Bryant averaged 15.3 points, 2.9 assists, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game in the tournament. “He was emotional when he heard about cancer,” Young said, “but I think even it hurt him, even more, when the doctor told him, ʼBecause of the radiation, the muscles in your neck will atrophy, and we highly recommend that you donʼt play football anymore.ʼ That crushed him.". [471], On August 22, 2016, Bryant and his business partner Jeff Stibel launched Bryant-Stibel, a venture capital firm focused on different businesses including media, data, gaming, and technology, with $100 million in funding. "Not bad for the seventh-best player in the league", said Bryant, referring to a preseason ESPN ranking of the NBA's top players. I told him how much I was proud of him, for the young man to go through something like that.”. "He felt pretty confident that with what he had seen before and had removed that it was going to be OK because it wasn't growing out and was contained," Young said. The experienced funeral directors at W.H. In 2006, he scored a career-high 81 points; the second most points scored in a single game in league history, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. Quinn remembers when a 2- or 3-year-old Colby would walk around with a No. [314] The Lakers finished the season with a 17–65 record, their worst record in franchise history. Associated Press Writers Christopher Weber in Thousand Oaks and Marcela Isaza in Los Angeles, and AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report. "It was therapy for us, too, as a family, to be able to tell our story. Then the surgeon emerged bearing news. The song was also used by Sprite in its 2011 marketing campaign in China. In Game 2 win against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals, Anthony Davis made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer and yelled Bryant’s name, while wearing the team was wearing the 'Black Mamba' jerseys. [406][407], Bryant was a practicing Catholic. Copyright © 2020 Bryant wore 143 at the Adidas ABCD camp and chose 8 by adding those numbers. 2 and appeared in commercials for the video games Guitar Hero World Tour (with Tony Hawk, Michael Phelps, and Alex Rodriguez) in 2008 and Call of Duty: Black Ops (alongside Jimmy Kimmel) in 2010. [300] Prior to announcing his retirement, he had been steadfast about not wanting the fuss of a staged farewell tour, preferring to hear boos instead of cheers. “We insure homes, autos, boats, and vacation homes. The two began dating and became engaged six months later in May 2000,[391] while Laine was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. [418] He sold the house in May 2015. Colby's health then became the top priority. [310][311], In the season finale on April 13, Bryant scored an NBA season-high 60 points against Utah in his last NBA game, outscoring the entire Jazz team 23–21 in the fourth quarter, in the Lakers' 101–96 victory.