Kobe attended Lower Merion Highschool, PA. Where he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4 steals, and 3.8 blocks per game. Kobe broke Wilt Chamberlain's highschool record of points scored (2359 points), with 2883 points. As a senoir in highschool, Kobe was selected by USA Today and Parade as National Highschool Player of the year. He was also Naismith Player of the year, Gatorade Circle of Champions High School Player of the Year, and played in the McDonald's All-American game.

Kobe was selected 13th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. Kobe was then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Vlade Divac (the guy who traded Kobe must be kicking himself now). In Kobe's rookie year he averaged 15.5 minutes, 7.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.

During the 1997 All-Star Weekend, Kobe won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest and scored a record 31 points in the Rookie-Game.Kobe recalls the dunk contest."Winning the dunk contest is something I dreamed about since I was a little kid... The crowd got me real pumped up after the dunk, and I just felt like flexing. I don't have much, but I flexed what I have. I don't do that kind of stuff in a game, only in a dunking competition. I just tried to be as competitve as possible and use my instincts on the way up to the rim. It felt great to win."

Kobe talks about the under the leg dunk."I just tried that in high school, fooling around with my teammates. You come into a competition, with great deal of people watching, when the energy starts flowing, you feel that you can do anything and I figured 'why not give it a try?! Hmmm. It worked."