On the Court With... Kobe Bryant Read Free Page A

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,