Kobe Bryant was born and raised in Italy and entered the NBA right after graduating from high school. With the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant, a powerful scorer who earned the 2008 MVP Award, won five NBA titles. He retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final game, but not before passing Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring chart in December 2014. Later seasons were hampered by injury. For Dear Basketball, Bryant won an Academy Award in 2018 for Best Animated Short Film. He was
