Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
Beat the crowd
10 questions No timer
59 free Kobe Bryant trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
53 free Kobe Bryant trivia questions with answers. Kobe Bryant packed more into twenty seasons than most franchises manage in fifty, and this quiz walks through all of it. The questions cover his childhood in Italy and the Kobe-beef name, Lower Merion and the Brandy prom date, the 1996 draft-day trade for Vlade Divac, the three-peat with Shaq, the 81-point night against Toronto, the switch from 8 to 24, the 2008 MVP and the Redeem Team, back-to-back Finals MVPs, the Achilles, the 60-point farewell on 50 shots, the Oscar for Dear Basketball, and the legacy that followed January 2020. Easy questions ask which team drafted him and how many points he scored against the Raptors; the hard ones want the Sixth Man runner-up season, the coach of his 19th year and how he arrived at number 8. Written for Lakers fans, fantasy leaguers and anyone settling a Mamba-versus-Jordan debate. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's article on Kobe Bryant, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up.
30 of 59 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Kobe Bryant was named after what?
A style of Japanese beef
Kobe's parents chose the name after seeing Kobe beef, a style of Japanese beef from the city of Kobe, on a restaurant menu before he was born.
Q 02How many seasons did Kobe's father, Joe Bryant, play in the NBA?
Eight
Joe Bryant played eight NBA seasons, from 1975 to 1983, with the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets, before taking the family to Italy to continue his career.
Q 03When Kobe was six, his family moved to which Italian town so his father could keep playing?
Rieti
The family settled first in Rieti, in Lazio, in 1984, when Joe Bryant signed there; they later lived in Reggio Calabria, Pistoia and Reggio Emilia.
Q 04Which soccer club did Kobe, who played the game as a boy in Italy, call his favourite team?
A.C. Milan
Kobe grew up an A.C. Milan supporter while living in Italy and remained a fan for life, visiting the club at the San Siro in later years.
Q 05Kobe played high school basketball at Lower Merion, located just outside which city?
Philadelphia
The family had moved back to Philadelphia when he was 13, and he first enrolled at Bala Cynwyd Middle School.
Q 06As a senior, Kobe led Lower Merion to its first state championship in how many years?
53
Lower Merion's 1996 PIAA Class AAAA title was its first state championship in 53 years; that season Kobe was named Naismith High School Player of the Year and a McDonald's All-American.
Q 07Kobe finished high school as Southeastern Pennsylvania's all-time leading scorer, passing which NBA legend?
Wilt Chamberlain
Kobe's 2,883 career points passed Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons to make him Southeastern Pennsylvania's all-time high school scoring leader.
Q 08In May 1996, Kobe was the prom date of which R&B singer?
Brandy
Kobe took Brandy, then starring in the sitcom Moesha, to Lower Merion's senior prom in Philadelphia in May 1996; the two had met earlier that year and stayed friends.
Q 09Which team originally selected Kobe in the 1996 NBA draft before trading him to the Lakers?
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets took Kobe 13th overall in 1996 on the Lakers' behalf, having agreed before the draft to trade his rights to Los Angeles.
Q 10The Lakers acquired Kobe's draft rights in exchange for which center?
Vlade Divac
The Hornets sent Kobe's draft rights to the Lakers for Vlade Divac, the Serbian centre who had played for Los Angeles since 1989; moving his salary also helped clear room to sign Shaquille O'Neal.
Q 11Which Lakers general manager made the trade for Kobe after watching him work out?
Jerry West
Jerry West, the Lakers' general manager, was sold by a pre-draft workout in which the 17-year-old Kobe outplayed retired Lakers defender Michael Cooper; West then set up the Divac trade.
Q 12How did Kobe arrive at the number 8 he wore in his first Lakers decade?
He added the digits of 143, his Adidas camp jersey
Kobe said he added the digits of 143, his Adidas camp jersey, since 1 + 4 + 3 makes 8; he wore it from his 1996 rookie season until 2006.
Q 13At 18 years and 158 days, Kobe became the youngest what in NBA history?
Q 21The Lakers lost the 2004 Finals in five games to which team, after which Shaq was traded?
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons beat the Lakers 4-1 in the 2004 Finals; that summer Shaq was traded to Miami, Phil Jackson left, and Kobe re-signed as the franchise centrepiece.
Q 22Kobe took the nickname 'Black Mamba' from a codename in which films?
Kill Bill
Kobe borrowed 'Black Mamba' from the assassin codename in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films, saying he wanted to strike with the snake's 99% accuracy at maximum speed.
Q 23On December 20, 2005, Kobe scored 62 points in just three quarters against which team?
Dallas Mavericks
Starter
On January 28, 1997, at 18 years and 158 days, Kobe became the youngest starter in NBA history; at his debut that November he had also been, at the time, the youngest player ever to appear in a game.
Q 14Kobe won which All-Star weekend event in 1997, at 18 the youngest champion ever?
Slam Dunk Contest
Kobe won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest in Cleveland at 18, the youngest winner ever; he also played in the Rookie Game that weekend and made the All-Rookie Second Team.
Q 15In his second season, Kobe Bryant was runner-up for which NBA award?
Sixth Man of the Year
In 1997-98 Kobe, then a bench player, finished second to Danny Manning for Sixth Man of the Year; fans also voted the 19-year-old into the All-Star starting five.
Q 16Kobe's play took a leap in 1999 when which coach was hired by the Lakers?
Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson, hired in June 1999 after his six titles with the Bulls, installed the triangle offense; Kobe and Shaq then won three straight championships from 2000 to 2002.
Q 17In the 2000 Finals against Indiana, Kobe hurt his ankle in Game 2 after landing on whose foot?
Jalen Rose
Kobe sprained his ankle landing on Jalen Rose's foot in Game 2 and missed Game 3; he returned to hit the key overtime shots of Game 4 after Shaq fouled out, and the Lakers won in six.
Q 18The Lakers completed their three-peat in 2002 by sweeping which team in the Finals?
New Jersey Nets
The Lakers swept the New Jersey Nets 4-0 in the 2002 Finals, completing the three-peat; Shaquille O'Neal was Finals MVP for the third straight year.
Q 19At what age did Kobe become the youngest player ever to win three NBA championships?
23
Kobe was 23 when the Lakers completed the three-peat in June 2002, the youngest player to own three rings; Shaq took Finals MVP all three times, and Kobe's own came in 2009.
Q 20On January 7, 2003, Kobe set an NBA record by making how many three-pointers in one game?
12
Kobe hit 12 three-pointers against the Seattle SuperSonics on January 7, 2003, a record later tied by Donyell Marshall and passed by Stephen Curry (13) and Klay Thompson (14).
Against the Dallas Mavericks on December 20, 2005, Kobe had 62 points after three quarters, more than the whole Dallas team's 61, and sat out the fourth.
Q 24How many points did Kobe score against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006?
81
Kobe scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006, the highest single-game total in the NBA since Wilt Chamberlain's 100 in 1962.
Q 25Kobe's 81-point night broke a Lakers franchise record of 71 held by whom?
Elgin Baylor
Elgin Baylor's 71 points against the Knicks in November 1960 had stood as the Lakers' record for 45 years; Wilt Chamberlain later played for the Lakers but his 100-point game came as a Philadelphia Warrior.
Q 26Kobe won his first scoring title in 2005-06 by averaging how many points a game?
35.4
Kobe averaged 35.4 points in 2005-06, the highest since Michael Jordan's 37.1 in 1986-87; he became the fifth player to average 35 or more, after Chamberlain, Baylor, Barry and Jordan.
Q 27Why did Kobe switch from 8 to 24 in 2006?
It was his first high-school number
Kobe explained that it was his first high-school number, worn as a Lower Merion freshman before he took 33; in 2017 the Lakers retired both 8 and 24, a first for one player at one franchise.
Q 28Which mid-season trade in 2008 helped Kobe lead the Lakers to a 57-25 record and his only MVP award?
Pau Gasol
The February 2008 trade for Pau Gasol from Memphis transformed the Lakers; they went 57-25, Kobe won his only MVP, and they reached the Finals before losing to Boston in six.
Q 29Kobe played all 82 games of 2007-08 despite an injury to which body part, rather than opting for surgery?
His shooting-hand pinkie
Kobe tore a ligament in his shooting-hand pinkie in February 2008, with an avulsion fracture, but postponed surgery, played all 82 games and carried the injury through the Beijing Olympics.
Q 30In the 2008 Olympic final, Team USA beat which country 118-107 for its first gold since 2000?
Spain
Team USA beat Spain 118-107 in Beijing; Kobe scored 20 points with six assists, including the decisive fourth-quarter plays, and the USA won its first Olympic gold since Sydney 2000.