Kobe tried to stay cool. He wasn’t quite sure what the other student was trying to say. He just looked the boy in the eye and slowly nodded.
“Well, to be the man you have to beat the man,” said the student, gesturing to himself. Now Kobe noticed that several of the young man’s friends hovered nearby, awaiting his reaction.
Kobe realized that if he acted as if he was intimidated, they might give him a hard time. He knew he was being challenged, but he also knew that if there was one thing he could do, it was play basketball.
“Okay,” he said confidently, “let’s play.” Kobe and the other young man then made arrangements to play one-on-one after school.
Word quickly spread around the school that the new kid had accepted the challenge to play the best player in the school. When Kobe got to the court there were dozens of students ringing it to watch the matchup. His challenger was already warming up and bragging to his friends about how bad he was going to beat Kobe.
Kobe didn’t quite understand the attitude of his opponent, for as he later admitted, “I didn’t understand the school-yard rules, the trash-talking, the machismo.” But he did understand basketball. He tried to ignore his opponent’s boasting and called for the ball and started to play. The crowd buzzed with anticipation.
For the next twenty minutes or so Kobe and his challenger went at each other, but in a matter of only a few minutes the outcome was obvious. Every time his opponent got the ball, Kobe was all over him, blocking his drive, sticking a hand in his face, and swiping at the ball. The other player could hardly get a shot off. When he did, it either clanged off the rim or missed the rim entirely for an air ball.
When Kobe had the ball, it was another story. He discovered he was much quicker than his opponent was, had better footwork, could jump higher, and was far more skilled. For although his opponent was talented, he had learned to play on the playground and lacked the sound set of basketball fundamentals that Kobe had learned by playing on his club team in Italy, by himself, and with his father.
For example, when his opponent tried to guard him aggressively and bang him away from the basket, Kobe knew better than to try to force up a shot. Instead, he’d throw a fake, spin past him in a blur, and soar to the basket for an easy layup. When the player adjusted and backed off to prevent Kobe from driving past him, Kobe didn’t try to bull his way to the hoop. Instead, he calmly drilled one jump shot after another.
The crowd soon quieted, then started cheering for Kobe as he poured the ball into the hoop over and over again. Then Kobe did something remarkable.
As his frustrated opponent came out to challenge him for the ball, Kobe faked left then drove to his right, soared through the air, and slammed the ball home.
The shocked crowd turned silent for a moment, then erupted in cheers. Kobe Bryant, an eighth-grader, had dunked the ball! As one of his friends said later, “I never saw a player like that. You just don’t see guys in the eighth grade flying through the air and dunking the basketball.”
A few minutes later, exhausted his opponent gave up and the two young men shook hands. “I got my respect right there,” Kobe remembers.
Although Kobe would still experience some awkward moments adjusting to his new school, he had taken an important first step. In addition to his family, basketball was the only other aspect of his life in Italy that was familiar to him in America. Even though he would occasionally have to struggle to make himself understood, he learned that basketball was a language that everyone knew.
Kobe soon found that he was welcome to play on the local playground and began making friends. At first the other players occasionally tried to test him and disrupt his game with trash talk and rough play. But Kobe quickly adjusted, not by adopting the same tactics, but by using his skills to render them ineffective. Kobe responded to trash talk by making his next shot, and he reacted to overly aggressive play by turning his game up a notch.
He also joined the eighth-grade team and quickly became the star, scoring at will. He was already looking forward to playing basketball at his local high school, Lower Merion. Their basketball team, the Aces, was one of the best teams in suburban Philadelphia and would soon finish the season with a stellar record of 20-5.
Aces coach Gregg Downer soon heard rumors about the eighth-grader. Curious about him, he invited Kobe to participate in one of the Aces’ practices. He figured that watching Kobe scrimmage against better, more experienced players would give him an idea of just how good Kobe was and what work he would have to do to play varsity basketball someday.
He saw a youthful, quiet, very thin thirteen-year-old amble into the gym. Nothing about the way he carried himself screamed that he was a basketball player.
He inserted Kobe into a scrimmage and sat back to watch. Within moments, he was stunned.
Kobe didn’t just keep up with the varsity — he dominated them, getting off his shot with ease, stealing the ball, and rebounding. Downer’s team included several players who had already won college scholarships. Yet Kobe already appeared to be the best player on the floor.
Unable to believe his eyes, Downer then asked Kobe to play him one-on-one. Downer himself had played college basketball and still played in a competitive adult league. He had to see for himself if Kobe was really that good.
He was. The coach went down to a quick defeat at the hands of the student.
Downer began to look forward to having Bryant on his team. Four of the five starting players on the Aces were scheduled to graduate. Downer knew he would have to rebuild, and everyone was expecting Lower Merion to slip back in the pack. Despite their current record, the suburban school just didn’t have the reputation of a basketball powerhouse.
Kobe wanted to be part of the rebuilding plan. His goal was not just to make the team, but to become a member of the starting lineup.
Very few freshmen make the varsity team in any high school sport. Most underclassmen have to play a season or two of junior varsity basketball against players of similar skill levels and experience before they can play effectively on the varsity. Basketball great Michael Jordan, for instance, was cut from his team as a freshman and didn’t make the varsity until his junior year. Even fewer freshmen make the starting lineup.
But Kobe wasn’t like most freshmen. He was more mature, both physically and mentally. By playing club basketball in Italy, with its focus on fundamentals and team play, he already knew how to play the game in a system. Most freshmen, despite the skills developed on the playground, have very little concept of team basketball. They have to learn to play an entirely new way.
Kobe worked out long and hard during the offseason, adding weight training to his regimen to become stronger. As the beginning of the basketball season approached, expectations for Kobe Bryant and the Aces were high. As the son of a former NBA player who had been one of the best basketball players ever to come out of the Philadelphia area, everyone expected Kobe to be an immediate star.
In practice, Coach Downer continued to be impressed. “He’s a very talented player,” he told the press at the beginning of the season. “He has the ability to do everything well.”
But he was also cautious with his young star. “I’m not applying a lot of pressure on him,” he insisted. To help with Kobe’s transition, Downer even asked Joe Bryant to serve as an assistant coach.
Kobe, who sprouted to six-foot-four at age fourteen, easily earned a place in the starting lineup as a guard. Now all he had to do was play.
But by their opening game, it became clear that the 1992-93 season would be difficult for the Aces. Their two best returning players, center Matt Sniderland and guard Sultan Shabazz, were injured and wouldn’t be able to play for the first month.
A tough schedule in the Central League, one of the best high school leagues in the state, didn’t help. Time and time again the Aces stayed close only to lose in the final moments.
But Kobe was everything Downer had expected, and then some. He was often the best player on the floor, and
always the youngest. Although there were times he could score at will, Downer was even more impressed by his court savvy and willingness to play in a team concept. When the opposition began double-and triple-teaming him, Bryant didn’t force his shot. Instead, he looked to pass and involve his teammates in the game.
Although the Aces finished the season with a dismal 4-20 record, including 3-15 in league play, they played hard all season long and didn’t give up.Bryant led the team in scoring, averaging 18 points per game, despite breaking his kneecap and missing the final games of the season.
Kobe ended the season with a new goal. He told a friend that he wanted to play in the NBA.
That goal itself was no surprise, but when Kobe planned to enter the NBA was. He told his friend he didn’t want to go to college first. He wanted to go straight to the NBA from high school.
His friend just laughed. Only a handful of players had ever entered the NBA directly from high school. Even Michael Jordan hadn’t been good enough to do that.
But Kobe was serious. He and his buddy made a friendly wager over Kobe’s dream, which he kept a secret from his family.
But it wouldn’t remain a secret for very much longer.
CHAPTER FOUR
1993-1995
The Ace of the Aces
When his knee healed in the spring of 1993, Kobe immediately went back to work on his game. That meant playing against his father and his uncle, John “Chubby” Cox, who had briefly played in the NBA himself. The three spent hours on the driveway court at the Bryant home.
They worked on everything — free throw shooting, dribbling, driving to the basket, and shooting. When they played one-on-one, Kobe got a chance to try out his offensive skills on a player bigger and more experienced than he was. He also had to play tough defense in order to stop his father and uncle. The competition was much more intense than playing high school basketball.
As talented as Kobe was, Joe Bryant was six-foot-nine, experienced, still in shape, and still able to provide more than enough competition for his son. In their practice sessions, he played hard, knowing that Kobe wouldn’t improve if he took it easy on him. By the end of the summer Kobe was occasionally beating his father.
One time that summer Kobe blasted by his father, soared to the hoop, and laid the ball in the basket. As he turned the ball back over to his father, a wry smile formed on Kobe’s face. He knew he was improving and thought his father could no longer keep up with him.
Joe Bryant noted his son’s growing confidence and decided to teach him a lesson. He dribbled the ball slowly and moved in toward the basket as his son guarded him, waving his hands in the air. Then Joe Bryant saw his chance. Overconfident, Kobe had overplayed him and was just a little out of position, with his weight on his heels.
That was the only advantage a player as good as Joe Bryant needed. He swirled around his son, jumped to the hoop, and stuffed a thunderous jam through the basket. Kobe was left behind, his feet still stuck to the ground.
He realized he still had a lot to work on. “I didn’t think he was that quick,” Kobe said later.
When basketball season started that fall, Kobe was much improved. He’d grown another inch and was even stronger and faster than he had been the previous season. And, like his teammates, he had the added benefit of a year of experience playing basketball at the varsity level.
Downer was impressed with the improvements in Kobe’s game. “He does it all,” he said. “He’s a very complete ballplayer and at this time he’s got the total package. He doesn’t have a weakness.” The coach told the press he expected his team to finish the year with a record above .500, a significant turnaround.
Kobe knew that Downer would expect even more of him in his sophomore season, but he had confidence in his game. “I don’t think of it as pressure,” he said of the expectations that everyone had for him. “I’m young and for me it’s just fun and games. I think we’ll be a lot better than four and twenty.”
With Kobe leading the way, the Aces were much improved. They now won many of the close contests they had lost the previous season. Kobe upped his scoring average to 22 points and also averaged ten rebounds per game. The Aces went 16-6 and made it into the second round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s state basketball tournament.
After the season Kobe continued to work on his game. Basketball became a near full-time occupation, particularly in the summer. He played in no less than six different summer leagues, including the prestigious Sonny Hill League, whose alumni included many players, like Joe Bryant, who had become professionals. He also attended the LaSalle College basketball camp and the ABCD camp in New Jersey, which attracted some of the best high school basketball talent in the nation. Some days, he began playing at.9:00 A.M. and didn’t stop until 9:30 at night. Of his grueling schedule, Kobe said, “I just love the game. I want to play as much as I can while I can. As long as I’m happy playing, I’ll play all day and all night.”
Eddie Jones, a star at Temple University who later excelled in the NBA, spotted Kobe in the Hill League and befriended him. He became his unofficial escort, taking him to inner-city Philadelphia to play against the best collegiate talent in the area. Kobe fit right in, as he had learned to add schoolyard moves like the crossover dribble to his game. He was virtually unstoppable.
In his junior year at Lower Merion, everyone expected Kobe to lead the team to the league title and, possibly, the state championship. For although the Aces had lost three valuable seniors from the previous season, the remainder of the team now had the experience they had lacked in the past. As Downer said of his team, “We have plenty of talented kids besides [Bryant]. We’ll be more than a one-player team.”
The Aces got off to a fast start and at midseason were a stellar 11-1. Basketball fans throughout Philadelphia looked forward to their next game, which matched them with powerhouse Coatesville, one of the best teams in the state.
Coatesville had their own superstar in forward Richard Hamilton, a player many thought was even more talented than Kobe. He would later lead the University of Connecticut to an NCAA championship and play in the NBA.
The game was incredibly close. Kobe scored 16 points in the first half, but Coatesville still led at the half, 33-29. But entering the final quarter, Lower Merion nursed a one-point lead.
The teams traded the lead back and forth several times before Lower Merion pulled ahead by four points with less than a minute to play. But Coatesville didn’t give up.
Trailing by two with only seconds left, Hamilton got the ball on the right side of the basket. He drove toward the hoop, then spun into the lane.
Kobe came out to stop him, but the wiry Hamilton twisted and ducked beneath him, rolling in a lay-up to send the game into overtime.
Again the clubs ’traded the lead back and forth. Then, while trying to guard Kobe, Hamilton fouled out of the game.
But Coatesville responded to the loss of their star and led, 77-73, with less than a minute to play. It looked like the Aces were going to fall short.
Kobe patiently dribbled the ball upcourt as Coatesville scrambled to set their defense. When he was twenty-five feet from the hoop, they backed off, covering the passing lanes and blocking his way to the basket.
Kobe didn’t hesitate. He launched into the air and shot.
The ball soared in a high arc and then came down.
Swish! The ball hit nothing but net and the referee threw up both his hands, signaling a three-point basket. Now Coatesville led by only one point.
Lower Merion needed to get the ball back and quickly fouled. When Coatesville missed the foul shot, Kobe swooped in and grabbed the rebound.
The crowd was roaring as Kobe dribbled downcourt and the clock ticked down. Ten… nine… eight…
As Kobe crossed midcourt, he picked up his pace, cutting first to the right and then to the left, past a defender just above the free throw line as he looked for an opening.
Seven… six… five…
> He spotted an opening between defenders and slashed into the lane.
Four… three…
As several Coatesville defenders raised their arms and swarmed over him, Kobe pulled up, jumped, and shot a soft six-footer.
Two…
Swish! The ball found the bottom of the net! Kobe and the Aces won, 78-77!
The big win put the Aces in position to dethrone the defending Central League champions, Ridley High. In early February, the two teams met to decide the title.
The Aces trailed by five, 51-46, entering the fourth quarter. Then Kobe took over.
In the final period he poured in 13 points and setup forward Jermaine Griffin for several easy baskets for another 12. Lower Merion won going away, 76-70. Kobe described the game later. “It was like a heavyweight fight. We would not take no for an answer.” Kobe finished with a career-high 42 points.
The win clinched the league title for the Aces, and they began to look ahead to the state tournament. But in their district quarterfinal versus Norristown, Kobe played poorly at first, missing several easy shots.
The vocal Norristown crowd took notice and began to taunt Kobe, chanting, “O-ver-ra-ted.” It seemed to work at first, as Kobe couldn’t get his game going. At halftime, Kobe had only six points and the Aces trailed by eight, 35-27.
But in the second half he responded to the pressure like the professional he wanted to be. He scored an incredible 29 second-half points, including 18 in the fourth period. Lower Merion fought back to win, 75-70. By the end of the game the only noise from the crowd came from delirious Lower Merion fans. “It’s the best feeling in the world to silence an opposing crowd,” said Kobe after the game.
The Aces fought their way into the state tournament, then ran up against a tough Hazelton team. Despite Kobe’s 33 points and 15 rebounds, the Aces lost, 64-59, in overtime.
Kobe was crushed. After the game he broke down in tears and apologized to his teammates for not doing more in the loss.
On the Court With... Kobe Bryant Page 2
