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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Kobe Bryant
Career at a glance
Kobe Bryant played 20 NBA regular seasons between 1996 and 2016, appearing in 1,346 games and averaging 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. He spent his whole career with L.A. Lakers (1996–16, 1,346 games). His best scoring season was 2005–06 with L.A. Lakers: 35.4 points per game over 80 games.
The season table marks him as the league leader in scoring twice. Championship seasons: 1999–00 (L.A. Lakers), 2000–01 (L.A. Lakers), 2001–02 (L.A. Lakers), 2008–09 (L.A. Lakers), 2009–10 (L.A. Lakers). In the playoffs he appeared in 15 postseason runs (220 games, 25.6 points per game).
Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 33,600 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total). Among the 404 players with at least 200 NBA games profiled on whynba, Bryant ranks No. 15 in points per game.
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant (August 23, 1978–January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Black Mamba", he played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant was a five-time NBA champion, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, the 2008 NBA MVP, and a two-time gold medal recipient on the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams. He is often considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
The son of NBA player Joe Bryant and his wife Pam, he was born in Philadelphia and spent part of his childhood in Italy. Bryant played high school basketball at Lower Merion High School outside of Philadelphia. He opted out of college basketball and declared for the 1996 NBA draft. He was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th pick; he was then traded to the Lakers. Following his rookie season, he earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors and won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest. He was named an All-Star in his second season. He had a feud with teammate Shaquille O'Neal that was well-documented. Nevertheless, the pair led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. In 2003, Bryant was charged with sexual assault; the criminal charges were ultimately dismissed. In a related lawsuit, he settled out of court and issued an apology while maintaining that the encounter was consensual.
After the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals, O'Neal was traded and Bryant became the franchise's centerpiece. He led the NBA in scoring in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points, the third most in an NBA game. He adopted the nickname Black Mamba during this time. Bryant won the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, but lost the NBA Finals that same season. He followed the defeat by leading the Lakers to consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, and was named NBA Finals MVP both times. His remaining playing career was hampered by injuries and reduced playing time. He retired after the 2015–16 season. In 2017, the Lakers retired both his jersey numbers: 8 and 24, making him the only NBA player to have multiple numbers retired by one franchise. In 2018, Bryant won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball (2017).
- Born
- August 23, 1978 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
- Listed weight
- 212 lb (96 kg)
- Position
- Shooting guard
- High school
- Lower Merion (Ardmore, Pennsylvania)
- NBA draft
- 1996: 1st round, 13th overall pick
- Playing career
- 1996–2016
Career highlights and awards
- 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
- National high school player of the year (1996)
- McDonald's All-American (1996)
- First-team Parade All-American (1996)
- Fourth-team Parade All-American (1995)
- No. 33 Retired by Lower Merion Aces
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | L.A. Lakers | 71 | 6 | 15.5 | .417 | .375 | .819 | 1.9 | 1.3 | .7 | .3 | 7.6 |
| 1997–98 | L.A. Lakers | 79 | 1 | 26.0 | .428 | .341 | .794 | 3.1 | 2.5 | .9 | .5 | 15.4 |
| 1998–99 | L.A. Lakers | 50* | 50* | 37.9 | .465 | .267 | .839 | 5.3 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 19.9 |
| 1999–00† | L.A. Lakers | 66 | 62 | 38.2 | .468 | .319 | .821 | 6.3 | 4.9 | 1.6 | .9 | 22.5 |
| 2000–01† | L.A. Lakers | 68 | 68 | 40.9 | .464 | .305 | .853 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 1.7 | .6 | 28.5 |
| 2001–02† | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 80 | 38.3 | .469 | .250 | .829 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.5 | .4 | 25.2 |
| 2002–03 | L.A. Lakers | 82 | 82* | 41.5 | .451 | .383 | .843 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 2.2 | .8 | 30.0 |
| 2003–04 | L.A. Lakers | 65 | 64 | 37.6 | .438 | .327 | .852 | 5.5 | 5.1 | 1.7 | .4 | 24.0 |
| 2004–05 | L.A. Lakers | 66 | 66 | 40.7 | .433 | .339 | .816 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 1.3 | .8 | 27.6 |
| 2005–06 | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 80 | 41.0 | .450 | .347 | .850 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 1.8 | .4 | 35.4* |
| 2006–07 | L.A. Lakers | 77 | 77 | 40.8 | .463 | .344 | .868 | 5.7 | 5.4 | 1.4 | .5 | 31.6* |
| 2007–08 | L.A. Lakers | 82* | 82* | 38.9 | .459 | .361 | .840 | 6.3 | 5.4 | 1.8 | .5 | 28.3 |
| 2008–09† | L.A. Lakers | 82* | 82* | 36.1 | .467 | .351 | .856 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 1.5 | .5 | 26.8 |
| 2009–10† | L.A. Lakers | 73 | 73 | 38.8 | .456 | .329 | .811 | 5.4 | 5.0 | 1.5 | .3 | 27.0 |
| 2010–11 | L.A. Lakers | 82 | 82* | 33.9 | .451 | .323 | .828 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 1.2 | .1 | 25.3 |
| 2011–12 | L.A. Lakers | 58 | 58 | 38.5 | .430 | .303 | .845 | 5.4 | 4.6 | 1.2 | .3 | 27.9 |
| 2012–13 | L.A. Lakers | 78 | 78 | 38.6 | .463 | .324 | .839 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 1.4 | .3 | 27.3 |
| 2013–14 | L.A. Lakers | 6 | 6 | 29.5 | .425 | .188 | .857 | 4.3 | 6.3 | 1.2 | .2 | 13.8 |
| 2014–15 | L.A. Lakers | 35 | 35 | 34.5 | .373 | .293 | .813 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 1.3 | .2 | 22.3 |
| 2015–16 | L.A. Lakers | 66 | 66 | 28.2 | .358 | .285 | .826 | 3.7 | 2.8 | .9 | .2 | 17.6 |
| Career | 1,346 | 1,198 | 36.1 | .447 | .329 | .837 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 1.4 | .5 | 25.0 | |
| All-Star | 15 | 15 | 27.6 | .500 | .324 | .789 | 5.0 | 4.7 | 2.5 | .4 | 19.3 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | L.A. Lakers | 9 | 0 | 14.8 | .382 | .261 | .867 | 1.2 | 1.2 | .3 | .2 | 8.2 |
| 1998 | L.A. Lakers | 11 | 0 | 20.0 | .408 | .214 | .689 | 1.9 | 1.5 | .3 | .7 | 8.7 |
| 1999 | L.A. Lakers | 8 | 8 | 39.4 | .430 | .348 | .800 | 6.9 | 4.6 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 19.8 |
| 2000† | L.A. Lakers | 22 | 22 | 39.0 | .442 | .344 | .754 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 21.1 |
| 2001† | L.A. Lakers | 16 | 16 | 43.4 | .469 | .324 | .821 | 7.3 | 6.1 | 1.6 | .8 | 29.4 |
| 2002† | L.A. Lakers | 19 | 19 | 43.8 | .434 | .379 | .759 | 5.8 | 4.6 | 1.4 | .9 | 26.6 |
| 2003 | L.A. Lakers | 12 | 12 | 44.3 | .432 | .403 | .827 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 1.2 | .1 | 32.1 |
| 2004 | L.A. Lakers | 22 | 22 | 44.2 | .413 | .247 | .813 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 1.9 | .3 | 24.5 |
| 2006 | L.A. Lakers | 7 | 7 | 44.9 | .497 | .400 | .771 | 6.3 | 5.1 | 1.1 | .4 | 27.9 |
| 2007 | L.A. Lakers | 5 | 5 | 43.0 | .462 | .357 | .919 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 1.0 | .4 | 32.8 |
| 2008 | L.A. Lakers | 21 | 21 | 41.1 | .479 | .302 | .809 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 1.7 | .4 | 30.1 |
| 2009† | L.A. Lakers | 23 | 23 | 40.8 | .457 | .349 | .883 | 5.3 | 5.5 | 1.7 | .9 | 30.2 |
| 2010† | L.A. Lakers | 23 | 23 | 40.1 | .458 | .374 | .842 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 1.3 | .7 | 29.2 |
| 2011 | L.A. Lakers | 10 | 10 | 35.4 | .446 | .293 | .820 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 1.6 | .3 | 22.8 |
| 2012 | L.A. Lakers | 12 | 12 | 39.7 | .439 | .283 | .832 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 1.3 | .2 | 30.0 |
| Career | 220 | 200 | 39.3 | .448 | .331 | .816 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 1.4 | .6 | 25.6 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 6″
- Weight
- 212 lb
- Position
- Shooting guard
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1996
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 13
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
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