With a beginning lineup of O'Neal, Malone, Payton, and Bryant, the Lakers were capable of reach the NBA Finals. However, they were upset in 5 video games by the Detroit Pistons, who gained their first championship since 1990. In that collection, Bryant averaged 22.6 factors per game and 4.4 assists. Jackson's contract as coach was not renewed, and Rudy Tomjanovich took over.

When you break someone's nose in an All-Star Game, it's aggressive. But then attending to play on the same team in '08 within the Olympics was like the last word for me and I think for him as nicely. When he finally saw the means in which I labored and we just got an opportunity to experience being around one another, our chemistry and continuity on the courtroom was just second to none, like we have played together our complete life.

Collect a powerful array of legends and build your perfect lineup in MyTEAM. Relive your favourite eras as a GM or Commissioner in MyNBA. Experience next-level gameplay and lifelike visuals along with your favourite NBA and WNBA teams in PLAY NOW. At the age of six, basketball became a part of my nature.

In that first-person article, Bryant talked about how he 'obsessively hunted' Allen Iverson after AI annoyed him after an everyday season recreation in Philadelphia. The life they led — part fairy story and half extended family drama — would explode in the summer of 2003 when Bryant, visiting Colorado to rehab from a knee surgical procedure, was accused of raping a 19-year-old resort employee. Bryant’s curious background may additionally have set him aside from different players who grew up beneath very totally different situations. He was known to keep to himself on the staff bus, listening to music or talking on the telephone. Some teammates considered him as distant and even aloof.

On November 24, 2015, the Lakers fell to 2–12 after dropping 111–77 to the Warriors. Bryant scored just four points in 25 minutes on 1-for-14 shooting, matching the worst-shooting sport of his profession during which he attempted no much less than five pictures. On December 1, 2015, Bryant performed his final recreation in opposition to his hometown team, the Philadelphia 76ers, the place the Lakers misplaced 103–91. In the 2001–02 season, Bryant performed eighty video games for the primary time in his profession. On January 14, 2002, Bryant recorded a then career-high fifty six points to go together with five rebounds and four assists in a 120–81 win over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies. He continued his all-round play by averaging 25.2 factors, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per sport.

Although later seasons had been marred by injuries, he surpassed Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA all-time scoring listing in December 2014 and retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his ultimate game. In 2018, Bryant earned an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball. On January 26, 2020, he was in a helicopter crash that killed Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gigi and seven others. As of June 2012, Bryant ranks third and fifth on the league's all-time post-season scoring and all-time common season scoring lists, respectively. He can be the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise historical past.

Previously, Bryant was revered but not beloved, and he was astonished at the cheers he was now receiving. Bryant later confirmed his desire for West's return to the franchise but denied stating that he would need to be traded if that didn't happen. Bryant was later proven in an notorious novice video saying that heart Andrew Bynum should have been traded for All-Star Jason Kidd.

Led by Bryant, the Lakers returned to the finals in 2004, but they have been upset by the Detroit Pistons. O’Neal subsequently was traded, and Bryant emerged because the team’s sole leader. The determine includes the $15 million she was awarded from L.A. County in a 2022 civil trial, with “additional funds to settle potential claims from her daughters”—20-year-old Natalia, Bianka , and Capri .