The Late Great Kobe Bryant Trivia Quiz

Answer: Los Angeles Lakers

Kobe was drafted straight out of high school by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA draft and immediately traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he would play his entire career He quickly became one of the sport's most revered superstars and arguably the most beloved Laker of all time well after his 2016 retirement.

Answer: 5

Kobe was part of the Lakers' first "three-repeat", where the team won back-to-back-to-back championships 2000-2001-2002 with Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal, who was the NBA's dominant big man. Kobe would go on to win two more championships and two NBA Finals MVPs with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010.

Answer: 8 and 24

Kobe started off with #8 during his rookie year and later switched to #24. Both jersey numbers were retired by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017, the year after he retired and there years before his death. After his death, most NBA games being played that day would intentionally take 8-second and 24-second violations in his honor.

Answer: 81

Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game in March 1962 is likely to never be repeated, but no one came as close as Kobe did on January 22, 2006 against the Toronto Raptors when he scored 81 out of his team's 122 points en route to a well-deserved victory. Kobe made 28 field goals, including 7 threes, the score the most points in a single game in over 40 years.

Answer: Black Mamba

The Black Mamba is a particularly dangerous and venomous snake, the second most venomous snake after the king cobra. Death after a snake bite usually occurs within minutes. Kobe felt that his playing style was assassin-like and overwhelming, seeing himself as a dangerous, fast-striking basketball entity.

He would go on to back his words up on the court with multiple fantastic performances under the most pressure and at the highest levels of the game.

Answer: All-Star Game MVP

At the time of his retirement, Kobe was tied with Bob Pettit for most All-Star Game MVP awards, with four, the most in NBA history. He was also present at 18 All-Star games, the third most all time, when he retired in 2020. Shortly after his death in January of 2020, NBA commissioner Adam Silver renamed the All-Star MVP award in his honor.

Answer: 2

Kobe was part of the "Redeem team", a team of NBA superstars that travelled to Beijing during the 2008 Summer Olympics to re-establish American dominance in the sport at the Olympic level, after some disinterest in previous Olympic participation. The team would win the gold medal easily, and Kobe would return for another go in 2012, where the team won the gold medal as well.

The next iteration of the Olympics was in 2016, after Kobe's retirement from the sport, so he did not participate.

Answer: Italian

Kobe's father moved the family to Italy following his retirement from the NBA in order to play professional European basketball. Kobe would learn to speak Italian fluently as well as discover his passion for soccer, a sport he thoroughly enjoyed throughout his life, as a fan of AC Milan.

He and his family moved back to the United States when he was 13, where he would eventually get noticed playing high school basketball and drafted straight into the NBA after his senior year.

Answer: Dear Basketball

Kobe's retirement essay was made into a 5 minute film that he narrated himself. In the movie, Kobe thanks basketball for everything that it gave him and everything that it made out of him. His journey as a child who was "in love with the game" to an NBA superstar and eventual champion and icon of the game until his body "knew it was time to say goodbye".

Answer: His wife

Michael Jordan was always Kobe's idol as a kid, and he did his absolute best to emulate Jordan's playing style, even calling Michael and asking him for specific tips late at night, greatly annoying the superstar Jordan. Michael would learn to love Kobe as a brother, and he was visibly shaken after Kobe's death.

He would introduce Kobe's name into the Hall of Fame in May of 2021 as Vanessa Bryant, who lost her husband and daughter during the helicopter crash, gave a speech accepting the award on his behalf.