Kobe was very successful on and off the court. He very much left his mark on the world.

List of NBA Career Achievements 🏆:

• 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers.
• Lakers All Time Points Leader.
• 4th in NBA Scoring All time.
• 5 time NBA Champion (2000-2002, 2009, 2010).
• Two Time Finals MVP.
• 18 time NBA All Star.
• Number 8 and 24 Retired for the Lakers.

List of Personal Achievements🎗️:

• Best NBA Player ESPY Award 2008, 2010.
• BET Award for Sportsman of the Year 2002, 2003, 2008.
• Sports Emmy Award 2018.
• Oscar Academy Award in 2018.
• Basketball coach for Mamba Sports Academy youth girls.
• Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation.

“Dear Basketball” illustrated the poem Bryant wrote in 2015 as a farewell to the sport he loved; it served as his announcement that the 2015-16 season would be his last. It can be read below or watched by clicking on the title.

Dear Basketball,

From the moment
I started rolling my dad’s tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots
In the Great Western Forum
I knew one thing was real:

I fell in love with you.

A love so deep I gave you my all –
From my mind & body
To my spirit & soul.

As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel.
I only saw myself
Running out of one.

And so I ran. I ran up and down every court
After every loose ball for you.
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.

I played through the sweat and hurt
Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
Because that’s what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as you’ve made me feel.

You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.

And that’s OK.
I’m ready to let you go.
I want you to know now
So we both can savor every moment we have left together.
The good and the bad.
We have given each other
All that we have.

And we both know, no matter what I do next
I’ll always be that kid
With the rolled up socks
Garbage can in the corner
:05 seconds on the clock
Ball in my hands.
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1

Love you always,
Kobe