The bad news of the helicopter crash in which Kobe bryant was riding shocked the entire sports world.
After his glorious career, the word "love" runs through the whole process, especially his purity of basketball. Remember, in Kobe's "Dear Basketball" open letter, he told the story of the dream that began when he was 6 years old, and calmly said goodbye to the court.
Between the lines of that farewell letter, it is not difficult to see that for Kobe, whether it is a champion, criticism, or paranoia, it is written from the moment he fell in love with basketball when he was 6 years old.
In the pen of Mark Medina, a reporter who has covered Kobe Bryant's "la daily news" for many years, that period of less well-known years before entering the NBA may be the best basketball time in Kobe's memory.
Bryant watched his dad Joe Bryant warm up on the court as a child.
Videotape, Little Kobe Bryant's basketball classroom
When Bryant's father, Bryant Sr., was still on the 76ers, Bryant would accompany his father to the court, and he didn't seem to care what was going on the field.
At the age of 6, Bryant traveled to Italy with his family to accompany his father, who traveled to Europe to play. It was in that language-speaking environment that several videotapes became Kobe's key to opening the door to basketball.
Every video was sent from the United States by Kobe's family, and one of Kobe's favorite players at the time was the Lakers core that often appeared in the videotapes, "Magic" Johnson.
Before the new tape was sent, Bryant would keep replaying the old one until his family shouted at him, "If you play it like this again, the tape will break."
"When I became famous on the pitch, I found that it didn't seem like the same feeling I felt when I was a kid, but I knew in my heart that I never played for fame and fortune." In 2010, Bryant told the students this at his own summer training camp.
"The fondest memory of my childhood is the Christmas present when I was 6 years old, which was an NBA official ball. Since then, I have even slept with it in my arms. It is no exaggeration to say that this is love. ”
Kobe Bryant childhood photos.
As a child, Kobe Bryant liked to imitate, whether it was "Magic" Johnson or John Battle, as long as he saw the action that amazed him, he would stop the videotape and run to the yard to draw the scoop according to the gourd until he could complete the action smoothly.
The process could take 10 minutes, or it could be 10 hours, but Bryant didn't care.
"You can test the movements of any player in any game I played that year, and I wrote them all down." Bryant said in an interview, "It's not a sign of conceit. ”
Bryant (back row, third from right) as a child in Italian pictures.
In high school, he wasn't a "good teammate."
After seven years in Italy, Bryant returned to his hometown of Philadelphia, the year he was 13 years old.
Sony Hill, head of the Philadelphia Basketball Museum and adviser to the 76ers team, recalls that Kobe Bryant was 178cm tall at that time, spoke Anitaly English, and the children were reluctant to make friends with Kobe, and he was even surrounded by ridicule.
Although Bryant did not score a single point in the first summer of the game, as the founder of the Children's League, Hill deliberately called off the game in order to guide Kobe's footsteps and jump shots.
Kobe Bryant defended an opponent with a head taller than him.
Bryant improved so fast that when he was an eighth-grader at Bala Cynwd Middle School, he went to the varsity team audition at Lower Merion High School. Bryant's mentor Greg Downer picked Kobe in just 5 minutes and predicted that he would definitely become an NBA star in the future.
Donner is so sure because of Kobe Bryant's innate competitiveness and leadership.
Bryant was an absolute superstar in high school.
Kobe Bryant was already a sophomore in the 1994-1995 high school season, and before the game against Haverford High School, Bryant had the flu and diarrhea, just like Jordan did in game 5 of the 1997 Finals against the Utah Jazz.
"Bryant threw up before the game and couldn't warm up with us at all." Kobe Bryant's former teammate Guy Stewart recalled, "But in the game, as soon as he played, the opponent couldn't see that he was a patient at all, it wasn't the best Kobe, but he still got 45 points." ”
Kobe Bryant's teammate Donner also recalled one thing. In 1996, Bryant broke his nose during training and could only carry a protective gear during the game, but because it affected his vision, Kobe Bryant threw away the mask before the game began.
Bryant said to us, "'Let's go fight!' It was a symbol of his bravery and endurance of pain, and it was an inspiring moment. ”
A few years ago, Bryant admitted that he wasn't a good teammate because he had scolded a player from Europe during training. In fact, Bryant had a "previous conviction" in high school.
Kobe Bryant, a senior in high school, scolded his teammates harshly after a three-on-three training session because he did not pass the ball to Kobe Bryant on the last offense, resulting in the team losing.
"I felt like he was staring at me behind my back, and I tried not to look at him, but he kept talking about his anger in the back." Kobe Bryant's former teammate Robert Schwartz recalled, "In the end I had to run desperately out of the gym. ”
Bryant, wearing the number 33 jersey, covers his opponents.
Philadelphia 'nostalgia' with nowhere to go
Bryant changed his high school.
The lower merion aces basketball team went from 4 wins and 20 losses when Kobe Bryant first entered high school, to 26 wins and 5 points the following year to reach the quarterfinals, and finally in Kobe's junior year of high school, he won 31 wins and 3 losses to win the weekly championship.
It was also the summer of the weekly championship that Bryant announced in front of numerous cameras, "I decided to skip college and enter the NBA with my talent." ”
A photo of Bryant playing at his alma mater.
The story after that goes without saying. But for Kobe, there is always a hidden pain, that is, "nostalgia" that has nowhere to be placed.
In 1996, the Philadelphia 76ers, who had a winning slam, chose "The Answer" Iverson, and Bryant, the true "Son of Philadelphia," cut off the Philadelphiars' championship dream in 2001 and left the line : "I want to make them heartbroken."
In 2002, when Bryant played the All-Star Game in Philadelphia and held aloft the MVP trophy, the fans booed him throughout the arena.
But under booing, Bryant wouldn't forget Philadelphia.
'Before a lot of big games, I would call Kobe and ask him to encourage our players on the phone. Coach Donner recalled, "Bryant also invited players from Lower Merion High School to watch him train personally, and he donated a lot of money to renovate the stadium. ”
Today, in addition to Los Angeles, the place where fans can really find Kobe's basketball mark in the United States is Philadelphia.
When the car hits Remington Road, you'll see Winniewood Park, where Bryant Jr. used to play day and night at the old stadium;
Continue on past Havward Road and you'll see the Kessman Community Center, where Kobe Bryant often comes here to pick people up;
There's also Lower Merion High School, where Bryant's No. 33 jersey hangs from the gymnasium of his alma mater, which he donated $500,000 in 2010, and the varsity aces team that won the state high school championship in 1996.
Here, as long as you mention the word "Kobe", the locals will tell you a lot of stories about him, one of which is that " he will go to the stadium at 6 a.m. to practice, and then shoot at least 1,000 consecutive shots a day." ”