They married on April 18, 2001, at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point, California.[The wedding ceremony was not attended by Bryant's parents, his two sisters, his longtime advisor and agent Arn Tellem, or his Laker teammates. Bryant's parents had been against the wedding for a variety of causes. Following his dying, on February 15, 2020, commissioner Adam Silver introduced that the NBA All-Star Game MVP Award could be renamed to the NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player in honor of Bryant.

I’ll play for him and win championships, but I could have no interplay with him.” Yet at the same time, it drove me at a maniacal tempo. Because either consciously or unconsciously, he put an amazing quantity of strain on me to be environment friendly, and to be great, and to be nice now. In 2018, Bryant partnered with Chad Faulkner, the proprietor of a Southern California sports activities academy, to create Mamba Sports Academy. Bryant's daughter Gianna performed for the collective and he worked carefully with its younger players to help domesticate their skills.

Bryant on the free-throw line, 2005In the primary game of the 2002–03 season, Bryant recorded 27 factors, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals in an 87–82 loss to the visiting Spurs. On November 1, Bryant recorded a triple-double of 33 factors, 15 rebounds and 12 assists in a 108–93 win over the LA Clippers. He additionally set an NBA document for three-pointers in a game on January 7, 2003, when he made 12 towards the Seattle SuperSonics.

After graduating in 1996, Bryant decided to enter the National Basketball Association and was chosen by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA draft. Thirty minutes later, the helicopter was in the air, touring from John Wayne-Orange County Airport to Camarillo, California, where the passengers would then be pushed to a youth basketball recreation in close by Thousand Oaks. Bryant was joined on the flight by his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna; John and Keri Altobelli and their daughter, Alyssa; Sarah Chester and her daughter, Payton; and Christina Mauser, an assistant coach. On January 26, 2022, coinciding with the 2nd anniversary of his dying and the helicopter crash, a statue of Bryant and his daughter Gianna was positioned on the website where the crash occurred.

On January 21, 2015, Bryant suffered a rotator cuff tear in his right shoulder while driving baseline for a two-handed dunk in opposition to the New Orleans Pelicans. Though he's right-handed, he returned to play within the sport and ran the offense while shooting, dribbling, and passing virtually exclusively along with his left hand. Prior to the injury, Bryant had been rested in eight of sixteen video games. He underwent season-ending surgical procedure for the injury, ending the season averaging 22.3 factors but taking pictures a career-low 37.three percent, well beneath his 45.4 p.c profession mark to begin out the season. He was expected to be sidelined for 9 months with a return targeted toward the start of the 2015–16 season. At age 36, he turned the oldest NBA player to attain 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a sport.

On January 26, 2020, the basketball legend, his daughter Gianna and seven other passengers died when their helicopter crashed and caught fireplace in Calabasas, California. The chopper was on its approach to Kobe’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks ahead of a recreation. The Oscar winner coached Gianna’s Athletic Amateur Union staff. USA TODAY Sports is marking the primary anniversary of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others with a six-day collection of stories, photographs and movies trying again on the Lakers legend and the aftermath of his death. Bryant established a popularity for taking photographs within the closing moments of tight games, even when he was double or triple-teamed, and was noted as one of the premier closers within the NBA.

"Kobe Bryant named to NBA's all-defensive first group for ninth time". Bryant grew to become the youngest participant to achieve 27,000 factors on a 3-pointer late within the third quarter, however he incessantly was a one-man present on offense. Kobe Bryant's sport winner in 99–98 victory over Memphis Grizzlies reveals clutchness cannot be duplicated Archived February 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, sports.yahoo.com, February 23, 2010. Lakers win 11th straight, Bryant injures finger Archived August 12, 2014, on the Wayback Machine, sports.yahoo.com, December 12, 2009. Larry Bird held the earlier document; he was 35 when he had forty nine factors, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists on March 15, 1992, in opposition to Portland. Afterward, Bryant co-founded an impartial report label, Heads High Entertainment, nevertheless it folded inside a 12 months.

Bryant rarely drew costs when he played defense, which he believed spared his body and contributed to his longevity. However, some critics have suggested that Bryant's defensive accolades in his later years were based extra on his status than his precise play. By the end of the season, he averaged 15.5 minutes a sport. During the All-Star weekend, Bryant participated in the Rookie Challenge and received the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, changing into the youngest dunk champion on the age of 18. Bryant's performance all year long earned him a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Second Team with fellow bench teammate Travis Knight.