Kobe Bryant Day

Named in honor of the 20 year basketball star, Kobe Bryant Day is celebrated each year in his memory.

History of Kobe Bryant Day

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1978, Kobe Bean Bryant would grow up to become a young star in the National Basketball League (NBA). Many people don’t realize that Kobe was actually named after the rather expensive Japanese steak after his father saw it on the menu.

Kobe’s early childhood was spent in Italy where his father was a basketball player with the European league. In fact, Kobe was fluent in Italian and he also loved soccer and other parts of Italian culture.

When he was 13 years old, Kobe’s family moved back to the United States where he attended Lower Merion High School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Until Kobe arrived, this high school basketball team had not been to the state championship in 53 years.

Following four amazing high school basketball years, Kobe Bryant decides not to go to college and, instead, goes directly into the NBA. He was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, but that only lasted for 16 days. It was then that he was picked up by the Los Angeles Lakers where he lived out his 20 year basketball career, where he earned five titles.

In the last couple of seasons of his career, Kobe struggled with a variety of injuries that kept him from playing. This included a fractured knee, torn Achilles’ tendon and Achilles’ surgery. After so many health difficulties, Bryant finally decided to make the 2016 season his last.

In addition to his stellar career as a player for the National Basketball League, Kobe Bryant also represented the United States on the Olympic basketball team. He won two gold medals, in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012.

Kobe’s personal life as a family man started just a couple of years after entering into the NBA. Kobe met his future wife, Vanessa, when he was 20 and she was only 17 and still in high school. They were married not long after. The couple went on to have four daughters: Natalia Diamante, Gianna Marie-Onore, Bianka Bella and Capri Kobe.

On January 26, he and his 13-year-old daughter were riding in a helicopter, as Bryant would regularly ride in helicopters in Los Angeles to avoid infamous traffic in the city. A group of nine was on its way to a girls basketball tournament and the crash caused five different families to lose loved ones when the helicopter went down on the side of a California hillside. Bryant was only 41 years old.

After his retirement in 2016, the city of Los Angeles had voted to make August 24 Kobe Bryant Day in honor of the philanthropy of the basketball star and his wife through the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation. This foundation was dedicated to bringing improvement to the lives of families and youths in need, particularly by encouraging youth to participate in sports and stay active.

August 24 was chosen as Kobe Bryant Day because of the two numbers of his jerseys for the LA Lakers: 8 and 24.

Kobe Bryant Day was also officially endorsed by the Orange County Board of Supervisors in California in August 2020, when the board voted unanimously to declare August 24 as Kobe Bryant day.

How to Celebrate Kobe Bryant Day

Go ahead and celebrate Kobe Bryant Day with some of these ideas:

Give a Donation to Charity

Kobe Bryant and his wife were known for their efforts and activity within the charity world, meaning that this would be a great time to make a donation.

The Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation (KVBFF) was started in 2007 to help youth by encouraging them to be involved with sports. Other charitable work that was supported by Bryant included the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the United Way of Los Angeles, Stand Up to Cancer, After School All-Stars and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

One charity that was founded in honor of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, also called “Gigi”, is the Mamba and Mambacita Foundation. As Kobe’s daughter, Gianna, was a promising girls’ basketball player, the mission of this non-profit organization is to support the young women and under-served athletes in sports.

Visit Los Angeles

Because his career was 20 years in the same city, Los Angeles, California has quite a bit of Kobe’s influence around it. For instance, around 300 different Kobe Bryant murals can be found around the city to honor the former basketball player and his daughter, Gianna. More seem to appear throughout the city (and the world) every year when Kobe Bryant Day comes around.

Some people consider Staples Center in Los Angeles to be “The House the Kobe Built”. This is because Bryant helped the LA Lakers to win 5 championship titles for the NBA in the 20 years of his career. The Staples center became the home of the LA Lakers and the LA Clippers in 1999.