Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the youngest of three children and the only son of former Philadelphia 76ers player and former Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant.[2] He is also the maternal nephew of John "Chubby" Cox. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu.
During his rookie season, Bryant mostly came off the bench behind guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel.[28] At the time he became the youngest player ever to play in an NBA game (a record since broken by teammate Andrew Bynum), and also became the youngest NBA starter ever.[29] Initially, Bryant played limited minutes, but as the season continued, he began to see some more playing time. By the end of the season, he averaged 15.5 minutes a game.
