कोबी ब्रायंट

"Kobe!" People began shouting it whenever they threw paper into a bin.

As a boy, Kobe Bryant played a whole summer without scoring a single point.

Then came five championships. And an Oscar.

Ashamed, he thought about quitting basketball for soccer.

Instead, he became obsessed and studied everything about the game. "I would channel my failure as fuel," he wrote.

At 17, America's top high-school player skipped college for the NBA.

In his first game for the Lakers, he scored zero. Again.

With the season on the line, he took the last shots and missed the rim entirely, four times.

He said he went straight to a gym and shot until sunrise.

Three years later, beside the giant Shaquille O'Neal, he won three championships in a row, though the two openly clashed.

Then he was charged with sexual assault. The case was dropped when the accuser declined to testify; he apologised publicly and settled a lawsuit.

One night, his team down by 18, he scored 81: the most in an NBA game since 1962.

After two more championships, at 34 he tore the tendon above his heel, and still made both free throws before walking off.

At 37, in his last game, he scored 60, outscoring the whole other team in the final quarter.

His goodbye poem became a short film, with music by the composer of Star Wars. It won an Oscar.

When fans said he needed a son to carry on his legacy, his daughter Gianna said: "I got this."

On the way to her game, their helicopter crashed in fog near Los Angeles.

All nine on board died. He was 41. She was 13.

"I'll always be that kid with the rolled-up socks, garbage can in the corner."