Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant is an American retired professional basketball player. He played his entire 20year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships with the Lakers. Bryant is an 18time AllStar, 15time member of the AllNBA Team, and 12time member of the AllDefensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and ranks third on both the leagues alltime regular season scoring and alltime postseason scoring lists. He holds the NBA record for the most seasons playing with one franchise for an entire career.

Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the youngest of three children and the only son of Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant. He is also the maternal nephew of basketball player John Chubby Cox. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu. His middle name, Bean, is derived from his fathers nickname Jellybean. Bryant was raised Roman Catholic. When Bryant was six, his father left the NBA and moved his family to Rieti in Italy to continue playing professional basketball. Bryant became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to speak fluent Italian. During summers, he would come back to the United States to play in a basketball summer league.

Source: Wikipedia