KOBE BRYANT NBA SCORING SENSATION Growing up in Italy When Kobe was six his father moved the family to Italy so that he could play professional basketball in the Italian league In Italy Joe Bryant flourished and was a high scoring II player Kobe remembers that when he QUICK FACT watched his dad's games fans sang songs about him There are athletes on both sides Kobe started playing sports at a O of Bryant s family His mother s young age He played soccer as well brother is Chubby Cox who as basketball before he decided to played professional basketball in concentrate on basketball He played the 1970s and 1980s basketball as a club sport At one point his club was the youth league of the professional team that his father played for Their uniforms even matched Joe Bryant sometimes brought Kobe along to watch him practice with his team By the time he was thirteen Kobe had gotten so good at basketball that he could beat some of Joe's teammates in games of one on one Bryant has said that the style of basketball he learned to play growing up in Italy is similar to how the game was played in the NBA in the 1950s and 1960s He thinks this on the fundamentals QUICK FACT of the expectinlupe says that kids grow ing up in the United States in his Kobe learned to speak Italian generation were taught what he thinks and learned to read books in of as a flashier style of play When Latin at his Italian schools he returned to the United States Bryant became determined to add these stylish moves to his already great skills He called this putting icing on the
young and Talented Bolzano TRENTINO FRIULI ALTO ADIGE VENEZIA GIULIA ALLE D AOSTA LOMBARDIA VENETO Trieste Piemonte Milano Verona Torino Joe Bryant played on teams based in the Lazio Calabria Toscana and Emilia Romagna regions of Italy Venezia Bologna LIGUR Genova EMILIA ROMAGNA Firenze MARCH TosCANA Perugia UMBRIA Italy escara A BRUZZO OM Lazio MoLISE Foggia CAMPANIA Napoli Bari PuGLIA Sassari BASILICATA Taranto SARDEGNA Cagliari CALABRIA Messina Palermo SICILIA Catania
KOBE BRYANT NBA SCORING SENSATION From High School to the NBA The Bryant family returned to the United States in 1991 and settled in Ardmore Pennsylvania Kobe Bryant had a hard time fiting in at first because his years living in Italy made him feel out of step with American culture and African American culture Kobe was also a bit of a loner As an adult Bryant believes this is a positive trait because it forces him to stay true to himself As a teenager Kobe suffered from Osgood Schlatter disease This is a condition that causes knee pain It happens most often to teens during their peak growth years because quick growth puts a strain on their muscles bones and tendons Sports like basketball are hard on these body parts too Bryant has said that he had to work through a lot of pain during this time In 1992 Kobe entered Lower Merion High School where he joined the basketball team He was an outstanding player and the team was state champion all four years that Kobe played People were so eager to see the Lower Merion team play that tickets to their games sold out During his senior year in high school Kobe was named the Naismith national player of the year He finished his high school career as the all time leading scorer in southeastern Pennsylvania high school basket ball history It would prove to be just a taste of greatness to come QUICK FACT famie Because Bryant was such a great high school player there were many Players no longer go directly Colleges that would have been happy from high school to the NBA In to recruit him Although he devoted 2005 the rules were changed so much of his time to basketball Kobe that players must be at least was also a good student with good nineteen and one year out of grades and SAT scores At one point high school before they can be Kobe was considering going to Duke drafted University because the school was known for its academics as wel as its athletics IO
young and Talented Kobe helps the Lower Merion High School team defeat Chester High School in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District I Finals in 1996 CRION
