Bryant's play was notable and praised for his performance within the 4th quarter of video games, specifically the last 2 rounds of the playoffs. This cemented Bryant's status as a "clutch participant." Statistically, the 2000–01 season saw Bryant perform equally to the earlier year, but he averaged 6 extra factors a game (28.5). Once again he led the group in assists with 5 per sport. The Lakers however, only gained fifty six games, an 11-game drop off from last yr.

He was such a scorching prospect that he received an invite to an enormous shindig hosted by Essence magazine, where Brandy also happened to be in attendance. "When I was 17, I didn't get a chance to go to my own prom," Brandy told Zimbio. But then a "tall, good-looking guy" approached her at the party and gushed that he was a huge fan, and that they need to go to his prom together. "Next factor you realize, Kobe flew my mother and I out. Made me feel like a queen. It was like royal therapy after which we went to promenade." Brandy advised TMZ in 2016 that she still had her dress from that "particular evening."

His $680 million in earnings from playing salary and endorsements during his taking part in profession had been a report for a staff athlete. Bryant died, alongside along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in 2020. A number of tributes and memorials had been subsequently issued, together with renaming the All-Star MVP Award in his honor. He wished to fulfill the Lakers legend, however he additionally understood the character of movie star, and Prescott didn’t wish to intrude on Bryant whereas he was at dinner with associates or household. Besides, the home the place Prescott was staying was lower than a mile from Kobe’s residence.

In 2018, Bryant became the first African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and the first former professional athlete to be nominated and to win an Academy Award in any category for his film Dear Basketball. Despite winning the Oscar, he was denied membership into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences because of his previous sexual abuse case and their new set of requirements of conduct inside the latest MeToo motion. The movie additionally received the Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject and a Sports Emmy Award. The movie was produced by Bryant's manufacturing firm, Granity Studios.

The basketball world remains to be mourning the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi, and the seven different lives misplaced in January 2020. To make issues worse, it has turn into practically unimaginable for the common client to purchase footwear from Bryant's signature sneaker line with Nike. More than three years after his unintentional demise, Kobe Bryant will again be the center of a signature shoe line. The enterprise of Kobe Bryant is in full swing three years after the Pro Basketball Hall of Famer’s dying. In order to obtain success in the basketball world, you have to have a kind of championship mindset that separates you from the the rest of the rivals.

Fans gather close to a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outdoors Staples Center after studying of the Lakers legend’s death Sunday. Bryant had no doubts, exhibiting the sort of bravura that would — at instances — irritate his critics. Though scouts characterized him as “borderline sensational,” younger players have been anticipated to spend at least a couple of years honing their expertise on the college degree. “Kobe was a legend on the court docket and just getting began in what would have been simply as meaningful a second act,” former President Obama mentioned in a statement. Midway via his career, in July 2003, Bryant was accused of rape by a lodge worker. The criminal case, which drew nationwide attention when salacious details had been leaked, was ultimately dropped after the lady refused to testify.

His protection disrupted opponents and freed Nash from unfavorable matchups. After starting the season 1–4, coach Brown was fired. On December 18, in a 101–100 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, Bryant scored 30+ points in his seventh consecutive game, the longest streak by an NBA player after turning 34 years old; it was the fourth-longest such streak in his career. Derek Fisher and Bryant with President Barack Obama through the White House go to honoring the Lakers' 2009 championshipIn early September 2008, Bryant determined to not have surgery to repair his right pinkie. In the 2008–09 season, the Lakers opened the campaign by winning their first seven games.

Several months later Bryant was accused of raping a younger girl in Colorado. He maintained his innocence, and all costs have been ultimately dropped when the lady refused to testify after a monthslong campaign of harassment by fans of Bryant and some members of the media. (Bryant later apologized, admitting that he realized his accuser didn't imagine their sexual encounter was consensual, and a civil swimsuit was settled in 2005.) The incident tremendously tarnished his picture. Led by Bryant, the Lakers returned to the finals in 2004, but they were upset by the Detroit Pistons.