The Mamba Mentality: How I Play

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In the following season, the Lakers were able to acquire NBA All-Stars Karl Malone and Gary Payton to make another push at the NBA championship. On December 5 against New Orleans, Bryant became the youngest player (34 years and 104 days) in league history to score 30,000 points, joining Hall of Famers Chamberlain, Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Karl Malone as the fifth player to reach that milestone. A particularly exciting find was a Book of the Dead papyrus scroll measuring over 43 feet long—a rare surviving copy of the traditional burial item. 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.

The Lakers were looking to trade their starting center Vlade Divac for a player's draft rights to free up salary cap space to make an offer to free-agent center Shaquille O'Neal. However, after high schooler Kevin Garnett went in the first round of the 1995 NBA draft, Bryant also began contemplating going directly to the pros. Youngest To 26K Archived January 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, ESPN, November 12, 2010, Retrieved February 27, 2020. The accusation briefly tarnished Bryant's reputation, resulting in the loss of several of his endorsement contracts.

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 eight minutes to keep Los Angeles safely ahead. 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. Kobe sends game to OT, wins it in 2OT Archived August 10, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, ESPN, April 14, 2004.

Prior to announcing his retirement, he had been steadfast about not wanting the fuss of a staged farewell tour, preferring to hear boos instead of cheers. The Lakers were knocked out of the playoffs by Durant and Oklahoma City in the second round of the playoffs, losing in five games in what would be Bryant's final playoff appearance.

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. This map shows the exact path of Kobe Bryant's helicopter before it crashed, killing all 9 people on board". ChinaSmack: Sprite China– Kobe Bryant and Jay Chou music video " 天地一鬥 " ("Tian Di Yi Dou") with Jay Chou feat. Bill Branch, the Charlotte Hornets' head scout at the time, said that the Hornets agreed to trade their No. 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 season.

West teammates offered to feed him the ball in an attempt to get him another All-Star MVP, but he declined. Bryant was awarded his first NBA Finals MVP trophy upon winning his fourth championship, [178] achieving series averages of 32.He led the Lakers to two more championships in 2009 and 2010, winning the Finals MVP award on both occasions. Bryant also led the NBA in scoring twice and ranks fourth in league all-time regular season and postseason scoring. Bryant led the team to tie the franchise record for most wins to start the season going 17–2, [172] and by the middle of December they compiled a 21–3 record. d] On December 14, Bryant became the NBA's third all-time leading scorer, passing Jordan (32,292) in a 100–94 win against Minnesota.

Bryant averaged 30 points per game and embarked on a historic run, posting 40 or more points in nine consecutive games while averaging 40.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. The series would stretch to seven games, the first time this had happened to the Lakers since the 2000 Western Conference Finals. Over a year after the crash, on February 9, 2021, the NTSB declared that pilot Ara Zobayan probably became disoriented after flying into thick clouds.