How Many Rings Does Kobe Have? Championships And Achievements

Kobe Bryant is one of the most popular basketball players in the world, with a reputation built on his skills and competitiveness. Although he didn’t manage to win all games, he managed to get an amazing rate. This article will be sort of an homage to his career and will answer the question How many rings does Kobe have?

So How Many Rings Does Kobe Have Exactly?

Kobe Bryant was able to win 5 rings, which means that throughout his career he managed to win five championships. These wins came between the years 1999 and 2002 in three consecutive seasons, and between 2008 and 2010 in two consecutive seasons. All of the championships were won alongside the Los Angeles Lakers team.

The start of Kobe Bryant’s Career

You can’t argue the fact that Kobe Bryant is one of the most popular basketball players in all of the NBA history.

Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, on August 23, 1978. He had two more siblings with him being the smallest of the three. His father was also a basketball player but took a break from the NBA when Bryant was around the age of 6 years. It was then that his family decided to move to Italy, which was also a great opportunity for Kobe to learn Italian.

You might also like my article on how many rings LeBron James has.

He learned to play basketball when was about 3 years old. He spent summers in the United States, playing basketball.

He started playing more seriously in high school, where he joined the Lower Merion Varsity team. While on this team, he managed to earn the title of “Pennsylvania player of the year.” This got him a lot of attention from different college recruiters, that started to get in touch with him with very attractive offers.

Kobe Bryant received the Senior MVP award while participating in the Adidas ABCD Camp, in 1995. Bryant was still in his senior year of college when he managed to win his first state championship with the LA Lakers team.

Kobe managed to make a strong impression and ended his high school career with some amazing results.

After that, Kobe signed a three-hash contract with the LA Lakers that was worth at the time $3.5 million. His official debut as part of the Los Angeles Lakers team was in the Summer Pro League and it came with great success. He is still considered the most successful starting player to ever play in the NBA.

Personal Life and Marriage

Bryant and his future wife Vanessa Lainein met for the first time in November 1999. A year and a half later, in April 2001, they got married, even though his parents were against the marriage. They didn’t even attend the event.

In 2016, the couple was already expecting their third child, and soon after that, in 2019, Kobe announced that his wife was pregnant with their fourth.

There was even some drama around Bryant that took a toll on his reputation when someone accused him of sexual assault. This happened in 2003, but by September 2004 the court had to drop the charges because the accuser refused to testify.

On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and seven other people died abruptly when their helicopter crashed. This took place in Calabasas, California.

The Career of Kobe Bryant (1996-2016)

Here’s a great video showing off a tiny part of the skill of Kobe Bryant

VIDEO

Highlights:

2008 NBA MVP,
2x NBA Finals MVP,
15x All-NBA,
18x All-Star,
12x All-Defense.

Kobe still manages to stay at the top of the most successful players even years after he stopped playing, with achievements like:

16th in career steals (1,944).
8th in minutes played (48,643).
4th all-time for career points (33,643).

Kobe Bryant managed to snatch just one MVP award, but this isn’t all that bad. He was still in the top 3 for the MVP award in the years 2003, 2007, and 2010.

His rivalry with Shaquille O’Neal who was his teammate was known by all basketball fans and is said to be one of the things that got in the way of his success.

When talking about his hindered success, we should remember that Kobe managed to snatch 5 NBA Championships. This is an amazing number that got him on the fourteenth place on the all-time list, next to Magic Johnson, Dennis Rodman, Tim Duncan, and other legends.

Let’s also go over some of the key points of his career.

Kobe Bean Bryant – NBA titles

The First Ring – In the 1999 – 2000 season Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers by 4-2

The year 2000 was when the Lakers Kobe and Shaq O’Neal got into their fourth year of experiment.

The Los Angeles Lakers were enjoying huge success in the regular season and O’Neal in particular, who was awarded the MVP award for the season. It was still a season of rising as s superstar for Kobe Bryant, who was at the age of 21. This is still considered a young age for a professional basketball player. Even so, Kobe Bryant still managed to get an average of 22.5 PPG.

The playoffs in the year 2000 were actually pretty complicated for the Los Angeles Lakers. They got pushed to two elimination rounds by Trailblazers and the Kings. One of the most memorable instances of the careers of both Shaq and Kobe was when Kobe managed an alley-oop to Shaq, in the Blazers series.

In the Finals, Kobe Bryant was only able to participate partly, while Shaq was a centerpiece of those games.

This is because Kobe actually suffered an ankle injury, that caused him to miss part of Game 2 and the whole Game 3. Although he only managed to get back by the 4th round, he still managed to score 22 points in the second half.

This was part of the reason the Los Angeles Lakers managed to get an amazing victory. In-Game 6 Kobe Bryant was able to get 26 points. The end of the Finals meant a first-ever NBA title for the player at the young age of just 21.

Ring number two – In the 2000-2001 season Los Angeles Lakers got a ring against the Philadelphia 76ers by 4-1

The 2001 playoffs of the regular season were for The Lakers pretty awesome. They were actually able to win all but one playoff game. It was at this time that Kobe Bryant was able to get his hands on the second straight second-team All-NBA award, which propelled him globally as a young star. Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal managed to average 28 points each per game for the Lakers.

It was pretty clear that that season would be another possible ring for the Lakers as a team. Especially considering that they managed to win all but Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

It was a pretty easy title win for the Lakers. Even though things were going great for the team, the Lakers Kobe and Shaq O’Neal had some issues with one another all throughout the season. This had a negative impact on their careers and followed them for a long time.

Ring number three – In the 2001-2002 season Los Angeles Lakers won against the New Jersey Nets by 4-0

The 2002 playoffs were once again very easy for the LA Lakers. There was not one team that could stop their winning streak and LA Lakers swept the championship. The finals of the playoffs found them playing against the New Jersey Nets and this game was again an easy win.

Shaq had amazing games and was able to get the MVP after scoring 36 points and 12 rebounds. Bryant also left a big impression with 26 points and 5 rebounds. He was also able to get 5 assists.

This was the only NBA Finals sweep that Bryant managed to get throughout his career. Getting three wins in a row was very impressive for the team. It was something that only a few teams managed to pull and it got the name three-peat.

The ring had to be special considering the accomplishment of the team, so Masters of Design really did their best and put everything they got into its production and design. This ring was made to weigh 50 pennyweights of solid yellow gold. It was actually the heaviest ring ever made for the Lakers.

The Lakers inscription was added on the ring in the sale font as their logo, together with the words “World Champions”.

Ring number four – In the season 2008–2009 LA Lakers got a ring against the Orlando Magic by 4-1

After a close one in 2008, the Lakers were able to get back in the Finals and played against the Orlando Magic. The LA Lakers had to go through a drastic change of look after Shaq transferred to Miami in 2004. It was actually the first championship that Kobe Bryant managed to win without Shaq’s help in the team.

Although the Finals were nothing special, the Lakers still managed to win a ring against the Orlando Magic pretty easily, after playing five games. Kobe Bryant let his team to victory and managed to get a great track record again. He averaged 32 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds, which helped him win an MVP for the Finals.

Ring number five – In the season 2009-2010 Los Angeles Lakers won the championship against the Boston Celtics by 4-3

Reaching the 2009-2010 season, Kobe Bryant entered his 14th season for the NBA, which made a lot of people consider him past his good, young days.

They went through a rematch with the Boston Celtics. Although the Los Angeles Lakers went down 3 to 2, LA still managed to snatch the win. In Game 6, Kobe made quite the impression, scoring 26 points and 11 rebounds. this forced a Game 7 that was also amazing for Bryant. He scored 23 points and 15 rebounds, along with the assist to Ron Artest, that would decide the match.

Final Thoughts

A simple look at Kobe Bryant’s career will show you that it would have been almost the same even without Shaq on his side. So how many rings did Kobe manage to win? He managed to snatch 5 NBA championship rings in different phases of his career and got his name in the NBA history.

Frequently Asked Questions

Kobe vs Lebron James and Michael Jordan – Who Has More Rings?

While Michael Jackson managed to get 6 rings in his career, Kobe only got 5 total championships. As for LeBron James, he won the least rings, having a number of 4 championships under his belt.

How Many NBA Rings Does Kobe Have with Shaq in team?

While in the same team with Shaq, Kobe was able to get the popular 3-peat in the seasons between 2000-2002. These three rings were all that he got while Shaq was in his team.

How Many Rings did Kobe Bryant get Without Shaq?

After Shaq left the LA Lakers, Kobe led the team to two consecutive championship wins, with Pau Gasol as the second star. These two wins came in the seasons between 2009 and 2010.