Tragic demise of a basketball giant: A look at Kobe’s life on and off the court

Kobe Bryant

By Peter Jaegeul Song
Reporter at AsiaN

Seoul: Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were killed on Sunday morning in Calabasas, California, in a helicopter crash that also claimed the lives of seven others. Bryant was 41 and has left his wife, Vanessa, and three other daughters.

Bryant was considered as NBA legend and spent his entire 20-year playing career in the Los Angeles Lakers.

The six-foot-six shooting guard had been one of the most influential players on the court in NBA history, winning five NBA titles, an 18 straight All-Star Game selections and four All-Star Game MVP Awards. Bryant;s life off the court was a lucrative one too. He had a record earnings for an NBA player, racking up investments that eventually pushed his net worth up to $600 million.

It is no wonder that throughout his career, Bryant was often compared to Michael Jordan, another legendary figure in NBA.

Bryant was born in 1978 in Philadelphia but spent much of his childhood in Italy, where his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was a professional basketball player and from whom his son was heavily influenced on his career. Bryant returned to Philadelphia for high school education and gained national attention for his mastery of basketball. He got into the NBA Draft straight from high school at 17 years old