On the Court With... Kobe Bryant (2 page)

The family loved their new life. They enjoyed traveling around Europe to see such sights as the Roman Collosseum in Italy
and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. They also enjoyed the opportunity to experience new cultures. In much of Europe, for example,
people don’t buy all their food at grocery stores. Instead, they often shop at outdoor markets full of fresh fruits and vegetables.
But for the Bryants, the best part of living in Europe was the fact that the entire family got to spend so much time together.

Although they faced little prejudice in Europe because of their African-American heritage, it was still difficult, particularly
at first, for them to make friends. So they turned to each other for strength and company.

Kobe loved being around his father. He went to many of his games and loved seeing the way the crowd reacted to his father’s
spectacular play. He often
played basketball with his father and his sisters, and at six years old could already dribble and shoot.

Kobe’s grandparents were always sending the family packages filled with videotapes of American television and movies that
were impossible to see in Italy. Usually, they included a large number of tapes of the NBA, which at that time was only rarely
broadcast in Europe.

Kobe loved sitting with his father and watching the tapes of games. As they watched, Joe analyzed the play and explained what
was happening on the court to Kobe. It was as if Kobe was attending his own private basketball school.

Of all the players Kobe watched on the tapes, his absolute favorite was guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The six-foot-nine Johnson led the champion Lakers, and his unique combination of skills took the game into a new era. For
despite his size, Johnson played point guard and proved that skilled taller players can be just as adept at guard play as
smaller men. Kobe watched the tapes of Johnson over and over again, and put pictures of the Lakers’ star all over his room.

Kobe’s fascination with Johnson continued even
when he was playing. But although there was a basketball court at Kobe’s school, he had a hard time finding other kids who
wanted to play. Unfortunately for Kobe, most Italian children preferred to play soccer.

While Kobe learned to play soccer and enjoyed the game, basketball was his favorite sport. So when he couldn’t talk other
children into playing basketball, he played by himself.

He invented a game he called “shadow basketball,” telling people later that he “played against [his] shadow.” What Kobe meant
was that while playing alone he learned to imagine a court full of players and played entire games against imaginary opponents.
Sometimes he’d pretend he was Magic Johnson leading the Lakers’ fast break, and other times he’d pretend he was his father.
His ability to visualize basketball situations and then react to them would later prove invaluable to his development as a
player. In fact, Kobe still plays shadow basketball today.

But shadow basketball still wasn’t like playing on a team. So Joe had Kobe join a club team.

In most of Europe, organized sports are run by clubs. A single basketball club, for instance, sponsors a number of teams ranging
from youth teams to teams
of adults. Since basketball isn’t a sport most Italians play while growing up, the focus is on fundamentals.

As a result, when Kobe was learning the game he spent untold hours doing drills, learning the correct way to dribble, shoot,
and guard his opponent. In contrast, most American youngsters learn the game on the playground, where it is easy to pick up
bad habits.

But since Kobe learned how to play the right way from the very beginning, he didn’t have any bad habits. Playing club basketball,
combined with watching his father and tapes of the NBA, gave him a sound foundation in the sport. Kobe never developed any
bad habits that he had to break. From the time he was a child, his game was fundamentally sound.

Meanwhile, Joe Bryant was in an enviable position. He was one of the best and most popular players in Europe. Every time his
contract was up, a number of teams would clamor for his services.

He switched teams several times, causing his family to move. But they didn’t mind. Being together was all that mattered.

Every year they went back to Philadelphia to visit with family. Kobe loved going back to see his grandparents, and he also
enjoyed the opportunity to play pickup basketball with neighborhood kids. And
even though they would be in America only a few weeks, his father would sign him up for the local youth basketball league,
the Sonny Hill League, so he could continue to improve and be exposed to a different style of play.

When Kobe was eleven years old, he began to grow taller. Over the course of the next two years he grew more than a foot, to
over six feet tall. He towered above most of the other kids in school.

For many children, growing so fast can lead to a period of awkwardness as they adapt to their growing body. But Kobe was playing
so much basketball that his coordination was able to keep pace with his growth. His game improved exponentially.

He was soon one of the best players on his club, regardless of age. He learned to dunk the basketball and could imitate many
of the moves he had learned from watching the tapes and his father, and from playing shadow basketball. His friends would
tease him, however, saying that while he was becoming a good European player, he “wouldn’t be so good in America.” Kobe tried
to laugh it off, but he was beginning to suspect the same thing. He wanted to play in the NBA someday, just like his father
had. But would he be good enough?

Joe Bryant had been paying close attention to how well Kobe was playing basketball. He was aware of his son’s worries. He
himself had now been playing professional basketball for sixteen seasons and he was beginning to slow down. In fact, when
Kobe and Joe played one-on-one, Joe had to play hard in order to beat his son. While still a valuable player, he wasn’t a
big star anymore. Although he probably could have held on and kept playing for another year or two, he was financially secure.
So, when Kobe was thirteen, Joe retired.

The Bryants decided that it was time to return to the United States. In the United States, Joe knew that Kobe could continue
to work on his game, maybe earn a college scholarship, and, perhaps, play in the NBA. Those opportunities simply weren’t available
in Europe. His son needed better competition, and the entire family was ready to move on to another stage in their lives.

It was time for Kobe Bryant to go home.

CHAPTER THREE
1992

Moving back to the United States after being away for eight years was far more difficult for Kobe than moving to Europe had
been. He was older and was leaving all his friends behind. He had become comfortable living in Europe. Now, America was almost
a foreign land to him.

Kobe had lived abroad for so long that he no longer spoke English very well. And many things that were familiar to most American
kids, like the most popular TV shows and musical groups, were almost unknown to him. Kobe didn’t have much in common with
other American teenagers.

The Bryants moved to a suburb of Philadelphia, just outside the city limits. They enrolled Kobe in eighth grade at the local
middle school.

At first, Kobe was overwhelmed. The school was much different and much, much bigger than the school he had attended in Italy.
Although Kobe was
a very good student and soon discovered that in many ways his classes were easier than they had been in Italy, he struggled
with the language and initially found it hard to make friends.

He was, quite literally, caught between two worlds. As he later remembered, “That made me the odd man out from the jump.”
The situation was made even worse by the fact that he was going through adolescence, an awkward stage of growing up that everyone
goes through. Many adolescents lose confidence and don’t feel very good about themselves as they struggle to make the transition
from child to adult. Kobe had particular difficulty learning how to relate to other African Americans at his school. After
all, when he was living in Italy about the only African-American faces he saw were those, of his parents and two sisters.
Kobe hadn’t had any close African-American friends since he was a little kid.

The street slang used by many of his peers was particularly hard for Kobe to understand. “Blacks have their own way of talking,”
he recalled later, “and I really had to learn two languages in order to fit.”

His situation wasn’t helped by the fact that Kobe already stood well over six feet tall and towered over many of his peers.
He often found himself the butt of
their pranks and jokes.

But on his very first day of school Kobe discovered that he knew a universal language that could help break down the social
barriers he faced. That language was the sport of basketball.

On that first day, as Kobe sat alone in the cafeteria eating his lunch, a classmate sauntered over and stood before him, sizing
him up. When Kobe realized the other young man was staring at him, he slowly raised his eyes and looked up.

“I hear you’re a pretty good basketball player,” said his classmate with a sneer. Word had spread rapidly that the new student
with the funny accent was the son of Joe Bryant, who was still well known in Philadelphia.

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.