Hello welcome to April’s web quest. It’s my favorite Basketball team the LA Lakers. The web quest is about one player, Kobe Bryant. Here are some things on him.
Height: 6’7"
Guard
# 8
Born in Philadelphia, PA on August 23, 1978
Kobe attended Lower Merion High school, PA. Where he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4 steals, and 3.8 blocks per game. Kobe broke Wilt Chamberlain's High school record of points scored (2359 points), with 2883 points. As a senior in High school, Kobe was selected by USA Today and Parade as National High school Player of the year. He was also Naismith Player of the year, Gatorade Circle of Champions High School Player of the Year, and played in the McDonald's All-American game.
Bryant opted to enter the NBA draft directly out of high school, following in the footsteps of 1995 first-round pick Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kobe was selected 13th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. Kobe was then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Vlade Divac (the guy who traded Kobe must be kicking himself now). In Kobe's rookie year he averaged 15.5 minutes, 7.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.
During the 1997 All-Star Weekend, Kobe won the NBA Slam-Dunk Contest and scored a record 31 points in the Rookie-Game. Kobe recalls the dunk contest. "Winning the dunk contest is something I dreamed about since I was a little kid... The crowd got me real pumped up after the dunk, and I just felt like flexing. I don't have much, but I flexed what I have. I don't do that kind of stuff in a game, only in a dunking competition. I just tried to be as competitive as possible and use my instincts on the way up to the rim. It felt great to win."
Kobe talks about the under the leg dunk. "I just tried that in high school, fooling around with my teammates. You come into a competition, with great deal of people watching, when the energy starts flowing, you feel that you can do anything and I figured 'why not give it a try?! Hmmm. It worked."
Named to the 1998-99 All-NBA Third Team after leading the Lakers in steals (1.44 spg) and ranking 2nd on the team in scoring (19.9 ppg, 15th in the NBA) and free-throw percentage (.839, 20th)
Logged 9 double-doubles and led the Lakers in scoring in 11 games in 1999
Scored 33 of his career-high 38 points (15-24 FG) in the 2nd half, adding 4 assists and 3 rebounds, in a 113-104 victory over the Orlando Magic on 3/21/99
Posted 26 points and career-highs of 13 rebounds and 9 assists against the Denver Nuggets on 2/22/99
Totaled 17 points and 4 rebounds, in his only start of the 1997-98 season, against the Portland Trail Blazers on 2/10/98
Became the youngest All-Star in NBA history, posting a team-high 18 points and 6 rebounds, in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game in New York
Teamed with Lisa Leslie of the WNBA's L.A. Sparks in the inaugural Nestle Crunch All-Star 2ball during All-Star Saturday
Scored a career-high 33 points, hitting 3-of-5 three-pointers, and grabbed 3 rebounds against the Chicago Bulls on 12/17/97
Has appeared in 20 career NBA Playoff games, averaging 8.5 ppg in 17.7 mpg
Named to the 1996-97 NBA All-Rookie Second Team, averaging 7.6 ppg and 15.5 mpg in 71 games
Won the Nestle Crunch Slam Dunk during the 1997 NBA All-Star Weekend in Cleveland and participated in the Schick Rookie Game, posting a rookie game-record 31 points and 8 rebounds
Made his first career start, scoring 12 points, against the Dallas Mavericks on 1/28/97
Made his NBA debut at the age of 18 years, 2 months and 11 days old, became the youngest player ever to appear in an NBA game, against the Minnesota Timberwolves on 11/3/96
Selected by USA Today and Parade Magazine as the National High School Player of the Year as a senior at Lower Merion H.S.
CAREER TRANSACTIONS
Selected by the Charlotte Hornets in the first round (13th pick overall) of the 1996 NBA Draft. Draft rights traded by the Hornets to the L.A. Lakers for Vlade Divac on 7/11/96.
BACKGROUND
To top it off, he led the West team in scoring with 18
points. In 1998-99, his third season, he averaged nearly 20 points per game and
was among the Lakers' leaders in virtually every statistical category,
solidifying his status as one of the game's most exciting young stars. Bryant
was the all-time leading scorer in Southeastern Pennsylvania schoolboy history
with 2,883 points, breaking the marks of NBA legend and Hall of Famer Wilt
Chamberlain (2,359 points) and former St. Joseph's player Carlin Warley (2,441
points). Bryant led his high school team to a 77-13 record in his last three
seasons and was a four-year starter. His father, Joe, played eight NBA seasons
for the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets, and is a
former assistant coach at La Salle. As a senior at Lower Merion High School,
Bryant was selected by USA Today and Parade Magazine as the National High School
Player of the Year. He was also named Naismith Player of the Year, Gatorade
Circle of Champions High School Player of the Year and to the McDonald's
All-America Team. Bryant averaged 30.8 ppg, 12 rpg, 6.5 apg, four spg and 3.8
bpg. He led Lower Merion to Class AAAA state title with a 31-3 record. Bryant
scored a career-high 50 points vs. Marple Newtow and scored 34 points to go
along with 15 rebounds, six assists and nine blocks to lead Lower Merion to
District I Class AAA title over Chester. He scored 117 points and was named Most
Outstanding Player in Prestigious Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The
Lakers wanted Bryant but were drafting late, so they swung a deal with the
Charlotte Hornets whereby Charlotte selected him with the 13th overall pick in
the first round of the 1996 NBA Draft, then dealt him to Los Angeles in exchange
for center Vlade Divac. Despite his youth and lack of college experience, Bryant
was a significant contributor as the Lakers won 56 games in 1996-97. He scored
in double figures 25 times, including a streak of seven within 10 games late in
the season. He also grabbed the spotlight at the All-Star Weekend by winning the
Nestle Crunch Slam Dunk and leading all players with an event-record 31 points
in the Schick Rookie Classic. Bryant blossomed as the Lakers' sixth man in his
second pro season, averaging 15.4 ppg, scoring in double figures in 65 of his 79
games and being voted by the fans as a starter in the 1998 All-Star Game, where
he led the Western Conference with 18 points. At 19 years, 5 months, he became
the youngest All-Star in history, replacing Magic Johnson, who was 20 years, 5
months old when he played in the 1980 game. He was the only Laker to start all
50 games in 1998-99 and averaged 19.9 ppg, second on the team. He led the club
in steals and was among the top three in rebounds, assists and blocked shots as
well.
Today Kobe is a hip-hop kinda rapper. I first saw him on the Nickelodeon hop
mania. He was pretty good. But I think he should stay with Basketball.
Did you like the site? Who’s your favorite Basketball player/team? How many all-stars games has he played in? Has he ever done a 360 dunk? True or False—Is he a pop singer? What did he dad use to do? How long has Kobe been playing basketball? What is his points per game average? What team did he first got pick to play on? Is he a good player?
