Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the youngest of three children and the only son of Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant.[1] He is also the maternal nephew of basketball player John "Chubby" Cox. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu.[1] His middle name, Bean, is derived from his father's nickname "Jellybean." Bryant was raised Roman Catholic.[2] When Bryant was six, his father left the NBA and moved his family to Rieti in Italy to continue playing professional basketball.[3][4] Bryant became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to speak fluent Italian.[4][5] During summers, he would come back to the United States to play in a basketball summer league.[6]
Bryant started playing basketball when he was 3 years old,[7] and his favorite team growing up was the Lakers.[8] Bryant's grandfather would mail him videos of NBA games, which Bryant would study.[8] At an early age he also learned to play soccer and his favorite team was AC Milan.[9] Upon Joe Bryant's retirement from playing basketball in 1991, the Bryant family moved back to the United States.
