Kobe Bryant, America's professional basketball player, spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA.

Here's a look at 10 things to know about his legendary life and NBA career.

1.
Kobe Bean Bryant was born on August 23, 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

2.
Kobe's father, Joe Bryant, named him after one of the world's most famous and expensive types of beef.

3.
He had two older sisters, Sharia and Shaya, both of whom have started families over their own.

4.
Aside from English, Kobe was also fluent in Italian, which he learned while living in Italy as a child.

5.
Apart from being fluent in Italian, Kobe spoke Spanish, as well, also thanks to his Mexican-American wife Vanessa Bryant.
He learned to speak Spanish by watching telenovelas with his Mexican-American wife and mother-in-law.

6.
Kobe and his wife Vanessa had four daughters: Natalia, Gianna, Bianka, and Capri.

7.
Kobe Bryant was a Virgo zodiac sign, which belongs to the Earth element of astrology, along with Taurus and Capricorn.

8.
Bryant's legend began at Lower Merion High School, located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, in a Philadelphia suburb.

9.
In 1996, 17-year-old Kobe Bryant was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets.
His career with the Aces led him to be drafted 13th overall out of high school by the Charlotte Hornets, and he was immediately traded to the Lakers in a pre-arranged trade between the two teams.

10.
In the late 1990s, Bryant was just beginning to make a name for himself with the Lakers, where he would remain for two decades, alongside longtime teammate Shaquille O'Neal. Off the court, Bryant had signed a deal with Sony Records in 1999 to release his own studio album.

11.
From this partnership came his album Visions, featuring rap legends like 50 Cent and Tyra Banks. The album sadly never saw the light of day, as the album's lead single (K.O.B.E) was a bit of a flop.

12.
Kobe Bryant never lost when he played for team USA: 36-0 total record, 16-0 in Olympic Games.

13.
Kobe Bryant drained his most threes in a game versus the Seattle SuperSonics on January 7, 2003, with 12 three-pointers.

14.
Before signing with Nike in 2003 to start one of the most successful shoe lines, Kobe first signed a deal with Adidas.
However, he didn't finish the six-year Adidas contract, causing the company to fine him $8 million.

15.
Kobe influenced millions of people to incorporate a mindset of always working hard and improving themselves every day. This is famously known as the Mamba Mentality.
Mamba mentality means "just trying to get better every day."

16.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Los Angeles Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships in a historic stretch from 2000 to 2002.

17.
Kobe Bryant burned the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006 in one of the greatest single-game performances in NBA history.
As the Lakers scored a 122-104 comeback victory at home, Bryant finished with 81 points on 28-of-46 shooting, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range, and 18-of-20 from the foul line.

18.
Kobe was awarded his first and only NBA regular season MVP on May 6, 2008.

19.
Kobe made a surprise appearance at Taylor Swift's LA concert in 2015 to honor her 16th sold-out concert at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center). This number was special, as the team had a total of 16 NBA titles during that year.

20.
By his mid-30s, Kobe began to be plagued with multiple serious sports-related injuries. This ultimately led to his retirement at the age of 37 after finishing up the 2015-2016 season.

21.
Shaquille O'Neal challenged Kobe to score 50 points in his last career game, so he went and scored 60.

22.
In 2018, Dear Basketball, a short film written and narrated by Kobe, won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.

23.
Kobe invested $6 million in BodyArmor back in 2014 for a 10% stake in the company. In 2018, BodyArmor was sold to Coca-Cola for $5.6 billion. This earned Kobe $400 million.

24.
On January 26, 2020, a helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others crashes in Calabasas, California, roughly 30 miles north of Los Angeles; everyone on board dies.

25.
Kobe and Gianna Bryant were buried on February 7, 2020, at Pacific View Memorial Park in California.

26.
In honor of the late Kobe Bryant, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver decided to rename the All-Star MVP after Kobe Bryant in February 2020.
Kobe had won a total of four All-Star MVPs, sharing the record for the most All-Star MVPs with Bob Petitt.

27.
NBA teams who had games after Kobe's passing honored him by starting the game with either an 8-second backcourt violation or a 24-second violation.

28.
Kobe Bryant was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame on May 15, 2021, where his widow, Vanessa, gave an acceptance speech on his behalf.

29.
Kobe's life is celebrated on Kobe Bryant Day every August 24. The date chosen relates to the two jersey numbers (8 and 24) he wore for the Los Angeles Lakers.

30.
Kobe remains one of the all-time leading scorers in the NBA, with a total of 33,463 career points.
Bryant is listed as a shooting guard in 17 of the 20 seasons that played.The three seasons that the Laker was listed as a small forward were his first two seasons coming off of the bench and his final season in the NBA. In terms of shooting guards, Bryant has the third-most points of any players who have played this position.

Sources
Mel Magazine / So Syncd / Fox LA / Washington Post / Wikipedia / Lakers Nation - Kobe Bryant NBA draft 1996 / Fade Away World / Nicki Swift / Sporting News / ET Online / Boardroom.tv / Dribble Media / NBA - All time leaders / Sports Casting / Complex / NBA - Kobe Bryant 81 points / Today / Clutch Points / Lakers Nation - Kobe Bryant hall of fame / The Fact Site
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons