Few athletes in history, no matter the sport, can boast a career like Kobe Bryant.
Even fewer can say they transcended their chosen sport the way the LA Lakers superstar did during his 20 years in the NBA.
Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash aged 41 on Sunday (US time), ended his career with the LA Lakers in 2016 as a five-time NBA champion, 18-time All Star, 11-time All-NBA First Team, two-time finals MVP and one-time league MVP. His 33,643 points make him the fourth-highest scorer in NBA history — he was surpassed by LeBron James only hours before his death — and his 1,346 games played has him 14th on the all-time list.
Bryant played with two genuinely great Lakers teams and won multiple titles with both. He and Shaquille O’Neal formed one of the most dominant partnerships in league history en route to three straight NBA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002, before he led a newer generation of Lakers to titles in 2009 and 2010, winning the Finals MVP in both years.
Kobe Bryant’s career stats
• Drafted 13th in 1996 by Charlotte (traded to Lakers)
• NBA MVP (’08)
• Two-time Finals MVP (’09, ’10)
• 18-time All Star (’98, ’00-’16)
• 11-time First team All NBA (’02-’04, ’06-’13)
• Two-time scoring champion (’06, ’07)
• Championships: 5 (’00-’02, ’09,’10)
• Points: 33,643 (fourth)
• Field goals made: 11,719 (sixth)
• Wins: 836
• Games: 1,346 (14th)
• Minutes: 48,637 (seventh)
