Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Kobe Bryant, AC Milan Fan, Developed Love of Soccer While Growing up in Italy
Kobe Bryant lived
in Italy for 7 years, from the age of six to thirteen, while his
famed father, NBA Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, played Pro Basketball in
Italy.
Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania in 1978 as son of former Philadelphia 76ers player and former
Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. After starring
at La Salle University, Joe Bryant, a 6'9" forward, was drafted in the
first round by the Golden State Warriors in 1975. dealt to his hometown
team, the Philadelphia 76ers, with whom he played for four seasons. Bryant
then was traded by the 76ers to the San Diego Clippers, for whom he played
from 1980-82, and a final NBA season with the Houston Rockets in 1983.
Bryant then headed to Europe, playing
seven seasons in Italy with clubs of the Italian A1 League and the Italian
A2 League. He played with the Italian clubs Sebastiani Rieti (1984-86),
Reggio Calabria (1986-87), Pistoia (1987-89) and Reggio Emilia (1989-91).
He twice had 53-point games with Pistoia in the 1987-88 season. Upon Joe
Bryant's retirement from playing basketball in 1991,the family returned
to Philadelphia.
Bryant, unretired, and played into
his fifties, for the Boston Frenzy of the fledgling American Basketball
Association. Joseph Washington "Jellybean" Bryant is now head coach
of the top-level Italian club Solsonica Rieti.
Kobe Bryant was six, when his father
left the NBA and moved his family to Italy to begin playing professional
basketball. Bryant became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to
speak Italian and Spanish fluently. During summers, Kobe Bryant would come
back to the United States to play in a basketball summer league. He started
playing basketball when he was 3 years old, and his favorite team growing
up was the Lakers. Bryant's grandfather would mail him videos to Italy
of NBA games, which Bryant would study.At an early age he also learned
to play soccer; He has said that if he had stayed in Italy, he would have
tried to become a professional soccer player; Upon Joe Bryant's retirement
from playing basketball in 1991, the Bryant family moved back to the United
States, when Kobe was 13, after having spent 7 years in Italy.
Bryant earned national recognition
during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School located
in the Philadelphia suburb
Bryant received several awards for
his performance his senior year including being named Naismith High School
Player of the Year, Gatorade Men's National Basketball Player of the Year,
a McDonald's All-American, and a USA Today All-USA First Team player.
After considering attending Duke
University, the 17-year-old Bryant made the decision to go directly into
the NBA, only the sixth player in NBA history to do so. (Kevin Garnett
being the only exception in 20 years). In the 1996 NBA Draft, Kobe was
the first guard to ever be taken out of high school, Bryant was chosen
as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets. However, according
to Arn Tellem, Bryant's agent, Bryant playing for the Charlotte Hornets
was "an impossibility".Nevertheless, the Charlotte Hornets selected Bryant,
seeing that there was a chance to trade with the Lakers.Prior to the draft,
Bryant had worked out in Los Angeles, in which he scrimmaged against former
Lakers players Larry Drew and Michael Cooper, and according to then-Laker
manager Jerry West "marched over these people". On July 1, 1996, West traded
his starting center, Vlade Divac, to the Hornets in exchange for Bryant's
draft rights
In 2010, Kobe Bryant became the all-time
leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. Since his second year in the
league, Bryant has started in every NBA All-Star Game that has been hosted,
winning the All-Star MVP award in 2002, 2007, and 2009. He is a twelve-time
member of the All-NBA team and ten-time All-Defensive team, and is the
youngest player ever to receive defensive honors. In 2008, he won a gold
medal at the 2008 Olympics as a member of the USA national team.Bryant
was named NBA player of the decade by TNT and Sporting News.With his ability
of taking over in the fourth quarter with dominant clutch plays, earned
him the nicknames "Black Mamba" and "The Closer".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant
AC Milan Fan Kobe Bryant Reveals his Love of Soccer
CNN; June 28, 2010 -
Basketball star Kobe Bryant has revealed his love of soccer while doing charity work in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup.
The five-time NBA champion told CNN that he was introduced to the sport while living in Italy as a child.
Bryant, who helped the Los Angeles Lakers retain their NBA crown this month, moved to Europe when he was six after his father Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant decided to play professional basketball in Italy.
The Philadelphia-born Bryant, who speaks fluent Italian and Spanish, grew up supporting Serie A giants AC Milan, with his favorite player being former Dutch striker Marco van Basten.
"AC Milan was always my favorite team growing up," he said. "It actually started in Italy when I used to go to the basketball courts to play by myself and you used to have the little goalposts underneath the basket.
"I'd show up wanting to play basketball and there would be 12 kids waiting to have a soccer match.
"They just put me in goal because I had these long arms and long legs, and I just had to stop everything that came my way.
"Then as months went on, they finally let me out on the field a little bit."
With the World Cup well under way in South Africa, Bryant took time out to visit a new football center in Soweto during his first visit to the continent.The center provides a football life skills program to 20,000 children in South Africa each year, offering them the chance to develop their talent....
"I think it's only right and it's important that once you've reached a certain level you give back and you help the next generation of players and kids accomplish their goals too."
Bryant continues to prosper on the basketball court after his Lakers team won a 17th title this year, defeating the Boston Celtics 4-3 in the finals.
When asked to compare the Lakers' most recent title with his previous four, Bryant said this year's triumph was his favorite.
"It's the top, because it was so hard to get," he said. "We really had to work extremely hard. The championship is about how guys come together as a group to accomplish a goal."
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/06/28/kobe.bryant.nba.worldcup/?fbid=DobDs3mdftx
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