Bryant

2009: James

2010: James

2011: Rose

2012: James

v

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NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award

1951: Macauley

1952: Arizin

1953: Mikan

1954: Cousy

1955: Sharman

1956: Pettit

1957: Cousy

1958: Pettit

1959: Baylor & Pettit

1960: Chamberlain

1961: Robertson

1962: Pettit

1963: Russell

1964: Robertson

1965: Lucas

1966: A. Smith

1967: Barry

1968: Greer

1969: Robertson

1970: Reed

1971: Wilkens

1972: West

1973: Cowens

1974: Lanier

1975: Frazier

1976: Bing

1977: Erving

1978: R. Smith

1979: Thompson

1980: Gervin

1981: Archibald

1982: Bird

1983: Erving

1984: Thomas

1985: Sampson

1986: Thomas

1987: Chambers

1988: Jordan

1989: Malone

1990: Johnson

1991: Barkley

1992: Johnson

1993: Stockton & Malone

1994: Pippen

1995: Richmond

1996: Jordan

1997: Rice

1998: Jordan

1999: No game played

2000: O'Neal & Duncan

2001: Iverson

2002: Bryant

2003: Garnett

2004: O'Neal

2005: Iverson

2006: James

2007: Bryant

2008: James

2009: Bryant & O'Neal

2010: Wade

2011: Bryant

2012: Durant

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NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest winners

1984: Nance

1985: Wilkins

1986: Webb

1987: Jordan

1988: Jordan

1989: Walker

1990: Wilkins

1991: Brown

1992: Ceballos

1993: Miner

1994: Rider

1995: Miner

1996: Barry

1997: Bryant

2000: Carter

2001: Mason

2002: Richardson

2003: Richardson

2004: Jones

2005: Smith

2006: Robinson

2007: Green

2008: Howard

2009: Robinson

2010: Robinson

2011: Griffin

2012: Evans

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NBA season scoring leaders

1947: Fulks

1948: Zaslofsky

1949: Mikan

1950: Mikan

1951: Mikan

1952: Arizin

1953: Johnston

1954: Johnston

1955: Johnston

1956: Pettit

1957: Arizin

1958: Yardley

1959: Pettit

1960: Chamberlain

1961: Chamberlain

1962: Chamberlain

1963: Chamberlain

1964: Chamberlain

1965: Chamberlain

1966: Chamberlain

1967: Barry

1968: Bing

1969: Hayes

1970: West

1971: Alcindor

1972: Abdul-Jabbar

1973: Archibald

1974: McAdoo

1975: McAdoo

1976: McAdoo

1977: Maravich

1978: Gervin

1979: Gervin

1980: Gervin

1981: Dantley

1982: Gervin

1983: English

1984: Dantley

1985: King

1986: Wilkins

1987: Jordan

1988: Jordan

1989: Jordan

1990: Jordan

1991: Jordan

1992: Jordan

1993: Jordan

1994: Robinson

1995: O'Neal

1996: Jordan

1997: Jordan

1998: Jordan

1999: Iverson

2000: O'Neal

2001: Iverson

2002: Iverson

2003: McGrady

2004: McGrady

2005: Iverson

2006: Bryant

2007: Bryant

2008: James

2009: Wade

2010: Durant

2011: Durant

2012: Durant

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NBA Courtside

Main series

Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside

NBA Courtside 2: Featuring Kobe Bryant

NBA Courtside 2002

v

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NBA 2K series

NBA 2K

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

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Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award winners

1987: Scott

1988: Mourning

1989: Anderson

1990: Bailey

1991: Webber

1992: Kidd

1993: Livingston

1994: Ward

1995: Mercer

1996: Bryant

1997: Battier

1998: Harrington

1999: Harvey

2000: Wallace

2001: Wagner

2002: Felton

2003: James

2004: Howard

2005: Williams

2006: Oden

2007: Love

2008: Jennings

2009: Favors

2010: Sullinger

2011: Rivers

2012: Muhammad

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USA Today High School Boys' Basketball Player of the Year Award

1983: Williams

1984: Brooks

1985: Ferry

1986: Reid

1987: Liberty

1988: Mourning

1989: Anderson

1990: Bailey

1991: Webber

1992: Kidd

1993: Wallace

1994: Lopez

1995: Garnett

1996: Bryant

1997: McGrady

1998: Harrington

1999: Harvey

2000: Wallace

2001: Wagner

2002: James

2003: James

2004: Howard

2005: Oden

2006: Oden

2007: Love

2008: Samuels

2009: Favors

2010: Barnes

2011: Rivers

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Gatorade High School Basketball Player of the Year Award

Boys

1986: J. R. Reid

1987: LaBradford Smith

1988: Alonzo Mourning

1989: Kenny Anderson

1990: Damon Bailey

1991: Chris Webber

1992: Corliss Williamson

1993: Randy Livingston

1994: Felipe Lopez

1995: Stephon Marbury

1996: Kobe Bryant

1997: Baron Davis

1998: Al Harrington

1999: LaVell Blanchard

2000: Jared Jeffries

2001: Kelvin Torbert

2002: LeBron James

2003: LeBron James

2004: Dwight Howard

2005: Greg Oden

2006: Greg Oden

2007: Kevin Love

2008: Jrue Holiday

2009: Brandon Knight

2010: Brandon Knight

2011: Bradley Beal

2012: Jabari Parker

Girls

1986: Susan Anderson

1987: Kris Durham

1988: Vicki Hall

1989: Lisa Harrison

1990: Lisa Leslie

1991: Michelle Marciniak

1992: Katie Smith

1993: La'Keshia Frett

1994: Monick Foote

1995: Stephanie White

1996: Jamie Walz

1997: Nikki Teasley

1998: Tamika Williams

1999: Nicole Kaczmarski

2000: Shereka Wright

2001: Shyra Ely

2002: Ann Strother

2003: Candace Parker

2004: Candace Parker

2005: Abby Waner

2006: Tina Charles

2007: Maya Moore

2008: Nneka Ogwumike

2009: Skylar Diggins

2010: Chiney Ogwumike

2011: Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis

Persondata

Name Bryant, Kobe Bean

Alternative names

Short description Professional basketball player

Date of birth August 23, 1978

Place of birth Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Date of death

Place of death

http://wn.com/Kobe_Bryant

Related pages:

http://it.wn.com/Kobe Bryant

http://cs.wn.com/Kobe Bryant

http://id.wn.com/Kobe Bryant

http://es.wn.com/Kobe Bryant

http://ru.wn.com/Брайант, Коби

http://nl.wn.com/Kobe Bryant

http://pl.wn.com/Kobe Bryant

http://fr.wn.com/Kobe Bryant

http://de.wn.com/Kobe Bryant

http://hi.wn.com/कोबी ब्रायंट

http://pt.wn.com/Kobe Bryant

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

This article is about the Japanese city. For other uses, see Kobe (disambiguation).

Kobe
神戸

—  Designated city  —

神戸市 · Kobe City^[1]

From top left: Port of Kobe, Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, Kitano-chō, Kobe Chinatown, Night View from Kikuseidai of Mt. Maya, Kobe Port Tower

Flag
Logo

Location of Kobe in Hyōgo

Kobe

Coordinates: 34°41′24″N 135°11′44″E / 34.69°N 135.19556°E / 34.69; 135.19556Coordinates: 34°41′24″N 135°11′44″E / 34.69°N 135.19556°E / 34.69; 135.19556

Country Japan

Region Kansai

Prefecture Hyōgo

Government

• Mayor Tatsuo Yada

Area

• Total 552.26 km² (213.23 sq mi)

Population (August 1, 2011)

• Total 1,545,410

• Density 2,800/km² (7,200/sq mi)

Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

City Symbols

- Tree Camellia sasanqua

- Flower Hydrangea

Phone number 078-331-8181

Address 6-5-1 Kano-chō, Chūō-ku, Kōbe-shi, Hyōgo-ken
650-8570

Website City of Kobe

Kobe (神戸市, Kōbe-shi^?, Japanese pronunciation: [koːbe]), is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately 30 km (19 mi) west of Osaka. With a population of about 1.5 million, the city is part of the Keihanshin (Keihanshin) metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kyoto.

The earliest written records regarding the region come from the Nihon Shoki, which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201.^[2]^[3] For most of its history the area was never a single political entity, even during the Tokugawa Period, when the port was controlled directly by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Kobe did not exist in its current form until its founding in 1889. Its name comes from "kanbe" (神戸^?), an archaic title for supporters of the city's Ikuta Shrine.^[4]^[5] Kobe became one of Japan's 17 designated cities in 1956.

Kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan port city. While the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake diminished much of Kobe's prominence as a port city, it remains Japan's fourth busiest container port.^[6] Companies headquartered in Kobe include ASICS, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Kobe Steel, as well as over 100 international corporations with Asia or Japan headquarters in the city such as Procter & Gamble, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Nestlé.^[7]^[8] The city is the point of origin and namesake of Kobe beef as well as the site of one of Japan's most famous hot spring resorts, Arima Onsen.

Contents

1 History

1.1 Origins to the Hori Era

1.2 Modern era

2 Geography

2.1 Wards

3 Demographics

4 Economy

4.1 Major companies and institutes

5 Transportation

5.1 Rail

5.2 Road and air

6 Education

7 Culture

8 Sports

9 International relations

9.1 Twin towns and sister cities

9.2 Sister ports

9.3 Partnerships

10 Gallery

11 References

12 External links

History [link]

Media related to History of Kobe at Wikimedia Commons

Origins to the Hori Era [link]

Tools found in western Kobe demonstrate that the area was populated at least from the Jōmon period.^[9] The natural geography of the area, particularly of Wada Cape in Hyōgo-ku, led to the development of a port, which would remain the economic center of the city.^[10] Some of the earliest written documents mentioning the region include the Nihon Shoki, which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201.^[2]

During the Nara and Heian periods, the port was known by the name Ōwada Anchorage (Ōwada-no-tomari) and was one of the ports from which imperial embassies to China were dispatched.^[3]^[9] The city was briefly the capital of Japan in 1180 when Taira no Kiyomori moved his grandson Emperor Antoku to Fukuhara in present-day Hyōgo-ku.^[9] The Emperor returned to Kyoto after about five months.^[3] Shortly thereafter in 1184, the Taira fortress in Hyōgo-ku and the nearby Ikuta Shrine became the sites of the Genpei War battle of Ichi-no-Tani between the Taira and Minamoto clans. The Minamoto prevailed, pushing the Taira further.

As the port grew during the Kamakura period, it became an important hub for trade with China and other countries. In the 13th century, the city came to be known by the name Hyōgo Port (兵庫津, Hyōgo-tsu^?).^[10] During this time, Hyōgo Port along with northern Osaka composed the province of Settsu. Later, during the Edo period, the eastern parts of present-day Kobe came under the jurisdiction of the Amagasaki Domain and the western parts under that of the Akashi Domain, while the center was controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate.^[11]^[12] It was not until the abolition of the han system in 1871 and the establishment of the current prefecture system that the area became politically distinct.

Hyōgo Port was opened to foreign trade by the government of the Bakufu at the same time as Osaka on January 1, 1868, just before the advent of the Boshin war and the Meiji restoration.^[13] The region has since been identified with the West and many foreign residences from the period remain in Kobe's Kitano area.

Hyōgo Port in the 19th century^[14]

The Bund, built in the 1860s - 1930s

Kitano area, built in the 1880s - 1910s

Former Hyogo prefectural office, built in 1902

Modern era [link]

Kobe, as it is known today, was founded on April 1, 1889, and was designated on September 1, 1956 by government ordinance. The history of the city is closely tied to that of the Ikuta Shrine, and the name "Kobe" derives from "kanbe" (神戸, kanbe^?), an archaic name for those who supported the shrine.^[4]^[5]

During World War II, Kobe was bombed with incendiary bombs by B-29 bombers on March 17, 1945, causing the death of 8,841 residents and destroying 21% of Kobe's urban area (see Bombing of Kobe in World War II). It is this incident that inspired the well-known Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies and the book by Akiyuki Nosaka on which the film was based.

Following continuous pressure from citizens, on March 18, 1975, the Kobe City Council passed an ordinance banning vessels carrying nuclear weapons from Kobe Port. This effectively prevented any U.S. warships from entering the port, policy being not to disclose whether any warship is carrying nuclear weapons. This nonproliferation policy has been termed the "Kobe Formula".^[15]^[16]

On January 17, 1995, an earthquake measuring at 7.2 on the Richter magnitude scale occurred at 5:46 am JST near the city. 6,434 people in the city were killed, 212,443 were made homeless, and large parts of the port facilities and other parts of the city were destroyed.^[17]^[18] The earthquake destroyed portions of the Hanshin Expressway, an elevated freeway that dramatically toppled over. In Japan, the earthquake is known as the Great Hanshin Earthquake (or the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake). To commemorate Kobe's recovery from the 1995 quake, the city holds an event every December called the Luminarie, where the city center is decorated with illuminated metal archways.

Kobe Port was Japan's busiest port and one of Asia's top ports until the Great Hanshin Earthquake.^[19] Kobe has since dropped to the fourth in Japan and forty-fifth busiest container port worldwide (as of 2008).^[6]

Geography [link]

Wedged in between the coast and the mountains, the city of Kobe is long and narrow. To the east is the city of Ashiya, while the city of Akashi lies to its west. Other adjacent cities include Takarazuka and Nishinomiya to the east and Sanda and Miki to the north.

The landmark of the port area is the red steel Port Tower. A giant Ferris wheel sits in nearby Harborland, a notable tourist promenade. Two artificial islands, Port Island and Rokkō Island, have been constructed to give the city room to expand.

Away from the seaside at the heart of Kobe lie the Motomachi and Sannomiya districts as well as Kobe's Chinatown, Nankinmachi, all well-known retail areas. A multitude of train lines cross the city from east to west. The main transport hub is Sannomiya Station, with the eponymous Kobe Station located to the west and the Shinkansen Shin-Kobe Station to the north.

Mount Rokkō overlooks Kobe at an elevation of 931 meters. During the autumn season, it is famous for the rich change in colors of its forests.

Kobe Port Tower

Harborland

Kobe Chinatown, Motomachi

The Giant Panda Koukou at Oji Zoo

Wards [link]

Wards of Kobe.

Kobe has nine wards (ku):

1. Nishi-ku: The westernmost area of Kobe, Nishi-ku overlooks the city of Akashi and is the site of Kobe Gakuin University. This ward has the largest population with 247,000 residents.^[20]

2. Kita-ku: Kita-ku is the largest ward by area and contains the Rokko Mountain Range, including Mount Rokko and Mount Maya. The area is well known for its rugged landscape and hiking trails. The onsen resort town of Arima also lies within Kita-ku.

3. Tarumi-ku: Tarumi-ku is a mostly residential area. The longest suspension bridge in the world, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, extends from Maiko in Tarumi-ku to Awaji Island to the south. A relatively new addition to Kobe, Tarumi-ku was not a part of the city until 1946.

4. Suma-ku: Suma-ku is the site of Suma beach, attracting visitors during the summer months.

5. Nagata-ku: Nagata-ku is the site of Nagata Shrine, one of the three "Great Shrines" in Kobe.

6. Hyōgo-ku: At various times known as Ōwada Anchorage or Hyōgo Port, this area is the historical heart of the city. Shinkaichi in Hyogo-ku was once the commercial center of Kobe, but was heavily damaged during World War II, and since Hyogo-ku has lost much of its former prominence.

7. Chūō-ku: Chūō (中央^?) literally means "center", and as such Chūō-ku is the commercial and entertainment center of Kobe. Sannomiya along with Motomachi and Harborland make up the main entertainment areas in Kobe. Chūō-ku also includes Kobe City Hall and Hyōgo prefectural government offices. Port Island as well as Kobe Airport lie in the southern part of this ward.

8. Nada-ku: Nada-ku is the site of Kobe's Oji Zoo and Kobe University. Nada is also well known for its sake. Along with Fushimi in Kyoto, it accounts for 45% of Japan's sake production.^[21]

9. Higashinada-ku: The easternmost area of Kobe, Higashinada-ku borders the city of Ashiya. The man-made island of Rokko makes up the southern part of this ward.

Demographics [link]

As of September 2007, Kobe has a population of 1,530,295 making up 658,876 households. This is an increase of 1,347 persons or approximately 0.1 percent over the previous year. The population density is approximately 2,768 persons per square kilometre, while there are about 90.2 males to every 100 females.^[22] About thirteen percent of the population are between the ages of 0 and 14, sixty-seven percent are between 15 and 64, and twenty percent are over the age of 65.^[23]

Approximately 44,000 registered foreign nationals live in Kobe. The four most common nationalities are Korean (22,237), Chinese (12,516), Vietnamese (1,301), and American (1,280).^[23]

Economy [link]

Kobe is the busiest port in the Kansai region.

Kobe port is both an important port and manufacturing center within the Hanshin Industrial Region. Kobe is the busiest container port in the region, surpassing even Osaka, and the fourth busiest in Japan.^[24]

As of 2004, the city's total real GDP was ¥6.3 trillion, which amounts to thirty-four percent of the GDP for Hyōgo Prefecture and approximately eight percent for the whole Kansai region.^[25]^[26] Per capita income for the year was approximately ¥2.7 million.^[25] Broken down by sector, about one percent of those employed work in the primary sector (agriculture, fishing and mining), twenty-one percent work in the secondary sector (manufacturing and industry), and seventy-eight percent work in the service sector.^[23]

The value of manufactured goods produced and exported from Kobe for 2004 was ¥2.5 trillion. The four largest sectors in terms of value of goods produced are small appliances, food products, transportation equipment, and communication equipment making up over fifty percent of Kobe's manufactured goods. In terms of numbers of employees, food products, small appliances, and transportation equipment make up the three largest sectors.^[27]

Major companies and institutes [link]

Japanese companies which have their headquarters in Kobe include ASICS, a shoe manufacturer; Daiei, a department store chain; Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co., Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (ship manufacturer), Mitsubishi Electric, Kobe Steel, Sumitomo Rubber Industries and TOA Corporation. Other companies include the confectionery manufacturers Konigs-Krone and Morozoff Ltd., Sun Television Japan and UCC Ueshima Coffee Co.

There are over 100 international corporations with East-Asia or Japan headquarters in Kobe. Of these, twenty-four are from China, eighteen from the United States, and nine from Switzerland.^[7] Some prominent corporations include Eli Lilly and Company, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble,^[28] Tempur-Pedic, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and Toys "R" Us.

Kobe is the site of a number of research institutes, such as the RIKEN Kobe Institute Center for developmental biology and medical imaging techniques,^[29] the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology Kobe Advanced ICT Research Center,^[30] the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention,^[31] and the Asian Disaster Reduction Center.^[32]

International organizations include the WHO Centre for Health Development, an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization. The Consulate-General of Panama in Kobe is located on the eighth floor of the Moriyama Building in Chūō-ku, Kobe.^[33]

Kawasaki Heavy Industries headquarters on Harborland.

Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co. headquarters on Kobe Harbor.

Procter & Gamble Asia headquarters on Rokko Island.

Nestle Japan Ltd. headquarters on Sannomiya.

UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. headquarters on Port Island.

Transportation [link]

The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge extends from Kobe to Awaji Island.

See also: Transport in Greater Osaka

Rail [link]

Sannomiya Station is the main commuter hub in Kobe, serving as the transfer point for the three major intercity rail lines (see external map). The JR Kobe Line connects Kobe to Osaka and Himeji while both the Hankyu Kobe Line and the Hanshin Main Line run from Kobe to Umeda Station in Osaka. In addition, Kobe Municipal Subway provides access to the Sanyō Shinkansen at Shin-Kobe Station. Sanyō Electric Railway trains from Himeji reach Sannomiya via the Kobe Rapid Railway.

Other rail lines in Kobe include Kobe Electric Railway which runs north to Sanda and Arima Onsen. Hokushin Kyuko Railway connects Shin-Kobe Station to Tanigami Station on the Kobe Electric Railway. Kobe New Transit runs two lines, the Port Island Line from Sannomiya to Kobe Airport and the Rokko Island Line from JR Sumiyoshi Station to Rokko Island.

Over Mount Rokkō, the city has two funicular lines and three aerial lifts as well, namely Maya Cablecar, Rokkō Cable Line, Rokkō Arima Ropeway, Maya Ropeway, and Shin-Kobe Ropeway.

Road and air [link]

Near Shin-Kobe Station.

Kobe is a hub in a number of expressways, including the Meishin Expressway (Nagoya - Kobe) and the Hanshin Expressway (Osaka - Kobe).^[34] Other expressways include the Sanyō Expressway (Kobe - Yamaguchi) and the Chūgoku Expressway (Osaka - Yamaguchi). The Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway runs from Kobe to Naruto via Awaji Island and includes the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Osaka International Airport in nearby Itami and Kobe Airport, built on a reclaimed island south of Port Island, offer mainly domestic flights, while Kansai International Airport in Osaka is the main international hub in the area.

Education [link]

Kobe University main building.

Main article: Education in Kobe

The city of Kobe directly administers 169 elementary and 81 middle schools, with enrollments of approximately 80,200 and 36,000 students, respectively.^[35] If the city's four private elementary schools and fourteen private middle schools are included, these figures jump to a total 82,000 elementary school students and 42,300 junior high students enrolled for the 2006 school year.^[23]^[36]^[37]

Kobe also directly controls seven of the city's twenty-eight full-time public high schools, while the remainder are administered by the Hyogo Prefectural Board of Education.^[35]^[38] In addition, twenty-five high schools are run privately within the city.^[39] The total enrollment for high schools in 2006 was 43,400.^[23]

Kobe is home to eighteen public and private universities, including Kobe University and Konan University, and eight junior colleges. Students enrolled for 2006 reached 67,000 and 4,100, respectively.^[23]

Culture [link]

Weathercock House, one of the many foreign residences of the Kitano area of Kobe

Kobe is most famous for its Kobe beef and Arima Onsen (or "hot springs"). Notable buildings include the Ikuta Shrine as well as the Kobe Port Tower. It is well known for the night view of the city, from mountains such as Mount Rokkō, and Mount Maya as well as the coast. Kobe is also known for having a somewhat exotic atmosphere by Japanese standards, which is mainly as a result of its history as a port city.

The city is also widely associated with cosmopolitanism and fashion, encapsulated in the Japanese phrase, "If you can't go to Paris, go to Kobe."^[40] The biannual fashion event Kobe Fashion Week, centered around the Kobe Collection is held in Kobe.^[41] The jazz festival "Kobe Jazz Street" has been held every October at jazz clubs and hotels since 1981.^[42]

Kobe is the site of Japan's first golf course, Kobe Golf Club, established by Arthur Hasketh Groom in 1903,^[43] and Japan's first mosque, Kobe Mosque, built in 1935.^[44] The city also hosts the Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club, founded in 1870 by Alexander Cameron Sim,^[45] a prominent foreign cemetery, and a number of Western-style residences from the 19th century, in the Kitano area. Museums include Kobe City Museum and Kobe City Museum of Literature.

Most of the 1957 romantic drama Sayonara takes place in Kobe. The city is also the setting of the Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies.

Sports [link]

Club Sport League Venue Established

Orix Buffaloes Baseball Pacific League Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium
Osaka Dome 1938

Vissel Kobe Football J. League Home's Stadium Kobe
Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium 1995

INAC Kobe Leonessa Football L. League Home's Stadium Kobe
Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium 2001

Deução Kobe Futsal F. League World Hall 1993

Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers Rugby Top League Home's Stadium Kobe
Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium 1928

Hisamitsu Springs volleyball V.Premier League 1948

Dragon Gate Professional wrestling World Hall 1997

In 1991, Kobe played as hosts for the ABC Championship 1991, which was the Men's Asian Basketball Championship. It served as a qualifier for the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball Tournament.

International relations [link]

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Japan

Twin towns and sister cities [link]

Kobe has seven sister cities and a number of other affiliations.^[46] They are:

Seattle, United States (1957)

Marseille, France (1961)

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1969)

Riga, Latvia (1974)^[47]

Brisbane, Australia (1985)

Barcelona, Spain (1993)^[48]

Haifa, Israel (2004)

Incheon, South Korea (2010)

Sister ports [link]

Kobe's Sister ports are:

Rotterdam, Netherlands (1967)

Seattle, United States (1967)

Partnerships [link]

Other city affiliations:

Tianjin, China (friendly city) (1973)

Philadelphia, United States (friendship and cooperation city) (1986)

Terni, Italy (friendship and cooperation city) (1993)

Daegu, South Korea (cooperation city) (2010)

Gallery [link]

Taisan-ji. The main hall is a National Treasure of Japan.

An'yō-in. Its Karesansui is one of Japan's Places of Scenic Beauty.

This Nishiki-e (Colored woodcut) shows a foreign steamboat entering Hyōgo Port shortly after its opening to the West in the late 19th century.

Kobe from an airplane

Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge

Downtown Kobe from Po-ai Shiosai Park

KobeDowntownStreet.JPG

Sannomiya (Downtown)

Downtown at night

Damage caused by the Great Hanshin Earthquake

Kobe Night View from Nunobiki Herb Garden

References [link]

^ Kobe's official English name

^ ^a ^b Ikuta Shrine official website - "History of Ikuta Shrine" (Japanese)

^ ^a ^b ^c Kobe City Info - "History". Retrieved February 2, 2007.

^ ^a ^b Nagasaki University - "Ikuta Shrine". Retrieved February 3, 2007.

^ ^a ^b Entry for 「神戸（かんべ）」. Kōjien, fifth edition, 1998, [ISBN 4-00-080111-2]

^ ^a ^b American Association of Port Authorities - "World Port Rankings 2006". Retrieved April 15, 2008.

^ ^a ^b "Number of foreign corporations with headquarters in Kobe passes 100." (Japanese) in Nikkei Net, retrieved from NIKKEI.net on July 3, 2007.

^ Hyogo-Kobe Investment Guide - "List of Foreign Enterprises and Examples". Retrieved February 8, 2007.

^ ^a ^b ^c City of Kobe - "Kobe's History" (Japanese). Retrieved October 22, 2007.

^ ^a ^b Hyogo International Tourism Guide - "Hyogo-tsu". Retrieved February 2, 2007.

^ City of Kobe - "Old Kobe" (Japanese). Retrieved February 16, 2007.

^ City of Ashiya - "An Outline History of Ashiya". Retrieved February 16, 2007.

^ The Cambridge History of Japan p.304

^ From the NYPL Digital Library

^ Kobe City Council - "Resolution on the Rejection of the Visit of Nuclear-Armed Warships into Kobe Port", 18 March 1975. Retrieved February 16, 2007.

^ Kamimura, Naoki. "Japanese Civil Society and U.S.-Japan Security Relations in the 1990s". retrieved from International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War on February 2, 2007

^ The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Statistics and Restoration Progress (Jan. 2008). Retrieved April 14, 2008.

^ Great Hanshin Earthquake Restoration. Retrieved April 14, 2008.

^ Maruhon Business News - Port Conditions in Japan. Retrieved January 23, 2007.

^ City of Kobe - "Population by Ward" (Japanese). Retrieved July 25, 2007.

^ Kansai Window - "Japan's number one sake production". Retrieved February 6, 2007.

^ City of Kobe - "Estimated Population of Kobe". Retrieved October 2, 2007.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f City of Kobe - "Statistical Summary of Kobe". Retrieved July 25, 2007.

^ American Association of Port Authorities - "World Port Rankings 2005". Retrieved July 3, 2007.

^ ^a ^b Hyogo Industrial Advancement Center - "Industry Tendencies in Various Areas of Hyogo Prefecture" (Japanese). Retrieved July 3, 2007.

^ Cabinet Office, Government of Japan - "2004 Prefectural Economy Survey" (Japanese). Retrieved July 3, 2007.

^ Kobe City Report on Census of Manufacturers, 2004 (Japanese). Retrieved March 30, 2007.

^ "P&G Locations." Procter & Gamble. Retrieved November 14, 2008.

^ RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology RIKEN Kobe Institute. Retrieved June 26, 2007.

^ National Institute of Information and Communications Technology Kobe Advanced ICT Research Center. Retrieved June 26, 2007.

^ National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention. Retrieved June 12, 2007.

^ Asian Disaster Reduction Center. Retrieved June 12, 2007.

^ "List of Consulates in Kansai Area." Creation Core Higashi Osaka. Retrieved on January 15, 2009.

^ Hyogo-Kobe Investment Guide - "Domestic Access". Retrieved February 15, 2007.

^ ^a ^b City of Kobe - "Number of municipal schools and students" (Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2007.

^ Hyogo Prefectural Government - "Private elementary schools" (Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2007.

^ Hyogo Prefectural Government - "Private middle schools" (Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2007.

^ Hyogo Prefectural Board of Education - "Hyogo prefectural public schools at a glance" (Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2007.

^ Hyogo Prefectural Government - "Private high schools" (Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2007.

^ Hassan, Sally. (April 9, 1989). "Where Japan Opened a Door To the West". New York Times., retrieved from New York Times Website on February 7, 2007.

^ Kobe Collection Official Website (Japanese). Retrieved February 27, 2007.

^ Kobe Jazz Street. Retrieved March 12, 2007.

^ Golf Club Atlas - "Gliding Past Fuji - C.H. Alison in Japan". Retrieved February 7, 2007.

^ Penn, M. "Islam in Japan," Harvard Asia Quarterly Vol. 10, No. 1, Winter 2006. Retrieved February 15, 2007.

^ Kobe Regatta and Athletic Club - "a distinguished history". Retrieved February 7, 2007.

^ "Sister City, Friendly City, Friendship & Cooperation City" (in Japanese). © 2007-2009 City of Kobe. http://www.city.kobe.jp/cityoffice/17/020/en/international/worldmap.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-14.

^ "Twin cities of Riga". Riga City Council. http://www.riga.lv/EN/Channels/Riga_Municipality/Twin_cities_of_Riga/default.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-27.

^ "Barcelona internacional - Ciutats agermanades" (in Spanish). © 2006-2009 Ajuntament de Barcelona. http://w3.bcn.es/XMLServeis/XMLHomeLinkPl/0,4022,229724149_257215678_1,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-13.

External links [link]

Look up 神戸 or Kōbe in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kobe

Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Kobé.

(English) Official Kobe homepage

(English) Kobe City Info

New York Public Library Digital Gallery - late 19th century photographs of Kobe

Kobe travel guide from Wikitravel

(Japanese) Official YouTube channel

"Kōbé". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.

"Kobe". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.

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20x20px Hyōgo Prefecture

Kobe (capital city)

Chūō

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Hyōgo

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Kōchi

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Kurume

Maebashi

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Nagano

Nagasaki

Nara

Nishinomiya

Ōita

Okazaki

Ōtsu

Shimonoseki

Takamatsu

Takasaki

Takatsuki

Toyama

Toyohashi

Toyonaka

Toyota

Utsunomiya

Wakayama

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Special cities

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Fuji

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Kasugai

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Kawaguchi

Kishiwada

Kōfu

Koshigaya

Kumagaya

Kure

Matsue

Matsumoto

Mito

Nagaoka

Neyagawa

Numazu

Odawara

Ōta

Sasebo

Sōka

Suita

Takarazuka

Tokorozawa

Tottori

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Yamato

Yao

Yokkaichi

Prefectural capitals
(not included above)

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Delhi

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Kolkata

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Nagoya

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Lima

Bogotá

London

Taipei

Ho Chi Minh City

Chennai

Johannesburg–East Rand

Bangalore

Lahore

Tehran

Ruhr Area
(Essen–Düsseldorf)

Bangkok

Hong Kong

Hyderabad

Tianjin

Chonqing

Bandung

Baghdad

Santiago

Kuala Lumpur

Toronto–Hamilton

http://wn.com/Kobe

Related pages:

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Jimmy Kimmel

Kimmel in May 2007

Birth name James Christian Kimmel

Born (1967-11-13) November 13, 1967 (age 44)
Brooklyn, New York, USA

Medium Radio, Television, Film, Stand up

Nationality American

Years active 1989–present

Genres Observational comedy, Black comedy, Satire, Deadpan

Subject(s) American politics, Celebrities, Everyday life, Sex

Influences David Letterman

Spouse Gina Kimmel (1988–2002; divorced; 2 children)

Domestic partner(s) Sarah Silverman (2002–2007; 2008–2009)
Molly McNearney (2009–present)

Notable works and roles Creator and Host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
Creator and Co-Host of The Man Show
co-host of Win Ben Stein's Money (Comedy Central)
co-host of Crank Yankers

Emmy Awards

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host: 1999 Win Ben Stein's Money

James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American comedian, actor, voice artist and television host. He is the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a late-night talk show that airs on ABC. Prior to that, Kimmel was best known as the co-host of Comedy Central's The Man Show and Win Ben Stein's Money. Kimmel is also a television producer, having produced shows such as Crank Yankers, Sports Show with Norm Macdonald, and The Andy Milonakis Show.

Contents

1 Early life

2 Career

2.1 Radio career

2.2 Comedy Central

2.3 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

2.4 Other television work

3 Personal life

4 Awards

5 References

6 External links

Early life [link]

Kimmel was born in the Mill Basin neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn,^[1] the eldest of three children of Joann (née Iacono), a homemaker, and James Kimmel, an IBM executive.^[2]^[3]^[4] He is Roman Catholic and, as a child, served as an altar boy.^[5]^[6] Kimmel is of German and Irish descent on his father’s side and Italian descent on his mother’s side.^[7] His uncle, Frank Potenza, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a regular from 2003 until his death in 2011.^[8]

The family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, when he was nine years old.^[2] He graduated from Ed W. Clark High School and then attended University of Nevada, Las Vegas for one year before attending Arizona State University for two years without completing a degree.

Career [link]

Radio career [link]

Kimmel began working in the radio industry while in high school, hosting a Sunday night interview show on UNLV's college station KUNV. While attending Arizona State University, he became a popular caller to the KZZP-FM afternoon show hosted by radio personalities Mike Elliott and Kent Voss in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1989, Kimmel landed his first paying job alongside Voss as morning drive co-host of The Me and Him Show at KZOK-FM in Seattle, Washington. Ten months later, Kimmel and Voss were fired by KZOK (for reasons unknown) and were fired again a year later at WRBQ-FM in Tampa, Florida. Kimmel went from Tampa to host his own show at KCMJ in Palm Springs, California, where Kimmel convinced a young Carson Daly to drop out of college and become his intern. After a morning stint at KRQQ In Tucson, Arizona, Kimmel landed at KROQ-FM in Los Angeles. He spent five years as "Jimmy The Sports Guy" for the Kevin and Bean morning show. During this time he met and befriended a struggling comedian named Adam Carolla.^{[citation needed]}

Comedy Central [link]

Kimmel began his television career as the comedic counterpart to Ben Stein on the game show Win Ben Stein's Money, which began airing on Comedy Central in 1997. His quick wit and loutish everyman personality were counterpoints to Stein's monotone performing style and patrician demeanor. The combination earned the pair an Emmy award for Best Game Show Host.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999, during his time with Win Ben Stein's Money, Kimmel was also co-host with Adam Carolla and co-creator (with Daniel Kellison) of Comedy Central's The Man Show. Kimmel permanently left Win Ben Stein's Money in 2001, replaced by comedian Nancy Pimental, who was eventually replaced by Kimmel's cousin Sal Iacono. The Man Show's success allowed Kimmel, Carolla and Kellison to create and produce, under the banner Jackhole Industries, Crank Yankers for Comedy Central (on which Kimmel plays the characters "Elmer Higgins", "Terrence Catheter", "The Nudge", "Karl Malone" and himself), and later The Andy Milonakis Show for MTV2. Kimmel also produced and co-wrote the feature film Windy City Heat, which won the Comedia Award for Best Film at the Montreal Comedy Festival.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Main article: Jimmy Kimmel Live!

In January 2003, Kimmel permanently left The Man Show to host his own late-night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel Live was briefly also broadcast on Irish digital TV channel 3e.^[9] In the April 2007 issue of Stuffmagazine.com, Kimmel was named the "biggest badass on TV". Kimmel said it was an honor but clearly a mistake.

Since the show's second season, it has not actually been broadcast live. This is due to an incident during the 2004 NBA Finals in Detroit, when Kimmel appeared on ABC's halftime show to make an on-air plug for his show. He suggested that if the Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, "they're gonna burn the city of Detroit down ... and it's not worth it." Officials with Detroit's ABC affiliate, WXYZ-TV, immediately announced that night's show would not air on the station. Hours later, ABC officials pulled that night's show from the entire network. Kimmel later apologized.^[10] The incident led ABC officials to force Kimmel to tape his show an hour before it airs in most of the country to check for offending content.^[11]

Kimmel usually ends his show with, "My apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time." When Matt Damon did actually appear on the show to be interviewed, he walked in and sat down only to be told just a few seconds later by Kimmel, "Sorry, but once again we are completely out of time." Damon seemed to become angry.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2008 Kimmel showed a mock music video with a panoply of stars called, "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck",^[12] as "revenge" after his then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon recorded a similar video, "I'm Fucking Matt Damon". Silverman's video originally aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and became an "instant YouTube sensation."^[13] Kimmel's "revenge" video featured himself, Ben Affleck, and a large lineup of stars, particularly in scenes spoofing the 1985 "We Are the World" video: Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Cameron Diaz, Robin Williams, Harrison Ford, Dominic Monaghan, Benji Madden and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte, Lance Bass, Macy Gray, Josh Groban, Huey Lewis, Perry Farrell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Pete Wentz, Meat Loaf, Rebecca Romijn, Christina Applegate, Dom Joly, Mike Shinoda, Lauren Conrad, and Joan Jett, among others. After this Jimmy's sidekick, Guillermo, appeared in a spoof of The Bourne Ultimatum, which starred Damon. He was then chased down by Damon as Matt cursed about Kimmel being behind all this. Guillermo also stopped Damon on the red carpet one time and before he could finish the interview he said, "Sorry we are out of time." The most recent encounter was titled "The Handsome Men's Club" which featured Kimmel, along with the "Handsome Men", who were: Matthew McConaughey, Rob Lowe, Lenny Kravitz, Patrick Dempsey, Sting, Keith Urban, John Krasinski, Ethan Hawke, Josh Hartnett, Tony Romo, Ted Danson, Taye Diggs, Gilles Marini, and Ben Affleck, speaking about being handsome and all the jobs that come with it. At the end of the skit Kimmel has a door slammed in his face by none other than Matt Damon, stating that they had run out of time and then Damon continues with a sinister laugh. Jennifer Garner also makes a surprise appearance.

As a tradition, celebrities voted off Dancing with the Stars appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, causing Kimmel to describe himself as "the three-headed dog the stars must pass on their way to No-Dancing Hell".^[14] In the 2008 season of his show, Kimmel started another tradition of ceremonially burning the dancers' shoes after they were voted off DWTS.^{[citation needed]}

Other television work [link]

In Spring 1996, Kimmel appeared as "Jimmy the Fox Guy" in promos on the Fox network.

Kimmel's other television work included being the on-air football prognosticator for Fox NFL Sunday for four years. He has had numerous appearances on other talk shows including, but not limited to, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Howard Stern Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and The Late Show with David Letterman. Kimmel has appeared on The Late Show five times, most recently in 2010. Kimmel served as roastmaster for the New York Friars' Club Roast of Hugh Hefner and Comedy Central Roasts of Pamela Anderson. He has appeared on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, along with his parking lot security guard Guillermo.

In August 2006, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel would be the host of their new game show Set for Life.^[15] The show debuted on July 20, 2007. On April 6, 2007, Kimmel filled in for Larry King on Larry King Live. That particular show was about the paparazzi and Kimmel reproached Emily Gould, an editor from Gawker.com, about the web site's alleged stalking of celebrities. On July 8, 2007, Kimmel managed the National League in the 2007 Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game in San Francisco. He played in the game in 2004 and 2006 (Houston and Pittsburgh). On July 11, 2007, Kimmel along with basketball player LeBron James, hosted the 2007 ESPY Awards. The show aired on ESPN on July 15, 2007. Kimmel hosted the American Music Awards on ABC four times, in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Kimmel guest hosted Live with Regis and Kelly during the week of October 22, 2007 – October 26, 2007, commuting every day between New York and Los Angeles. In the process, he broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest distance (22,406 miles (36,059 km)) travelled in one work week.^[16]

Kimmel has performed in several animated films, often voicing dogs. His voice appeared in Garfield and Road Trip, and he portrayed Death's Dog in the Family Guy episode "Mr. Saturday Knight"; Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane later presented Kimmel with a figurine of his character on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Kimmel also did voice work for Robot Chicken. Kimmel's cousin "Sal" (Sal Iacono) has accepted and won a wrestling match with WWE superstar Santino Marella. On January 14, 2010, in the midst of the 2010 Tonight Show host and time slot conflict, Kimmel was the special guest of Jay Leno on The Jay Leno Show's "10 at 10" segment. Kimmel derided Leno in front of a live studio audience for taking back the 11:35 pm time slot from Conan O'Brien, and repeatedly insulted Leno. He ended the segment with a plea that Leno "leave our shows alone," as Kimmel and O'Brien had "kids" while Leno only had "cars".^[17]

Kimmel also made a brief appearance in the TV commercial "There's A Soldier In All Of Us" promoting the 2010 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops, along with Kobe Bryant. He is seen taking cover from bullets, then firing an RPG-7 with the words PROUD N00b on it, with the aftershock from the weapon sending him tumbling backwards.

He has been asked to host the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards which will air on September 23, 2012, marking his first time hosting the event.^[18]

Kimmel hosted the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, D.C. on April 28, 2012.

Personal life [link]

Kimmel and his then girlfriend, Gina, married in June 1988. They have two children, Katie (born 1991) and Kevin (born 1993). The marriage ended in separation in early 2002. Kimmel then dated comedian Sarah Silverman for five years, splitting with her in March 2009.^[19] He started dating current girlfriend, Molly McNearney, in October 2009. McNearney is also a co-head writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live.^[20]

Kimmel plays the bass clarinet. He got a chance to showcase his talent during a July 20, 2008, concert in Costa Mesa, California, featuring the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, when he took the stage and played bass clarinet on their hit song "The Impression That I Get."^[21]

Kimmel has spoken publicly of being a narcoleptic.^[22]

Kimmel co-founded the annual LA Feast of San Gennaro,^[23] which celebrates Italian culture through entertainment, music and cuisine. The festival also honors outstanding members of the Los Angeles community and raises funds to aid needy children and families in the city. He hosted Los Angeles' eighth annual feast of San Gennaro from September 28 to 30, 2009.^[24] Kimmel served as Master of Ceremonies for the National Italian American Foundation's 34th Anniversary Gala in Washington, D.C., on October 24, 2009.

Awards [link]

Awards and achievements

Preceded by
Pat Sajak Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host
1999
with Ben Stein Succeeded by
Bob Barker and Tom Bergeron

References [link]

^ "Interview with Chris Rock". Jimmy Kimmel Live. June 24, 2010. ABC.

^ ^a ^b Lipton, Michael A. (March 17, 2003). "Kimmel Vision – Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy Kimmel". People. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20139546,00.html. Retrieved July 19, 2010.

^ Rhodes, Joe (October 21, 2007). "Distilling the Fun From Dysfunctional". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/arts/television/21rhod.html. Retrieved May 6, 2010.

^ "Interview with Matthew Fox". Jimmy Kimmel Live. July 29, 2010. ABC.

^ Nielsen (July 15, 2008). "Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman end 5-year romance". Reuters. http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN1447436020080715. Retrieved May 20, 2010.

^ "Jimmy Kimmel Biography". Yahoo! TV. http://tv.yahoo.com/jimmy-kimmel/contributor/585360/bio. Retrieved May 20, 2010. "Jimmy Kimmel, was born on Nov. 13, 1967, in Brooklyn, NY to devoutly Catholic parents who made sure that Kimmel served as an altar boy,..."

^ "Catherine Bell on Jimmy Kimmel". YouTube. September 9, 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I5Y_lO4M8Q&feature=related. Retrieved July 19, 2010.

^ Carter, Bill (August 26, 2011). "Frank Potenza, Foil for Kimmel, Is Dead at 77". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/arts/television/frank-potenza-foil-for-nephew-jimmy-kimmel-dies-at-77.html. Retrieved September 1, 2011.

^ "Who's News". USAWeekend.com. http://www.usaweekend.com/06_issues/061217/061217whosnews.html. Retrieved September 1, 2007. ^{[dead link]}

^ Susman, Gary (June 11, 2004). "The Ban Show". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,650146,00.html. Retrieved January 2, 2009.

^ Kaplan, Don (June 11, 2004). "ABC Yanks 'Kimmel' Over Detroit Joke". New York Post. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,122433,00.html. Retrieved January 2, 2009.

^ Silverman, Stephen M. (February 25, 2008). "So Long, Sarah! Jimmy Kimmel Is, Well, 'Dating' Ben Affleck". People. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20180150,00.html. Retrieved February 25, 2008.

^ Jordan, Julie (February 2, 2008). "Behind Matt Damon's Raunchy Payback to Jimmy Kimmel". People. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20175789,00.html. Retrieved February 25, 2008.

^ "Jimmy Kimmel with DWTS Adam & Julianne Part 1". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d-0NqLZJl8. Retrieved July 19, 2010.

^ "Jimmy Kimmel Named Host For ABC's Newst Game Show, "Set For Life", From Endemol USA". Thefutoncritic.com. September 26, 2006. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20060822abc02. Retrieved July 19, 2010.

^ "Inner Tube: Jimmy Kimmel goes distance, sets World Record". New York Daily News. October 29, 2007. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2007/10/29/2007-10-29_inner_tube_jimmy_kimmel_goes_distance_se.html. Retrieved June 4, 2010.

^ "kimmel > leno. again.". What Would Tyler Durden Do?. January 15, 2010. http://www.wwtdd.com/2010/01/jimmy-kimmel-annihilated-jay-leno. Retrieved January 2, 2011.

^ "Jimmy Kimmel to host Emmys for the first time". Los Angeles Times. March 26, 2012. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2012/03/jimmy-kimmel-to-host-emmys-for-the-first-time.html. Retrieved March 26, 2012.

^ Tan, Michelle (March 7, 2009). "Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel Call It Quits – Again". http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20263895,00.html. Retrieved March 20, 2009.

^ Ingrassia, Lisa (October 10, 2009). "Move Over, Ben Affleck! Jimmy Kimmel's Got a New Squeeze – Couples, Jimmy Kimmel". People. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20311576,00.html. Retrieved July 19, 2010.

^ Wener, Ben. "Dropkick Murphys, Mighty Mighty Bosstones win one for Boston at Pacific". Ocregister.com. http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_2099524.php. Retrieved July 19, 2010.

^ Carter, Bill (November 3, 2003). "In The Land Of The Insomniac The Narcoleptic Wants To Be King". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/03/magazine/in-the-land-of-the-insomniac-the-narcoleptic-wants-to-be-king.html. Retrieved December 11, 2009.

^ "Italian Fest of San Gennaro Los Angeles". http://www.feastofla.org/about_us.html.

^ "Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Corolla Host the 6th Annual Precious Cheese Feast of San Gennaro". Lastheplace.com. September 21, 2007. http://lastheplace.com/2007/09/21/jimmy-kimmel-and-adam-corolla-host-the-6th-annual-precious-cheese-feast-of-san-gennaro. Retrieved July 19, 2010.

External links [link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (October 2011)

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Name Kimmel, Jimmy

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Related pages:

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Kimmel

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

This article is about the NBA player. For other people named Josh Smith, see Joshua Smith.

Josh Smith

Smith with the Hawks

No. 5 – Atlanta Hawks

Forward

Personal information

Born (1985-12-05) December 5, 1985 (age 26)
College Park, Georgia

Nationality American

High school McEachern
Oak Hill Academy

Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)

Listed weight 225 lb (102 kg)

Career information

College None

NBA Draft 2004 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17th overall

Selected by the Atlanta Hawks

Pro career 2004–present

League NBA

Career history

2004–present Atlanta Hawks

Career highlights and awards

NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2010)

NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2005)

NBA Slam Dunk Champion (2005)

Stats at NBA.com

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Josh Smith (born December 5, 1985 in College Park, Georgia) is an American professional basketball player with the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. Josh is one of five children born to Paulette and Pete Smith. His siblings are Walter, Phebe, Kasola and Shanti. His popular nickname is "J-Smoove".^[1]

Smith attended John McEachern High School. For his senior year, Smith transferred to Oak Hill Academy. As a player for Oak Hill's basketball team, he first earned his reputation as a consummate shot-blocker, which he would maintain in the NBA. He played alongside former Atlanta Hawk teammate Randolph Morris and the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard on the highly regarded Atlanta Celtics AAU team in the summer of 2003.^[2]

Contents

1 NBA career

2 NBA career statistics

2.1 Regular season

2.2 Playoffs

3 NBA records

4 See also

5 References

6 External links

NBA career [link]

Smith was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 17th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.

Having entered the league straight out of high school, Smith has publicly disagreed with the rule change that prohibited high school players from entering the NBA Entry Draft.^[3]

He won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest during his rookie year in the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend. He averaged 9.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.95 blocks per game for the 2004–05 season and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. For the 2005–06 season, Smith averaged 2.25 blocks per game, ranking seventh in the NBA.

After the NBA All-Star Weekend, he continued his steady development. He finished second in the NBA in total blocks, 4th in blocks per game and averaged 15.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 4.1 apg, 3.1 bpg and 1.0 spg after the All-Star break and his contribution helped the Hawks double their win total of 13 wins from the previous season to finish 26-56.

On March 3, 2007, Smith broke the 500-block mark, making him the youngest player to do so in NBA history.^[4] Smith ended the 2006–07 season with 16.4 points per game, 8.6 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.9 blocks, dramatically improving on his previous season's stats. Leading the Hawks after Joe Johnson's season-ending injury, Smith produced a career high 32 points and 19 rebounds in Johnson's absence. He eclipsed this mark on November 17, 2007 with a new career high of 38 points on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks.^[5]

On August 8, 2008, Smith signed an offer sheet to play with the Memphis Grizzlies, but the Hawks quickly matched the offer sheet.^[6] Smith was told by Atlanta to go out as a restricted free agent to test the market, putting the pressure on Smith to essentially go out and set his price.^[7]

On October 30, 2009, in a home game vs. the Washington Wizards, Smith became the youngest player (at 23 years old) to reach 900 blocks.

On February 2, 2010, against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Smith became the youngest player (at 24 years old) to block 1000 shots.^[8]

NBA career statistics [link]

Legend

  GP Games played   GS Games started MPG Minutes per game

FG% Field-goal percentage 3P% 3-point field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage

RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game

BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high

Regular season [link]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

2004–05 Atlanta 74 59 27.7 .455 .174 .688 6.2 1.7 .8 1.9 9.7

2005–06 Atlanta 80 73 32.0 .425 .309 .719 6.6 2.4 .8 2.6 11.3

2006–07 Atlanta 72 72 36.8 .439 .250 .693 8.6 3.3 1.4 2.9 16.4

2007–08 Atlanta 81 81 35.5 .457 .253 .710 8.2 3.4 1.5 2.8 17.2

2008–09 Atlanta 69 69 35.1 .492 .299 .588 7.2 2.4 1.4 1.6 15.6

2009–10 Atlanta 81 81 35.4 .505 .000 .618 8.7 4.2 1.6 2.1 15.7

2010–11 Atlanta 77 77 34.4 .477 .331 .725 8.5 3.3 1.3 1.6 16.5

2011–12 Atlanta 66 66 35.3 .458 .257 .630 9.6 3.9 1.4 1.7 18.8

Career 600 578 34.0 .464 .278 .670 7.9 3.1 1.3 2.2 15.1

Playoffs [link]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

2008 Atlanta 7 7 33.9 .398 .167 .841 6.4 2.9 1.7 2.9 15.7

2009 Atlanta 11 11 37.3 .421 .133 .732 7.5 2.2 1.1 1.5 17.1

2010 Atlanta 11 11 35.6 .481 .333 .659 9.0 2.6 1.2 1.7 14.1

2011 Atlanta 12 12 36.5 .404 .125 .597 8.5 2.9 1.1 2.1 15.1

2012 Atlanta 5 5 39.2 .386 .000 .762 13.6 4.8 .6 1.0 16.8

Career 46 46 36.3 .420 .149 .704 8.6 2.9 1.2 1.9 15.6

NBA records [link]

Youngest player in NBA history to record:

10 blocked shots in a game, Atlanta Hawks at Dallas Mavericks, 02004-12-18December 18, 2004 (&1000000000000001900000019 years, &1000000000000001300000013 days)

500 career blocked shots, Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks, 02007-03-03March 3, 2007 (&1000000000000002100000021 years, &1000000000000008800000088 days) (206 games)

1,000 career blocked shots, Atlanta Hawks at Oklahoma City Thunder, 02010-02-02February 2, 2010 (&1000000000000002400000024 years, &1000000000000005900000059 days) (423 games)

See also [link]

List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with 10 or more blocks in a game

References [link]

^ "Josh Smith Bio Page". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/josh_smith/bio.html. Retrieved 2012-02-20.

^ "Just Like Old Times". Nba.com. 2008-11-04. http://www.nba.com/hawks/feature/Smith_Morris_Feature_110408.html. Retrieved 2012-02-20.

^ Kent, Austin (2008-08-17). "Never Send a Human to do a Machine's Job". The Good Point. http://www.thegoodpoint.com/basketball/sept08/never-send-a-human-to-do-a-machines-job.html. Retrieved 2008-12-24.

^ "ESPN -New York vs. Atlanta - Recap - March 03, 2007". Sports.espn.go.com. 2007-03-03. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=270303001. Retrieved 2012-02-20.

^ "Hawks at Bucks Game Info". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/games/20071117/ATLMIL/boxscore.html. Retrieved 2012-02-20.

^ "Hawks match Grizzlies’ offer sheet for Josh Smith which means Josh Smith will remain in a Hawks Uniform through that 2012-2013 season". Yahoo.com. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AsUbxah59boo2SQEdddBx2I5nYcB?slug=ap-grizzlies-smith&prov=ap&type=lgns. Retrieved 2008-08-09.

^ Kent, Austin (2008-08-17). "Never Send a Human to do a Machine's Job". The Good Point. http://www.thegoodpoint.com/basketball/sept08/never-send-a-human-to-do-a-machines-job.html. Retrieved 2008-12-24.

^ "Atlanta Hawks' Josh Smith becomes youngest to block 1,000 shots in NBA - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. 2010-02-02. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4881933. Retrieved 2012-02-20.

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Josh Smith

Josh Smith at NBA.com

Josh Smith at Basketball-Reference.com

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Atlanta Hawks current roster

0 Teague

1 McGrady

2 J. Johnson

5 Smith

6 Hinrich

7 Pargo

15 Horford

24 Williams

25 Dampier

27 Pachulia

33 Green

34 Collins

42 Stackhouse

44 I. Johnson

77 Radmanović

Head coach: Drew

Assistant coaches: Conner

Bender

Hill

Gattison

Radulovic

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First round

Dwight Howard

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Josh Childress

Luol Deng

Rafael Araújo

Andre Iguodala

Luke Jackson

Andris Biedriņš

Robert Swift

Sebastian Telfair

Kris Humphries

Al Jefferson

Kirk Snyder

Josh Smith

Earl Smith III

Dorell Wright

Jameer Nelson

Pavel Podkolzin

Viktor Khryapa

Sergei Monia

Delonte West

Tony Allen

Kevin Martin

Sasha Vujačić

Beno Udrih

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Peter John Ramos

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Donta Smith

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Persondata

Name Joshua Smith

Alternative names Josh Smith

Short description National Basketball Association player

Date of birth December 5, 1985

Place of birth College Park, Georgia, U.S.

Date of death

Place of death

http://wn.com/Josh_Smith

Related pages:

http://ru.wn.com/Смит, Джош

http://fr.wn.com/Josh Smith (basket-ball)

http://nl.wn.com/Josh Smith

http://pt.wn.com/Josh Smith

http://de.wn.com/Josh Smith

http://it.wn.com/Josh Smith

http://pl.wn.com/Josh Smith

http://es.wn.com/Josh Smith

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Smith

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Skip Bayless

Born John Edward Bayless II
(1951-12-04) December 4, 1951 (age 60)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Education Vanderbilt University

Occupation Television Sports Commentator (ESPN) commentator, sportswriter, sportswriter

Notable credit(s) ESPN First Take (see Cold Pizza)
1st and 10

Website

http://www.espnmediazone.com/bios/Talent/SkipBayless-Bio.htm Skip Bayless on ESPN

Skip Bayless (born John Bayless II on December 4, 1951) is a sports journalist and television personality. Bayless regularly appears on ESPN2's ESPN First Take and its afternoon show 1st and 10. Bayless previously wrote regular columns for ESPN.com and its "Page 2" section. He is perhaps best known for his strong opinions and sometimes controversial stances on professional athletes.

Contents

1 Schooling and family

2 Writing career

3 Radio and television

3.1 KTCK Sports Radio 1310 "The Ticket"

3.2 Cold Pizza/ESPN First Take

4 Cultural references

5 Bibliography

6 See also

7 References

8 External links

Schooling and family [link]

Bayless was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The first child of John and Levita Bayless, he was named John Edward Bayless II on his birth certificate, but his father immediately began calling him Skip or Skipper. The name stuck, and Skip Bayless was never called John by his parents. He eventually had his name legally changed to Skip. His brother is the chef, restaurateur and TV personality Rick Bayless.

Bayless as a junior, along with Jerry Waugh, Jim Hill, and Tony Robinson led Junior Varsity (JV)'s Northwest Classen High School basketball team. ^[1]

Bayless averaged 1.4 points per game as a senior playing basketball at Northwest Classen High School. ^[2]

Bayless graduated from Northwest Classen High School and Vanderbilt University where he majored in English and History and was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma.

Bayless is a member of the inaugural class of the Vanderbilt Student Media Hall of Fame.^[3]

Writing career [link]

Bayless went directly from Vanderbilt to The Miami Herald, where he wrote sports features for two years before being hired away by the Los Angeles Times. There, he was best known for investigative stories on the Dodgers' clubhouse resentment of "golden boy" Steve Garvey and his celebrity wife Cyndy and on Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom's behind-the-scenes decisions to start different quarterbacks each week (James Harris, Pat Haden or Ron Jaworski). Bayless also won the Eclipse Award for his coverage of Seattle Slew's Triple Crown.

At 25, Bayless was hired by The Dallas Morning News to write its lead sports column, and two years later, the rival Dallas Times Herald hired him away by making him one of the country's highest paid sports columnists—prompting The Wall Street Journal to do a story on the development. Bayless was voted Texas sportswriter of the year three times.

In 1989, Bayless wrote God's Coach, about the rise and fall of Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys. Following the Cowboys' Super Bowl victory in 1993, Bayless wrote The Boys, which broke the story that coach Jimmy Johnson and owner Jerry Jones were not "best friends" and correctly predicted that Jones would fire Johnson no matter how much success the team had. (Jones fired Johnson after the Cowboys won another Super Bowl the following year.)^{[clarification needed]}

Following a third Cowboys Super Bowl win in four seasons, Bayless wrote the third and final book of his Cowboys trilogy, Hell-Bent: The Crazy Truth About the "Win or Else" Dallas Cowboys. After covering the Cowboys through the 1996 season, Bayless chose to leave Dallas after 17 years and become the lead sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune. In his first year in Chicago, Bayless won the Lisagor Award for excellence in sports column writing and was voted Illinois sportswriter of the year.

Bayless eventually had a highly publicized dispute with the Tribune's executive editor, Ann Marie Lipinski, over limiting all Tribune columns to just 650 or so words. Bayless quit over the policy and was immediately hired by Knight Ridder Corporation to write for its flagship newspaper, the San Jose Mercury News.^[4] While in San Jose, Bayless became a fixture on ESPN's Rome is Burning and in a weekly Sunday Morning SportsCenter debate with Stephen A. Smith, "Old School/Nu Skool." ESPN hired Bayless full-time in 2004 to team with Woody Paige on ESPN2's Cold Pizza and to write columns for ESPN.com. In 2007, Bayless stopped writing columns to concentrate on what is now called ESPN First Take (formerly Cold Pizza) and on ESPN's afternoon show, First and 10.

Radio and television [link]

Skip Bayless has occasionally substituted as host for syndicated radio program The Jim Rome Show. He has also previously contributed to ESPN as a recurring panelist on The Sports Reporters, NFL Prime Monday (now ESPN Monday Night Countdown) in the 1990s, and Jim Rome is Burning. For three years (1998–2001), Bayless was a contributor at major championships for the Golf Channel.

KTCK Sports Radio 1310 "The Ticket"[link]

In 1994 Bayless left his show at KLIF in Dallas to help start the city's first sports talk radio station, KTCK Sports Radio 1310, "The Ticket." For two years Bayless was the primary host on the 6–9 a.m. morning show as "the Ticket" became one of the country's most successful sports stations. Bayless also was an original investor and when the ownership decided to accept a lucrative offer to sell the station, the new owners bought out Bayless' contract. He immediately became a regular on ESPN Radio's first national show, The Fabulous Sports Babe, and later co-hosted a weekend show on ESPN Radio with Larry Beil. He was also a regular on Chet Coppock's show on Sporting News Radio.

[edit] Cold Pizza/ESPN First Take

Bayless is featured in debate segments on what is now known as ESPN First Take (formerly Cold Pizza), and the segments are re-aired as First and 10 in the afternoons. Bayless debates the day's 10 hottest sports topics with a rotation of sportswriters and ex-athletes including Stephen A. Smith, Rob Parker, Jon Ritchie, Lomas Brown, Hugh Douglas, Kordell Stewart, Greg Anthony, Jalen Rose, Marcellus Wiley, Shaun King, and 2 Live Stews (Ryan and Doug Stewart). Terrell Suggs, Donovan McNabb, Chad Ochocinco, Donnie Wahlberg, and rappers Lil Wayne, Bow Wow, Wale have also taken on Bayless. Recently, Bayless has been tagged with the nickname "Skip Tebow" by many of his guests based on his unrelenting support of New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow. Bayless openly embraces the nickname.

Bayless is a regular twitter user, and he tweets on the topics and points he made on the ESPN First Take show. He also posts the Podcast from the show regularly from his twitter account.

Bayless has a "I Heart @RealSkipBayless" shirt. This shirt is given to the fans of the show, or if someone who comes to the show and loses a bet to Bayless. The person who loses the bet has to appear on the show and wear the shirt. So far, the shirt is undefeated.

Bayless lists his top five NBA players as of June 15, 2011: Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and Carmelo Anthony.^[5]

Cultural references [link]

Bayless, along with Woody Paige and Jay Crawford, appeared in a cameo role in the film Rocky Balboa. The three are seen on their First and 10 segment discussing a possible fight between a retired Balboa and current heavyweight champion Mason Dixon. Bayless opines that Balboa "was completely overrated" and mocks his age.

He appears in the ESPN 30 for 30 film Pony Excess, the story about the Southern Methodist University football scandal, covering the Mustangs while writing for both Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald.

Bibliography [link]

God's Coach: The Hymns, Hype, and Hipocrisy of Tom Landry's Cowboys, Simon and Schuster, 1990. ISBN 0-671-70581-4.

The Boys: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys' Season on the Edge, Simon and Schuster, 1993. ISBN 0-671-79359-4.

Hell-Bent: The Crazy Truth About the "Win or Else" Dallas Cowboys, HarperCollins Publishers, 1996. ISBN 0-06-018648-8.

See also [link]

Rick Bayless – celebrity chef and brother of Skip Bayless

References [link]

^ http://www.thelostogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/skip-bayless-jv-article.jpg

^ http://www.thelostogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/skip-bayless-varsity-high-school-basketball-stats.jpg

^ Student Media Hall of Fame's inaugural class named | myVU | Vanderbilt University: myVU. Vanderbilt.edu (2009-08-18). Retrieved on 2011-11-08.

^ http://thestartingfive.net/2009/02/24/the-skip-bayless-interview-part-i-colorful-conscious-and-of-course-controversial/

^ "Skip Bayless' Twitter". http://twitter.com/#!/RealSkipBayless/status/80756407581941760. Retrieved 15 June 2011.

External links [link]

Skip Bayless ESPN Bio

Skip Bayless at the Internet Movie Database

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Derek Rae

Karl Ravech

Tony Reali

Jerry Rice

Jim Rome

Holly Rowe

Bob Ryan

John Saunders

Mark Schlereth

Stuart Scott

Howie Schwab

Dan Shulman

Michael Smith

Shelley Smith

Stephen A. Smith

Tommy Smyth

Samantha Steele

Hannah Storm

Michele Tafoya

Charissa Thompson

Mike Tirico

Scott Van Pelt

Dick Vitale

Sara Walsh

Michael Wilbon

Marcellus Wiley

Trey Wingo

Steve Young

Owners

The Walt Disney Company 80%

Hearst Corporation 20%

Persondata

Name Bayless, Skip

Alternative names

Short description sportswriter

Date of birth December 4, 1951

Place of birth Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Date of death

Place of death

http://wn.com/Skip_Bayless

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip_Bayless

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

†	Denotes seasons in which the Lakers won an NBA Championship
	Led the league

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1996–97	L.A. Lakers	71	6	15.5	.417	.375	.819	1.9	1.3	.7	.3	7.6
1997–98	L.A. Lakers	79	1	26.0	.428	.341	.794	3.1	2.5	.9	.5	15.4
1998–99	L.A. Lakers	50	50	37.9	.465	.267	.839	5.3	3.8	1.4	1.0	19.9
1999–00†	L.A. Lakers	66	62	38.2	.468	.319	.821	6.3	4.9	1.6	.9	22.5
2000–01†	L.A. Lakers	68	68	40.9	.464	.305	.853	5.9	5.0	1.7	.6	28.5
2001–02†	L.A. Lakers	80	80	38.3	.469	.250	.829	5.5	5.5	1.5	.4	25.2
2002–03	L.A. Lakers	82	82	41.5	.451	.383	.843	6.9	5.9	2.2	.8	30.0
2003–04	L.A. Lakers	65	64	37.6	.438	.327	.852	5.5	5.1	1.7	.4	24.0
2004–05	L.A. Lakers	66	66	40.7	.433	.339	.816	5.9	6.0	1.3	.8	27.6
2005–06	L.A. Lakers	80	80	41.0	.450	.347	.850	5.3	4.5	1.8	.4	35.4^[206]
2006–07	L.A. Lakers	77	77	40.8	.463	.344	.868	5.7	5.4	1.4	.5	31.6^[207]
2007–08	L.A. Lakers	82	82	38.9	.459	.361	.840	6.3	5.4	1.8	.5	28.3
2008–09†	L.A. Lakers	82	82	36.1	.467	.351	.856	5.2	4.9	1.5	.4	26.8
2009–10†	L.A. Lakers	73	73	38.8	.456	.329	.811	5.4	5.0	1.6	.3	27.0
2010–11	L.A. Lakers	82	82	33.9	.451	.323	.828	5.1	4.7	1.2	.1	25.3
2011–12	L.A. Lakers	58	58	38.5	.430	.303	.845	5.4	4.6	1.2	.3	27.9
Career		1161	1013	36.5	.453	.337	.838	5.3	4.7	1.5	.5	25.4
All-Star		13	13	25.5	.509	.350	.824	5.0	4.2	2.7	.3	20.8

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1997	L.A. Lakers	9	0	14.8	.382	.261	.867	1.2	1.2	.3	.2	8.2
1998	L.A. Lakers	11	0	20.0	.408	.214	.689	1.9	1.5	.3	.7	8.7
1999	L.A. Lakers	8	8	39.4	.430	.348	.800	6.9	4.6	1.9	1.2	19.8
2000†	L.A. Lakers	22	22	39.0	.442	.344	.754	4.5	4.4	1.5	1.5	21.1
2001†	L.A. Lakers	16	16	43.4	.469	.324	.821	7.3	6.1	1.6	.8	29.4
2002†	L.A. Lakers	19	19	43.8	.434	.379	.759	5.8	4.6	1.4	.9	26.6
2003	L.A. Lakers	12	12	44.3	.432	.403	.827	5.1	5.2	1.2	.1	32.1^[208]
2004	L.A. Lakers	22	22	44.2	.413	.247	.813	4.7	5.5	1.9	.3	24.5
2006	L.A. Lakers	7	7	44.9	.497	.400	.771	6.3	5.1	1.1	.4	27.9
2007	L.A. Lakers	5	5	43.0	.462	.357	.919	5.2	4.4	1.0	.4	32.8^[209]
2008	L.A. Lakers	21	21	41.1	.479	.302	.809	5.7	5.6	1.7	.4	30.1^[210]
2009†	L.A. Lakers	23	23	40.8	.457	.349	.883	5.3	5.5	1.7	.9	30.2
2010†	L.A. Lakers	23	23	40.1	.458	.374	.842	6.0	5.5	1.4	.7	29.2
2011	L.A. Lakers	10	10	35.4	.446	.293	.820	3.4	3.3	1.6	.3	22.8
2012	L.A. Lakers	12	12	39.7	.439	.283	.832	4.8	4.3	1.3	.2	30.0
Career		220	200	39.3	.448	.331	.816	5.1	4.7	1.4	.6	25.6

Find more about Kobe Bryant on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Images and media from Commons
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote

Persondata
Name	Bryant, Kobe Bean
Alternative names
Short description	Professional basketball player
Date of birth	August 23, 1978
Place of birth	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Date of death
Place of death

Club	Sport	League	Venue	Established
Orix Buffaloes	Baseball	Pacific League	Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium Osaka Dome	1938
Vissel Kobe	Football	J. League	Home's Stadium Kobe Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium	1995
INAC Kobe Leonessa	Football	L. League	Home's Stadium Kobe Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium	2001
Deução Kobe	Futsal	F. League	World Hall	1993
Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	Rugby	Top League	Home's Stadium Kobe Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium	1928
Hisamitsu Springs	volleyball	V.Premier League		1948
Dragon Gate	Professional wrestling		World Hall	1997

Jimmy Kimmel
Kimmel in May 2007
Birth name	James Christian Kimmel
Born	(1967-11-13) November 13, 1967 (age 44) Brooklyn, New York, USA
Medium	Radio, Television, Film, Stand up
Nationality	American
Years active	1989–present
Genres	Observational comedy, Black comedy, Satire, Deadpan
Subject(s)	American politics, Celebrities, Everyday life, Sex
Influences	David Letterman
Spouse	Gina Kimmel (1988–2002; divorced; 2 children)
Domestic partner(s)	Sarah Silverman (2002–2007; 2008–2009) Molly McNearney (2009–present)
Notable works and roles	Creator and Host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) Creator and Co-Host of The Man Show co-host of Win Ben Stein's Money (Comedy Central) co-host of Crank Yankers

Emmy Awards
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host: 1999 Win Ben Stein's Money

Persondata
Name	Kimmel, Jimmy
Alternative names
Short description	Actor, comedian, television personality
Date of birth	1967-11-13
Place of birth	Brooklyn, New York, USA
Date of death
Place of death

No. 5 – Atlanta Hawks
Smith with the Hawks
Forward
Personal information
Born	(1985-12-05) December 5, 1985 (age 26) College Park, Georgia
Nationality	American
High school	McEachern Oak Hill Academy
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
College	None
NBA Draft	2004 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17th overall
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Pro career	2004–present
League	NBA
Career history
2004–present	Atlanta Hawks
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2010) NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2005) NBA Slam Dunk Champion (2005)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2004–05	Atlanta	74	59	27.7	.455	.174	.688	6.2	1.7	.8	1.9	9.7
2005–06	Atlanta	80	73	32.0	.425	.309	.719	6.6	2.4	.8	2.6	11.3
2006–07	Atlanta	72	72	36.8	.439	.250	.693	8.6	3.3	1.4	2.9	16.4
2007–08	Atlanta	81	81	35.5	.457	.253	.710	8.2	3.4	1.5	2.8	17.2
2008–09	Atlanta	69	69	35.1	.492	.299	.588	7.2	2.4	1.4	1.6	15.6
2009–10	Atlanta	81	81	35.4	.505	.000	.618	8.7	4.2	1.6	2.1	15.7
2010–11	Atlanta	77	77	34.4	.477	.331	.725	8.5	3.3	1.3	1.6	16.5
2011–12	Atlanta	66	66	35.3	.458	.257	.630	9.6	3.9	1.4	1.7	18.8
Career		600	578	34.0	.464	.278	.670	7.9	3.1	1.3	2.2	15.1

Persondata
Name	Joshua Smith
Alternative names	Josh Smith
Short description	National Basketball Association player
Date of birth	December 5, 1985
Place of birth	College Park, Georgia, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death

Skip Bayless

Born	John Edward Bayless II (1951-12-04) December 4, 1951 (age 60) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Education	Vanderbilt University
Occupation	Television Sports Commentator (ESPN) commentator, sportswriter, sportswriter
Notable credit(s)	ESPN First Take (see Cold Pizza) 1st and 10
Website
http://www.espnmediazone.com/bios/Talent/SkipBayless-Bio.htm Skip Bayless on ESPN

Persondata
Name	Bayless, Skip
Alternative names
Short description	sportswriter
Date of birth	December 4, 1951
Place of birth	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Date of death
Place of death

Bryant, Kobe Filmography

Famous quotes by Kobe Bryant:

"I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber."

"My parents are my backbone. Still are. They're the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40."

"I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be"

"I'm playing against great players, playing against the best in the world. The competition - that's what I've always wanted."

"Sometimes I do wonder what college would have been like. But I made my decision."

"It doesn't bother me at all. Do I hold any hard feelings? Not at all, ... Life is too short to sit around and hold grudges. I don't hold any whatsoever."

"These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess."

"The guy said NBA players are one in a million, ... I said, 'Man, look, I'm going to be that one in a million.'"

"I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot."

"What I'm doing right now, I'm chasing perfection."

"If I panic, everyone else panics."

"I've played with IVs before, during and after games. I've played with a broken hand, a sprained ankle, a torn shoulder, a fractured tooth, a severed lip, and a knee the size of a softball. I don't miss 15 games because of a toe injury that everybody knows wasn't that serious in the first place."

"It's different from being 21 and you think there's endless amount of opportunities. At 33, the ending is much, much closer."

"I'm chasing perfection."

"I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant."

"There's been a lot of talk of me being a one-man show but that's simply not the case. We win games when I score 40 points and we've won when I score 10."

"I'm not the most patient of people."

"We all know what flopping is when we see it. The stuff that you see is where guys aren't really getting hit at all and are just flailing around like a fish out of water."

"Everyting negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise."

Make changes yourself !

Make changes yourself !

Contents

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[edit] Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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[edit] Cold Pizza/ESPN First Take