He was one of the greatest of all time in the basketball world. Books were written about him. After his career, Kobe Bryant enjoyed collecting luxury homes and fast sports cars. And fly private helicopter - which became his death.

Bryant was one of the biggest names in the sports world, for a long time until his retirement in 2016. He was for many years in the extreme top of the salary league among athletes, with annual incomes of around SEK 400 million.

He wrote his own chapters in the basketball world's history books and the award collection was unique, including five NBA titles and two Olympic golds.

For 20 years, he saved Los Angeles Lakers supporters with the best basketball since Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan's days.

The comparison was inevitable.

Bryant ended his career in 2016, after 20 years in the Los Angeles Lakers.

He played 1346 games and scored a total of 33,643 points (something only three players in history can match, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and most recently LeBron James).

Bryant finished in style.

In his last game, against the Utah Jazz, he scored an incredible 60 points.

For the sixth time in his career.

- You have been an inspiration to us all.

Los Angeles loves you, said actor Jack Nicholson, who has been in the best audience for many years.

"Training morale became well-known and mythical"

The love for basketball was there early on and when Kobe Bryant was seen as the country's greatest talent in high school, stories were told that he jokingly, before or after training, challenged his teammates in man-to-man matches.

But not first to ten points - it was important to be first to a hundred.

And he often won 100-10 or better.

Kobe Bryant trained often and hard.

The training morale became well-known and mythical.

He even trained on his own without a ball, as if he was dribbling against an invisible opponent.

Something that has been confirmed by teammates in the NBA.

As a professional, there were training sessions where Bryant did not give up until he fired 400 shots.

It was hard training that refined the talent, which made Kobe Bryant one of the greatest in the history of the sport.

- It is important to squeeze out the very last drop from the orange, he used to say.

He went straight from high school games to a life that hailed NBA pros, with the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Not without scandals

Kobe Bryant touched many.

He was loved - but also hated.

Like Tiger Woods, infidelity was exposed that tarnished his reputation.

In 2003, he was arrested by police after being accused of rape.

He admitted having sex with a 19-year-old woman, but the woman dropped the charges following a financial agreement.

In the wake of the scandal, allegations of infidelity followed with over a hundred women.

But after the scandal, Nike is said to have sold more Bryant shirts than ever, worldwide.

Disgusted by many for his alleged infidelity, he managed to come back and be loved by his fans.

Over time, many of the private wounds healed, and in recent years the Bryant family has shown a happy side, with daughters learning to live with their father's publicity.

There was also a side of Kobe Bryant that was rarely talked about.

How he, like many of the world's very best in his sports, was so emotional in his pursuit of success that his teammates ended up in the shadows.

Kobe Bryant was not always loved as a good teammate, many claimed at the end of his career that he even bullied individual players.

The price collection was legendary.

But all the trophies and titles as basketball professionals were not enough.

Kobe Bryant also won an Oscar in Hollywood.

In 2018, he received a statuette together with the animator Glen Keane, in the category of best animated short film for the self-produced "Dear Basketball" that Bryant wrote the script for himself.

"Known as a lone wolf"

2016.

Last away tour.

Kobe Bryant was 37 years old and on his way out of another press conference in New Orleans, one of the last.

He was asked what advice he would give to himself as a 17-year-old, a boy with a rare talent who only two years later would be called "the new Michael Jordan".

Bryant thought for a moment and replied:

- It had not worked.

That guy had probably already moved and this old man is all that is left.

I have to live with it.

By the way, I do not think the younger version of myself would have listened anyway.

Bryant was known as a lone wolf, who went his own way.

Flying a helicopter was one of Bryant's everyday lives

After retiring, Kobe Bryant devoted himself to, among other things, charity.

The houses and the fast cars were everyday luxury.

He already owned a helicopter during his playing career.

- To avoid traffic, he explained.

He took the helicopter to his daughter's football games, among other things.

At one point in 2017, the helicopter was used to joke with Lakers former manager Rob Pelinka, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Bryant had asked the pilot to turn off the engine during the trip and make some quick military maneuvers.

Pelinka was terrified but Bryant who was sitting next to him was unmoved.

Flying a helicopter was part of Kobe Bryant's everyday life.

The last trip ended in a tragic fatal accident outside Los Angeles.

ARCHIVE: See when Sportspegeln met Bryant in 2005

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