He led the NBA in scoring through the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, setting numerous scoring information in the course of. In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high eighty one points in opposition to the Toronto Raptors, the second most factors scored in a single game in NBA historical past, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. He was awarded the common season's Most Valuable Player Award in 2008. After losing within the 2008 NBA Finals, Bryant led the Lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, incomes the NBA Finals MVP Award on each events.

Kobe and his family returned to the United States in 1991. Bryant often traveled by helicopter throughout and after his NBA career, partially to keep away from the oft-gridlocked traffic in Los Angeles. And he frequently chartered flights with Island Express Helicopters, together with thirteen journeys in 2019. Crystal Hogan, who’s been officiating at the Drew League since 2005, was one of the referees for Bryant’s recreation. She referred to as that second an all-time favorite of hers but what stood out essentially the most was Bryant’s willingness to play hard for the people who squeezed into the tiny fitness center at Washington Park within the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Bryant driving in path of the basketDuring the 2006–07 season, Bryant was selected to his ninth All-Star Game look, and on February 18, he logged 31 points, 6 assists, and 6 steals, incomes his second career All-Star Game MVP trophy. Over the course of the season, Bryant grew to become involved in a quantity of on-court incidents. On January 28 whereas making an attempt to draw contact on a possible game-winning jump shot, he flailed his arm, hanging San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginóbili in the face together with his elbow. The foundation given for the suspension was that Bryant had performed an "unnatural movement" in swinging his arm backward.

I vividly keep in mind Kobe sitting around eating french fries and speaking basketball as somewhat child. When we might be at the shootaround before the game, Kobe would be attempting to heat up with us. I’m not speaking like, you understand, shagging rebounds, like a ball boy or whatever. I’m talking, this child was within the layup line like he was on the group. So at some point I will need to have told him to get out of the finest way, and he challenged me to a recreation of H-O-R-S-E.

A fierce competitor, Bryant made opponents and teammates alike the objects of his scorn. Many players have thought of him difficult to play with due to his excessive degree of commitment and efficiency. Bryant's longtime head coach Phil Jackson noted a giant difference throughout his two Lakers coaching stints in Bryant's demeanor in the direction of his teammates. Bryant dunking against the Milwaukee Bucks, 2013Bryant was main the league in scoring via much of the primary 42 video games. With a disappointing 17–25 start to the season, D'Antoni had Bryant grew to become the primary facilitator on offense and Nash was moved off the ball and have become more of a spot-up shooter.

In this March 18 file picture, Missouri guard Kobe Brown goes up for a dunk previous Princeton forward Tosan Evbuomwan during an NCAA Tournament second-round recreation in Sacramento, Calif. NBA 2K24 will be released in September and pre-orders for the game are set to start on Friday. “A horde of media needed to be shooed away Wednesday night from staking out the alleged victim’s home Wednesday afternoon by police and sheriff’s deputies,” the Vail Daily reported.

On January 26, 2020, Bryant was onboard a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter that crashed in the Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas. Nine people, including Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna "Gigi," died. The helicopter was on its way from Orange County to Thousands Oaks, California where Bryant was scheduled to coach a tournament game at Mamba Sports Academy. An all-star lineup of Laker icons also paid tribute to Bryant, including O’Neal, Phil Jackson, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom and Magic Johnson. "We are here to celebrate greatness for 20 years," Johnson mentioned.

The Bryants' first daughter, Natalia, was born in January 2003. The birth resulted in a reconciliation between Bryant and his parents. Due to an ectopic pregnancy, Vanessa suffered a miscarriage in the spring of 2005. Their second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore (also referred to as "Gigi"), was born in May 2006. On December sixteen, 2011, Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable variations, and the couple requested joint custody of their daughters.