At the age of seventeen, he broke the record held by the superstar Chamberlain. At the age of eighteen, he joined the world's highest level basketball intelligence. At the age of nineteen, he participated in the All-Star Game. At the age of twenty, he He is known as "Jordan's successor"... His name is Kobe Bryant, and he is realizing his dreams one after another.

“If you don’t want to be the best player, why do you want to do this as a career? Before entering the NBA, I kept asking myself this, I don’t want to be the best player now, I don’t want to be a certain The best player in the game, I want to be the greatest player in the history of this game."

In the fall of 1981, a 3-year-old kid was wearing a San Diego Clippers (Los Angeles Clippers) jersey. , flapping a small basketball in her parents' bedroom. A game between the Clippers and the Rockets was being broadcast on TV. He looked at the TV screen from time to time because his father was playing on the court on behalf of the Clippers. This child imitated every move of his father. He learned to dribble the ball under his hips and watch flying layups. Although these were just imaginary moves, he did them very seriously and enjoyed great fun. When his father came back, the child raised his head and said happily: "Dad, I will also play in the NBA in the future!" "The father gently picked him up and said, "Yes, you want to be the greatest player. "

This is Kobe Bryant's earliest NBA dream

There is a saying in the United States: "If you want to become a professional player, you have to find the right parents. "Kobe is lucky. His family is an environment most suitable for cultivating professional players. Kobe's father, Joe Bryant, is a very talented basketball player. Joe is a native of Philadelphia. In 1972, Joe helped Philadelphia's John Bryant The Bartram Middle School team won the Philadelphia Regional High School League championship, and then entered the local LaSalle University. In high school, Joe met Pam Cox. Miraculously, Joe fell in love with this little girl at first sight. The first date was actually on the sidelines of the basketball court. At that time, Pam's brother played for another college team in Philadelphia. When competing with La Salle University, Joe proposed to Pam. Joe married Pam soon after entering college. After three years of college, Joe participated in the NBA draft. It was rare for players to enter the draft before graduating from college. Participants not only needed to have extraordinary skills, but also had to prove financial difficulties. Joe and Pam were about to have their first child, and he met both criteria in 1975. In the 2008 draft, Joe was selected by the Golden State Warriors as a first-round pick, but he did not want to go to the far west to play, and the salary offered by the Warriors was not high. Joe negotiated very hard with the Warriors. The Warriors transferred him back to Philadelphia. His efforts paid off. Before the start of the season, Joe signed a five-year contract with the hometown 76ers for nearly $1 million, which was an astronomical figure at the time.

Joe was a rare basketball talent at the time, but he did not succeed at first. He loved performing and had a special liking for dribbling and shooting, but his body should be in the penalty area. to play power forward. Del Harris, Bryant's first coach with the Lakers, who coached his father in the early 1980s, thought Joe's style was ahead of its time: "Joe could make any move, he His passing skills are second only to Magic in the league, but he was born to make a living in the penalty area, not to play point guard. "Off the court, Joe also loved to express himself. It was a crazy disco era, and Joe often appeared on the sidelines wearing dance costumes, wearing big sunglasses, and holding a cigar in his mouth for interviews. Jerry West, Vice President of the Lakers The general manager said of Joe back then: “He doesn’t like to do dirty work, doesn’t pay attention to technical details, and no matter how talented he is, he can’t go any further. He was born to perform, not to win. " Joe played in the NBA for 8 years, playing for the 76ers, Clippers and Rockets. In 1977, he and the 76ers entered the finals under the leadership of "Dr. J", but lost to Walton. The Trail Blazers. Joe's best season was the 1980-81 season, averaging 11.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. By the spring of 1984, Joe's NBA career was over, although he was only 30 years old and in poor health. He's healthy, too, but no team is willing to accept his purely show-oriented style of basketball.

Joe doesn't want to retire, he loves basketball deeply, and he has three children to raise. His agent told him that he could make money by playing ball in Europe, so Joe and Pam took their three children, 8-year-old Shalia and 7-year-old Sha, on a trip to distant Europe. Ya and 6-year-old Kobe Bryant

Kobe was born on August 23, 1978, when his father was still playing for the Philadelphia 76ers. His weird name can reflect his parents’ life hobbies. Kobe is the name of a Japanese steak. The Bryants enjoy life very much and often eat in various restaurants. This steak from Kobe, Japan is their The big dish on the plate, so even my beloved son was named steak. Ever since he could walk, Kobe always held a basketball in his hands. Since he was two years old, he has been watching his father play on TV and imitating every move. In his father's eyes, little Kobe Bryant is the most unique little basketball angel. "He can have a happy day without others playing with him, because he can have various enemies in his mind, and then he will try his best to break through the defense of these enemies." When he arrived in Italy, Kobe's hobby became His greatest joy as a child was that he had no children to play basketball with him in Italy.

Football is the number one sport in Italy. All children are keen on football. Kobe often practices alone on the basketball court. But when other kids came on the court, Kobe had to step aside - they were there to play football. "If there are only one or two kids, I can push them away because I'm taller than them. But if a group of people comes, I have to walk away or be the goalkeeper." Although the fun of basketball is endless, in a completely Living in a strange environment, the young Kobe encountered challenges that his peers could not imagine. "I went to primary school in Italy. No one in the class spoke English, and I didn't understand Italian at all. In the first few months in Italy, I just sat in the classroom blankly, watching the teacher's pointer Swinging around." After the first year, all three children were fluent in Italian, and Joe was successful in the Italian league, bringing a rare creativity to the rigorous European basketball. The Bryant family has lived in Italy for 8 years and moved to 4 cities, but they were welcomed everywhere they went. "In Italy, family is paramount. People trust each other. When they see you on the street, they will say 'hello' affectionately. This is very different from the impression of the United States." Of course, it was Italy that had the greatest impact on Kobe. People's leisurely lifestyle. In the NBA, players spend half of their time playing away games, and training usually takes place in the morning; but in Italy, there is only one game a week, and training is basically in the afternoon, which gave Kobe Bryant the opportunity to be exposed to professional basketball.

My father knew that Kobe Bryant’s greatest joy was basketball, so he would take his son to the training gym every time he trained. While his father's team was warming up on one end of the court, Kobe Bryant would hold a basketball and shoot hoops on the other side. When the team started formal training, Kobe followed his father on the sidelines to make various preparations. The strict and scientific training methods of professional players left a deep impression on Kobe's mind. By imitating his father and confirming various actions and tactics by watching training and games on the spot, his basketball awareness far exceeded that of his peers. people.

Joe Bryant was extremely successful in Italy. He was given a wide space to display his basketball creativity. In the eyes of Italian fans, Joe was an artist on the basketball court. He scored 25 points every night. 30 minutes, his flying movements in the air made the Italians even more refreshing. Fans adapted Italian folk songs to praise Joe's skills. When the song echoed on the court, Kobe was excited. He experienced another joy of basketball: the joy of being recognized and winning the respect and love of fans.

“The most valuable thing my father taught me is the love for basketball and the love for the fans. He told me not to let pressure and people’s expectations of you destroy what you experience from basketball. Fun. He allows me to fully express my emotions during the game and do whatever I want to do. Basketball is an art and playing is a process of finding happiness."

Less than 10. At the age of 18, little Kobe began one-on-one training with his father. This kind of training from his father does not require Kobe to succeed in the NBA in the future, but allows Kobe to find the fun in basketball so that he can know how to find the fun in life. Under the free sunshine of Italy, Kobe's skills thrived and his peers were no longer a match for him.

Kobe often watched NBA game programs transmitted from across the ocean, and his bedroom was covered with posters of Jordan, Bird and "Magic". In his eyes, these giants are not that far away. He has begun to experience the love of these giants for basketball from basketball. He feels that he can also do the magic they perform on the court. Of course, all this has to be confirmed back in the United States.