<P> Kobe Bryant is a retired shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for his entire 20 - year career . Selected 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA draft, Bryant was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac a month later . He and then - teammate Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002 . After O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat following the 2003--04 season, Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers franchise . He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005--06 and 2006--07 seasons . In 2006, Bryant scored a career - high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second - highest number of points scored in a game in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point performance . Bryant was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in the 2007--08 season and led his team to the 2008 NBA Finals as the first seed in the Western Conference . In the 2008 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. men's basketball team, occasionally referred to as "The Redeem Team". He led the Lakers to two more championships in 2009 and 2010, winning the Finals MVP award on both occasions . </P> <P> Bryant currently ranks third both on the league's all - time post-season scoring and all - time regular season scoring lists . He has been selected to 15 All - NBA Team (eleven times to the All - NBA First Team) and 12 All - Defensive Team (nine times to the All - Defensive First Team). He was selected to play in the NBA All - Star Game on 18 occasions, winning All - Star MVP Awards in 2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011 (he shared the 2009 award with Shaquille O'Neal). He also won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1997 . He has had 1 eighty - point game, 6 sixty - point games (including his final game), 26 fifty - point games, and 134 forty - point games in his career . Kobe had been also in a three way tie with Stephen Curry and Donyell Marshall for most three pointers with 12 in a game until November 8, 2016 when Curry set a new record with 13 . In his final game on April 13, 2016, at 37 years old, he became the oldest player to score 60 in a single game and set the highest point total in the 2015 - 16 regular season . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Denotes seasons in which the Lakers won an NBA Championship </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> * </Td> <Td> Denotes seasons in which the Lakers reached the NBA Finals </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Denotes seasons in which Bryant led the league </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Bold </Td> <Td> Denotes career - highs </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Where does kobe bryant rank in nba history