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The mention of Kobe Bryant could instantly start a fight, whether in a bar with friends or a in far-flung corner of the internet. In the 2000s, fans angrily discussed whether Bryant, the Lakers superstar guard, was as good as the man he had modeled his game after, Michael Jordan, or even Tim Duncan, the […] More
The N.B.A. on Thursday is scheduled to announce the players chosen by Eastern and Western Conference coaches as All-Star Game reserves. On the internal calendar I keep, this is traditionally the ideal time to unveil my unofficial All-Star selections. That won’t be happening this time. In the wake of the horrific helicopter crash on Sunday […] More
During his two-decade N.B.A. career, Kobe Bryant evolved into far more than an exceptional basketball player. Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday near Los Angeles, became a crucial conduit for the league as it moved swiftly to expand its empire into an international enterprise. Raised in Italy for seven years of his […] More
HARTFORD, Conn. — The length of the Connecticut women’s basketball dynasty occasionally comes as a shock even to those most responsible for it. “When I got to campus, it was 1998,” Sue Bird, a former Huskies star who is the starting point guard for U.S.A. Basketball, said during a practice on Sunday, reflecting on the […] More
Even as Kobe Bryant moved beyond his career in the N.B.A. and into his next chapter as a Hollywood and tech mogul, he could never fully leave the ugliest part of his past behind. Bryant — among nine people, including his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, who died on Sunday in a helicopter crash outside Los Angeles […] More
Kobe Bryant believed it on the day he was drafted into the N.B.A. as a 17-year-old in 1996. He made sure the scribes who watched him score 27 points in his first summer league game with the Los Angeles Lakers knew he believed it, too. Bryant was going to the Basketball Hall of Fame. He […] More
It was late at night in January 2015 and the Lakers had lost a game to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the media relations people in Los Angeles said in a whisper that their temperamental star would soon hold court. Twenty minutes later, as the clock neared midnight, Kobe Bryant strolled into the press room at […] More
Even before he wrote the poem on which the Oscar-winning short “Dear Basketball” was based, Kobe Bryant was interested in animation. He approached the former Disney animator Glen Keane after seeing his film “Duet.” Bryant explained in an interview in 2017, “Animation can capture the emotion in the story in a much more compelling, visual […] More
