Bryant made two buzzer-beaters to win the game and the Pacific Division title. At the top of the fourth quarter, Bryant made a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to ship it into overtime. The recreation finally went to a second overtime, in which Bryant made one other three-pointer as time expired to carry the Lakers past the Blazers, 105–104.

For all the stories you hear about Kobe speaking trash and demanding a lot from his teammates, on many occasions he’s picked us up, too. He leads by example; nevertheless, you don’t hear about that a lot in the media. When I obtained traded to the Lakers in ’97, Kobe Bryant was only a rookie. We would play this taking pictures game daily after follow.

"He actually says a word in my language. I was like, 'I did not really hear proper. He cannot speak my language, right?' Then we return and ahead, and he goes again to free throws. And he repeat that! It was curse word!" Nurkic remembered. "He will try to study a little bit about every participant he plays." Raised in Italy, Kobe Bryant was fluent in Italian, and likewise Spanish, and he'd utilize the languages during press conferences and in conversing with different gamers, such as Spain-born teammate Pau Gasol. Bryant additionally exercised his language abilities to trash-talk opponents. He told France's NBA Extra that he worked on his French particularly to get in the head of Belgium-born Spurs star Tony Parker.

Some of Bryant’s accolades include five NBA championships, two Olympic gold medals, 18 All-Star sport appearances, and two Finals MVP awards. 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". Bryant was within the constructing working on his debut musical album. The two started courting and have become engaged just six months later in May 2000, whereas Laine was nonetheless a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. To avoid media scrutiny, she finished highschool by way of independent research. According to Vanessa's cousin Laila Laine, there was no prenuptial settlement.

In 2022, the Bryant property reached a new settlement with Nike to continue producing the signature shoe of the late basketball star. The settlement with the swoosh additionally includes a shoe honoring Gianna “Gigi” Bryant. One of Bryant’s most successful investments got here while he was still playing in the NBA.

As a fan, I can solely hope one player decides to take the game on the identical method I do and lift its level from the opening tip. Being passive aggressive in this competitors means you’re fine with simply going with the move and unwilling to disturb the calm waters of the sport to accomplish your objectives. Maybe my line of pondering is that of a rotary phone. Maybe this smartphone generation enjoys sharing video games of domination. Maybe I’m the one with the issue, maybe it is proper to have multiple alphas, maybe I’m the weaker one, the selfish one.

Explore a surprising tropical backdrop and flex your custom, customized style in an all-new City, wealthy with elective aspect quests and scorching streetball competition. Receive a MyPLAYER gamerplate and 2 additional MyTEAM Promo Packs if you order by way of the PlayStation Store. Kobe's mother's brother, John Cox, also played within the NBA. At the time of the writing of this article he was third on the all-time NBA scoring record. He was selected to the All-NBA Team fifteen occasions and the All-Defensive Team twelve occasions.

The first single, "K.O.B.E'", featured supermodel Tyra Banks singing the hook. The single debuted in January 2000, and was performed at NBA All-Star Weekend that month; the song was not well received. Sony abandoned plans for the album, which was never released, and dropped Bryant later that yr.