Despite successful three championships together, Shaq and Kobe had been constantly at one another's throats, ripping each other each in the media and behind closed doorways. Following Kobe's rape accusations in the summertime of 2004, the Lakers went in the tank, sending their feud into overdrive and eventually main O'Neal to go away the staff. Shaq followed up with his notorious rap verse, "Kobe, inform me how my ass tastes." Kobe... Kobe Bryant was a familiar figure on campus to many UCI college students throughout his enjoying days.

When you break somebody's nostril in an All-Star Game, it is competitive. But then getting to play on the identical staff in '08 in the Olympics was like the final word for me and I assume for him as nicely. When he finally noticed the way in which I labored and we simply obtained a chance to expertise being around one another, our chemistry and continuity on the court was just second to none, like we have played together our entire life.

Several months later Bryant was accused of raping a younger woman in Colorado. He maintained his innocence, and all expenses had been finally dropped when the lady refused to testify after a monthslong marketing campaign of harassment by fans of Bryant and a few members of the media. (Bryant later apologized, admitting that he realized his accuser did not imagine their sexual encounter was consensual, and a civil go nicely with was settled in 2005.) The incident tremendously tarnished his image.

From 1987 to 1989, his father played for Olimpia Basket Pistoia the place he paired with former Detroit Pistons Leon Douglas. The highway to the Finals would prove so much tougher than the document run the Lakers had the earlier yr. While the Lakers swept the Blazers and defeated the Spurs 4–1, the Lakers didn't have home court docket advantage against the Sacramento Kings. The sequence would stretch to 7 video games, the first time this happened to the Lakers for the rationale that 2000 Western Conference Finals.

He was simply the third participant in NBA history to common forty factors in a calendar month, which he has achieved 4 occasions. Bryant capturing towards Marcin Gortat of the Washington Wizards, 2014Bryant resumed training in November 2013, after the 2013–14 season had already begun. On November 25, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Lakers at an estimated value of $48.5 million.

In October 2021, Bryant was honored as one of many league's best players of all time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. The Lakers swept the Utah Jazz in the second round and advanced to the Western Conference Finals, the place they confronted the Phoenix Suns. In Game 2, Bryant completed the sport with 13 assists, setting a brand new playoff career-high; it was the most assists by a Laker within the playoffs since Magic Johnson had 13 in 1996. Bryant thought-about the shot "one of the luckiest he has made". A week later, Bryant suffered an avulsion fracture in his proper index finger in a recreation towards the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Before the 2018 soccer season, Kobe popped by the Alabama campus for a visit. This was August, only months removed from The Benching—when Nick Saban swapped Jalen Hurts for Tua Tagovailoa at halftime of the national championship game. Kobe’s message was supposed to resonate with each, with all.

The staff's quest for an additional three-peat was ended once they were swept by the Dallas Mavericks within the second round of the playoffs. The Mavericks would go on to win the 2011 NBA Finals. On May 27, 2007, ESPN reported that Bryant stated that he wished to be traded if Jerry West did not return to the team with full authority.