During his time in Italy, he became a very fluent Italian speaker, and was a huge soccer fan. His favorite team was FC Barcelona, and enjoyed their manager Frank Riikaard and their star Ronaldinho. After six years in Italy, Kobe moved back with his parents to the United States. Kobe attended Lower Merion High School, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he received numerous scholarships, not only for his basketball ability but also for his academics, including a SAT score of 1080. Kobe elected to go straight to the National Basketball Association following high school. Many speculate Kobe would have attended Duke University, had he went to college.
Kobe, who will turn 30 in August 2008, has worn the (Lakers Jerseys) for his entire 12-year career in the NBA. In 11 of those 12 years, he has led the Lakers to the postseason. The only year he has not played playoff basketball was the 2004-2005 season. Bryant has averaged double digits in scoring every year since his second year in the league. During the 2005-2006, Bryant topped out at scoring 35.4 points a game. He has not averaged less than 20 points per game since the 1998-1999 season, where he scored 19.9 points per game. Kobe has won three NBA Championships with the Lakers, spanning from the 2000-2002 seasons.
His first Most Valuable Player award came in 2008, while he has led the league in scoring two seasons (2006 and 2007). Bryant has made 10 all-star game appearances, with the only two years he did not being 1997 and 1999. There was no all-star game in 1999, so Kobe has a streak of ten straight years of making an All Star Game appearance. Kobe has been named the MVP of the All Star game twice in his career, first coming in 2002, secondly in 2007. Kobe has been selected to the All NBA team 10 times in his career as well; six of them as a first team selection, twice as second team, and twice as third team. 8 years, Bryant has been selected to the All Defensive Team, with six of them being first team, the other two being second team. In 1997, Kobe was named to the All Rookie team, second team- that same year he was the NBA Slam Dunk Champion. Bryant holds or shares 9 NBA records, and 30 Lakers franchise records.