5 things you didn’t know about late NBA legend, Kobe Bryant

The death of NBA legend, Kobe Bryant left the sports world and the world at large in shock. The 41-year-old father of three is survived by his wife and three daughters.

He retired from professional basketball in 2016 after a beautiful career that spanned 20 years culminating in five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, 18 All-Star appearances representing them, 15 All-NBA honors, two jerseys hanging in the Staples Center rafters — No. 8 and No. 24.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 17: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant attend a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Atlanta Hawks at Staples Center

As TOPNAIJA mourns the loss of this legend, we choose to remember the good he left behind, the Mamba Mentality and his stellar basketball performance.

Here are 5 things we bet you didn’t know about Kobe Bryant and the 6th one everyone knows;

He was a rapper in his early years

Kobe Bryant had a brief stint with Rap in 1999/2000 when the then-Sony Records signee was following in the steps of esteemed basketball vet/occasional DJ and rhymer Shaquille O’Neal’s size 22 kicks.  Bryant released his debut (and only studio effort) K.O.B.E which he performed and debuted at the 2000 All-Star games with supermodel collaborator, Tyra Banks.

He spoke fluent Italian having spent eight childhood years in Italy

Kobe lived in Italy for eight years of his early childhood life, between the ages of 6 and 13, while his father, Joe Bryant, played for several teams in the country. He returned to Pennsylvania for high school. Kobe spoke fluent Italian and often said it would be a “dream” to play in the country.

His father, Joe Bryant was also a basketball player

Joe Bryant played in the Italian league. He played with the Italian clubs AMG Sebastiani Rieti (1984–86), Viola Reggio Calabria (1986–87), Pistoia (1987–89) and Reggio Emilia (1989–91).

Kobe was named after a high-quality beef steak from Japan

Kobe was named after Kobe beef after his father had a taste of it and loved it. Kobe beef has long been a famous delicacy in Japan, but one man did more than most to put it on the global map.

Kobe Bryant’s middle name is Bean

This name was gotten from his father’s nickname ‘Jellybean’

Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in one game

On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, an accomplishment even he wasn’t sure he was capable of reaching: “Not even in my dreams. That was something that just happened. It’s still the second-highest-scoring game in NBA history