Basketball Legend: Kobe Bryant at the 2012 Olympic Games

Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, sound familiar? Of course they do. They are a few of the players who were part of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. Since the retirement of these players, not many basketball players have come who can be considered their equal. However, Kobe Bryant is one of the players whom Charles Barkley considers to be as great as the rest of Dream Team members.

Kobe Bryant was born on August 23rd, 1978 in Philadelphia. His father, Joe Bryant, is a former basketball player and head coach. His maternal uncle, John Cox, was also affiliated with the same sport.  Brant started playing basketball when he was three years old. By the age of six, his family had moved to Italy. Since he had the love for the sport, his grand father used to send him video recordings of NBA games during the time he was in Italy.

Every summer Bryant would return to the United States and play basketball in the summer league. By the age of 13, his father had retired as a basketball player and the family moved back to the U.S. On his return, Bryant became part of his high school basketball team. It was here during his junior year that he was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year. The fame had just start. Recruiters from colleges all around the country wanted Bryant.

However, seeing a fellow basketball player, Kevin Garnett, go in the first round of NBA Draft in 1995, Bryant started to consider going pro directly. He was rewarded the 1995 MVP award while at the Adidas ABCD camp. Before finishing high school, Bryant led his high school basketball team (Aces) to their first state championship in 53 years. The Aces also won the championship that year.

This was not the only accomplishment of his high school senior year. He was named All-USA First Team Player by USA today, Naismith High School Player of the Year, McDonald's All-American and Gatorade's Men's National Basketball Player of the Year. Even though he could choose from the number of colleges that were ready to offer him a sports scholarship, Bryant decided to go pro directly i.e. become part of the NBA. At the time, it was not common for players to go directly to NBA therefore his decision received a lot of media attention.

Even though he was selected by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA Draft, the Hornets exchanged his draft with the Lakers in favor of Vlade Divac. Since 1996, Bryant has been a part of Los Angeles Lakers. During his first season, Bryant played a limited number of minutes and would come off the bench only behind guards Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones. At the age of 18 he was the named the youngest slam dunk champion. He also became the youngest player to play in an NBA game during his first season.

The minutes continued to grow till his third season marking the beginning of a full game play as a guard in the league. Till 2003-04 his fame kept on growing and basketball gurus likened him Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. An unfortunate sexual assault case saw Bryant's downfall. It took him four years to gain his reputation back. By 2008, he was back on the top of his game. He became part of the 2008 Olympics team and won the gold medal in the basketball tournament.

Kobe Bryant will take part in the 2012 summer Olympics. He has also compared this year's team with the 1992 Dream Team. Basketball is one sport that sports fan around the world love. What better than to see the best players of the United States come together in one team.