Bryant, Kobe, born in 1978, American basketball player who became the youngest National Basketball Association (NBA) player in history in 1996. He entered the NBA straight from high school at the age of 18. The 6-ft 7-in (201-cm) shooting guard soon became a star and helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to league titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of former NBA player Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant. His parents took the name …showed first 75 words of 486 total…

…showed last 75 words of 486 total…the resort, where Bryant had gone to have knee surgery. Bryant denied the charges and continued to play for the Lakers during the pretrial hearings. Despite the courtroom distractions--which required him to fly to Colorado a number of times during the 2003-04 season--Bryant averaged 24.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game for the year and the Lakers made it to the 2004 NBA Finals. In September 2004 the assault case against Bryant was dismissed before going to trial.