Kobe Bryant has been playing basketball in the NBA since 1996. The son of NBA player Joe Bryant, Kobe was very successful throughout high school and actually made the jump directly to the NBA draft. Most of the players that go from high school to the NBA without college do not become as successful as Kobe Bryant has been. Kobe was picked 13th overall in the 1996 draft by the Charlotte Hornets and then traded to the Lakers at that point. Quickly, Kobe Bryant was a fan favorite and it didn’t help that he won the 1997 Slam Dunk contest.
Kobe Bryant has been in and out of the news throughout his long career, including sexual assault accusation back in 2003. That case was ultimately dropped by prosecutors and a civil suit was settled outside of court with the alleged victim. Kobe Bryant went on to lead the Lakers along with Shaquille O’Neal to three consecutive NBA championships between 2000 and 2002. In 2004, it was obvious that Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal did not get along on the court and when the team lost the NBA finals, O’Neill was traded from the Lakers to Miami Heat.
Shortly after Shaquille O’Neal was traded Kobe Bryant became the cornerstone player for the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. Along the way, Kobe has won many awards, been in the playoffs, many times, and has set plenty of records. At one point against the Toronto Raptors, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in the game, becoming the second highest single scoring performance right behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game back in 1962.
This season, Kobe Bryant has only played 35 games and was sidelined due to the a shoulder injury and surgery was a must if he wanted to continue playing. At first the thoughts of surgery, the outcome was discouraging. Being that Kobe Bryant is now older and will be preparing to play in his 20th NBA season. Most of the time recovering from a shoulder surgery that could have been career ending, a player does not do as well the rest of his career. According to reports, Kobe claimed “there was never a question for me whether or not I was going to play next year.”
The surgery was in January this year and repaired a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. This is the third NBA season in a row that Kobe’s season was cut short due to injury. He has torn his Achilles tendon, only to come back and fractured a bone in his left knee the next season. Kobe Bryant is set to make $25 million next season.