SPORTS ARTICLE 500 WORDS CONTEST; KOBE BRYANT BY @SAHMIE

Greetings to every one of you in this wonderful community. This is my post for the sports article 500 words edition 2 contest.

Kobe Bryant was a professional basketball player who played for the LA Lakers in the NBA from 1996 - 2016. He is the youngest of three children and the only son of former NBA player Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant. He was also the maternal nephew to another NBA player in John "Chubby" Cox. Bryant started playing basketball when he was three, and the Lakers were his favourite team when he was growing up.

He was recognized as the top American high-school basketball player while at Lower Merion. He declared for the 1996 NBA draft and was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick; he was then traded to the LA Lakers his childhood favourite team, where he played all through his career. As a rookie, Bryant earned a reputation as a high-flyer by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest and was named an All-Star by his second season. He and his teammates led the LA Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.
In 2004, Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers and led the NBA in the scoring chart in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. Eventually scored a career-high 81 points in 2006; the second-most points scored in a single game in league history, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. Bryant led the team to consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named NBA Finals MVP in both finals. After the 2015-16 season, Bryant retired due to injuries incurred that season.

Bryant remains the all-time leading scorer in Lakers history and was the first guard in NBA history to play 20 seasons. Bryant's four NBA All-Star Game MVP Awards are tied with Bob Pettit for the most in NBA history. He has two gold medals to his name as a member of the U.S. national team (2008 and 2012 Olympics). In 2018, he won the
Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for the film Dear Basketball (2017). In January 2020, Bryant died, alongside his daughter Gianna and seven others, in a helicopter crash at Calabasas, California. Several tributes and memorials were subsequently issued, including renaming the All-Star MVP Award in his honour.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Kobe Bryant enjoyed a stellar career of which he won;

• 5× NBA champion (2000–2002,
  2009, 2010)
• 2× NBA Finals MVP (2009, 2010)
  NBA Most Valuable Player (2008)
• 18× NBA All-Star (1998, 2000–2016)
• 4× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2002, 2007, 2009, 2011)
• 11× All-NBA First Team (2002–2004, 2006–2013)
• 2× All-NBA Second Team (2000, 2001)
• 2× All-NBA Third Team (1999, 2005)
• 9× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006-2011)
• 3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2001, 2002, 2012)
• 2× NBA scoring champion (2006, 2007)
• NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (1997)
• NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1997)
• NBA 75th Anniversary Team
• Nos. 8 & 24 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
• Naismith Prep Player of the Year (1996)
• First-team Parade All-American (1996)
• Fourth-team Parade All-American (1995)
• McDonald's All-American (1996)
• 2 Olympic US Gold medals @ Beijing (2008) and London (2012)
• FIBA Americas Championship Las Vegas (2007)

SOURCE:

Wikipedia
All pictures were editted by @Sahmie using pixellab.

CONCLUSION

Thanks to every one of us for making out the time to go through my work, I do appreciate for you are my MVPs.

NOTE: No matter what happens, remember to always put a smile on your face cause you are never fully dressed without one.