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Tuesday, July 5, 2005
Kobe carried Lakers to 2000 NBA title
By Kris Schwartz
Special to ESPN.com
Signature Game
June 14, 2000 - In Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Kobe Bryant suffered a sprained left ankle, forcing him to sit out Game 3. Although the ankle still bothered the Los Angeles Lakers star guard, he was back in the starting lineup for tonight's Game 4 in Indianapolis.
When Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, who had scored 36 points with 21 rebounds, fouled out with 2:33 left in overtime, Bryant told him, "Don't worry, big fella. I got it."
"That's when Kobe carried us on his back," forward Rick Fox said.
Bryant scored eight points in the extra session, including an over-the-head two-handed follow of a teammate's miss with six seconds left that sealed the Lakers' 120-118 victory and a 3-1 series lead.
Bryant finished with 28 points, connecting on 14-of-27 field-goal attempts, and five assists. The Lakers went on to win the title in six games.
Odds 'n' Ends
Kobe's father Joe was a star at LaSalle before averaging 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in eight seasons in the NBA (four with Philadelphia, three with San Diego and one with Houston).
With Joe switching from one Italian team to another -- playing for the highest bidder -- the family moved from town to town.
As a child in Italy, Bryant would jump out of the second floor window into the grass below.
He challenged some of his father's teammates to games in basketball.
When Bryant was a youngster, his parents clothed him warmly in a Lakers jacket.
Bryant was devastated in November 1991 when Magic Johnson announced that he was HIV positive. The 13-year-old Bryant cried and felt sick for a week, sometimes not eating meals. He took the initiative to find out what HIV was, reading up on the subject.
Kobe's parents screened movies before their three children could watch them. He never got to see The Godfather until after he entered the NBA. After viewing it he said it became his favorite movie: "It reminds me of my family because of the way they all pulled for each other no matter what."
Against Dallas on Jan. 28, 1997, Bryant became the youngest player -- at 18 years, five months and five days -- to start an NBA game.
Eleven days later in his rookie season, Bryant won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest.
Bryant made the All-Rookie second team. On the first team were Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Marcus Camby and Antonie Walker.
In December 1999, Bryant -- at 21 -- bought a 50 percent interest in the Italian-based Olimpia Milano basketball team. Joe was named executive VP. But within a year, citing differences with the other owner, Kobe divested his share of the team.
In 2000, Bryant was named to the first-team All-Defensive team. At 21, he was the youngest player in NBA history to earn that honor.
Bryant produced an R&B album called "Visions" in August 2000.
His career-high is 56 points, against Memphis on Jan. 14, 2002 when he shot 21-of-34 from the field.
A month later, he reached his high in assists, with 15 against Washington.
On March 1, 2002, Bryant took a swing at Indiana's Reggie Miller as the game ended and they wrestled over to the scorer's table. Both players were suspended for two games.
Bryant led the NBA in 2002 by attempting 24.1 field goals a game, .5 more than Iverson, the runner-up.
With the Lakers trailing the San Antonio Spurs 84-79 in Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference semifinals, Bryant nailed two three-pointers and scored on a putback with five seconds left to give LA an 87-85 victory.
Bryant set NBA records of 12 three-point baskets and nine straight three-pointers in the Lakers' 119-98 win over Seattle on Jan. 7, 2003. He had not made more than five three-pointers in a game previously.
On Jan. 19, 2003, Bryant's wife Vanessa gave birth to the couple's first
child, Natalia Diamante.
In 2003, Bryant became only the second player to score at least 35 points
in 13 straight games. Wilt Chamberlain did it three times, with streaks of
33, 23 and 20.
During the last nine games of Bryant's run, he scored at least 40 points,
tying Michael Jordan for the fourth-best streak. Chamberlain had streaks of
14 games (twice) and 10 games of scoring at least 40 points.
In seven All-Star Games, Bryant has averaged 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.
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