The date was November 3 , 1996 , when Kobe Bryant made his official NBA debut in the Los Angeles Lakers ’ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and sophomore pro Kevin Garnett .

Few in the crowd would have guessed they were looking at history when the 17-yearold fresh from high school Kobe played six minutes , finishing with 0 points , 1 rebound , 0 assists , 1 block , 0 steals , 1 turnover , 1 foul and just 1 attempt from the floor . Two days later against the New York Knicks , Kobe finished with just one point in three minutes of action . Still two days later , he would make five points against the Charlotte Hornets on twoout-of-three field goal attempts . He had 10 points though against the Toronto Raptors the next time around and two points against the Atlanta Hawks .

You could say Kobe , the son of a former NBA campaigner Joe Byant , had a slow , unimpressive start in first five games as a pro , a far cry from his credential as a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania .

Kobe Bean Bryant , born August 23 , 1978 , played his entire 20-year career with the Lakers entering the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships with Los Angeles . Bryant is an 18-time All-Star , 15-time member of the All-NBA Team , and 12-time member of the All- Defensive team .

He led the NBA in scoring

during two seasons , and ranks third on the league ’ s all-time regular season scoring and fourth on the all-time post-season scoring list . He holds the NBA record for the most seasons playing with one franchise for an entire career , and is widely regarded as one of the best basketball players of all time . Bryant was the first guard in NBA history to play for at least 20 seasons .

As a rookie , Bryant earned for himself a reputation as a highflyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest , and he was named an All-Star by his second season . Despite a feud between them , Bryant and Shaquille O ’ Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002 .

At 34 years and 104 days of age , Bryant became the youngest player in league history to reach 30,000 career points and 6,000 assists . He became the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history on February 1 , 2010 , when he surpassed Jerry West . Following his second year in the league , Bryant was chosen to start every All-Star Game until his retirement for record 18 consecutive appearances .

His four All-Star MVP Awards are tied for the most in NBA history . At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics , he won gold medals as a member of the U . S . national team . Sporting News and TNT named Bryant the top NBA player of the 2000s .

NBA Commissioner Adam

Silver considers him as “ one of the greatest players in the history of our game .” The New York Times wrote that he had “ one of the most decorated careers in the history of the sport .” Reuters considers him “ the best player of his generation ” while both Sporting News and TNT named him their NBA player of the decade for the 2000s .

In 2008 and again in 2016 , ESPN ranked him the second greatest shooting guard of all-time after Michel Jordan . With career averages of 25.0 points , 5.2 rebounds , 4.7 assists , and 1.4 steals per game , he is acknowledged as one of the most complete players in NBA history . He is one of only four players with 25,000 points , 6,000 rebounds and 6,000 assists .

Bryant led the NBA in scoring during the 2005 – 06 and 2006 – 07 seasons . His 81-point performance against Toronto in 2006 was the second-highest in NBA history , behind only to Wilt Chamberlain ’ s 100 . He had scored at least 50 points 24 times in his career , which is third in league history behind Jordan ( 31 ) and Chamberlain ( 118 ); six times Bryant scored at least 60 . His 18-time All-Star appearances , ranks second behind only Kareem

Abdul-Jabbar ’ s 19 . He has been chosen a record 18 straight times , each time as a starter . On four occasions ( 2003 , 2011 , 2013 , 2016 ) he was the leading vote-getter . Four times Bryant was named the All-Star MVP , a record he shares with Bob Pettit .

He has been selected to the All-NBA Team on 15 occasions , tied for the most with Abdul-Jabbar and Tim Duncan , and his 11 first-team honors are tied for the most ever with Karl Malone . Bryant was also chosen 12 times in All-Defensive Team , trailing only Duncan ’ s 15 , and nine times he was named to the All-Defensive First Team , tied with Jordan , Garnett , and Gary Payton for the most all-time high . ●