Images In professional sports, there are players and stars -- and then there are icons, including Kobe Bryant of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. Since entering the league directly from high school, Bryant has become one of the best players not only in the sport's modern era, but one of the best of all-time. A five-time NBA champion, Bryant is one of the most recognizable athletes in all of professional sports. Background A native of Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, Bryant passed on college basketball after averaging more than 30 points per game as a high school senior in the 1995-1996 season, when he was the national high school player of the year. As a high school senior, the high-flying 6-foot-6 small forward also made waves when he took pop star Brandy Norwood to the Lower Merion High School prom. The Charlotte Hornets picked him 13th in the 1996 NBA Draft before trading him to the Lakers for center Vlade Divac.