Kobe Bryant, Wizard from the City of Angels

When it was announced he will win the MVP award, the Lakers` star said it was not just an award for one person, but the entire team.

When you are named after a steak, your life does not seem to have a perspective, but if you try hard enough, you can make it to the top.

Specifically, the “unfortunate” guy is Kobe Bryant, this year’s most valuable player of the NBA league, who was named after the beef of Kobe Japanese dish, which his parents saw on a menu at a Japanese restaurant.

Life in Italy

Kobe was born on August 23, 1978. At the age of six, his family moved to Italy because of his father`s (Joe Jellybean Bryant) professional basketball career. This is where Kobe learned how to play football and became fluent in Italian. He still loves football. H is supposedly a big Barcelona and Ronaldinho fan, as they share the same passion for spectacular moves. Why just make it efficient when it can be fun as well – this is their motto.

At the age of 13, Kobe returned to the USA and showed in school leagues that he is a rare talent. He broke high school records, scoring over 30 points per game.

Off to the Lakers

Then-Lakers general manager Jerry West noticed him. He wanted the 17-year-old kid so much that he offered established centre player Vlade Divac to the Hornets, who had the first pick, in stead of Kobe.

The Hornets took his offer and made perhaps one of the greatest mistakes in the NBA history. This is how Bryant became the first guard who entered the professionalism of the world`s best basketball straight out of high school.

During his first season, 1996/1997, he played 15 minutes in average, scoring over 7.5 points. But, he soon became famous for his slam dunks, especially after he won a competition at the All-star weekend in 1997.

Comparisons with Jordan

People started comparing Kobe with Michael Jordan. With his overt copying of Jordan`s gestures, miming and attempts to establish himself as a leader, Kobe fuelled oil to the fire for constant comparisons with “His Flying Majesty”. Some like it, others still think Kobe shows off to much on the court, trying to show he is a team leader “for better or worse”.

In the next seasons, Bryant became one of NBA symbols with his spectacular moves and play. Statistics went up and Bryant was the reason why the “magic” returned to the city of angels.

Parents opposed his marriage

He met 17-year-old Vanessa Laine at The Eastsidaz and Snoop Dogg`s video shoot for “D` Up” in 1999. She was wearing a silver bikini in the video. The love story began.

They got engaged in May 2000 and married in 2001, before she finished high school. But his parents did not attend the wedding ceremony because they thought they were both too young, but also because she was not an Afro-American, but of Mexican-Irish descent.

Dynasty with O`Neal

With Phil Jackson as the new coach in 1999, the Lakers` dynasty began, headed by Bryant and Shaquille O`Neal. They took the first out of three consecutive titles the next season, creating an invincible NBA duo: fast Bryant and “heavyweight” O`Neal.

But two powerful egos, Kobe and Shaq, did not stand each other. They had less and less understanding for each other. Shaw accused Kobe of being selfish and not even Phil Jackson`s zen methods could calm things down. Later on, Jackson will write in his book “The Last Season: A Team Searching for its Soul” that Kobe cannot be coached.

Rape charges

Bryant was facing the hardest moments of his life in July 2003. Eagle county sheriff arrested him over sexual assault charges against a girl from Colorado. During the investigation, Kobe stirred things up again, telling the investigators that he should have done the same thing Shaq did – pay the woman to keep quiet, adding that O`Neal that had already paid up to1 million dollars for situations like this. In September 2004, Kobe was acquitted. He confessed he had sex with the woman who pressed charges, but he dismissed rape charges, saying he thought the encounter was consentual. 

Kobe breaking records

After solving the sexual assault charges, Kobe was the best scorer in 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons. Jackson returned to the bench and solved his misunderstanding with the team`s star.

In the game against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006, Kobe went down in history as he scored 81 points, which is the second highest score by a single player in history. Mythical 100 points were first, by Willt Chamberlain from 1962.

On December 20, 2995 in only three quarters, Bryant scored 62 points against Dallas and at the beginning of the first quarter, Bryant had “bagged” more points that the entire Dallas team.

Nearly left the Lakers

Despite excellent statistics, Bryant almost left the Lakers at the end of last season, dissatisfied with the team which cannot win the title. ESPN said Kobe had conditioned his stay with the return of Jerry West. He allegedly called the team`s owner Jerry Buss an idiot and a liar. But the Lakers` heads did not want to give up a player who draws in the crowd to the Staples Center, thus Kobe stayed in LA in the end.

Shaquille O`Neal`s part was taken over by Spanish centre player Pau Fasol. Unlike O`Neal, the Spaniard was aware that Kobe was the sheriff.

First MVP award

In his 12^th NBA season, Bryant won the Most Valuable Player award for the first time and continued breaking records. At the age of 29 and 122 days, last December he became the youngest player to have scored over 20,000 points.

Despite an injury of his small finger ligament, in February, he played all 82 games of the regular part. His average was 28 points, 5 assists and 6 rebounds and he headed the Lakers up to the 57-25 ration in the regular part of the season and the first place in the Western Division.

Once he found out he will be presented with the MVP award, he said it was not an award for just one person.

These guys here, they make me look better than I actually am, said the fourth Laker with the MVP award after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O`Neal.

When asked if he is ready to take the Lakers to their new NBA champion title, Kobe replied:

- This is Hollywood, it`s a movie script and the perfect ending would be if we won the title.