“I want to get to the NBA before Michael Jordan gets too old.”: How Kobe Bryant knew what he wanted for the future and his NBA career even as a High-School senior

A throwback to when high-school senior Kobe Bryant revealed his future plans, which included Michael Jordan, to Seth Davis.

Seth Davis is currently one of the biggest names in sports media. He is a writer for the Athletic, covers the men’s basketball on CBS, and is a former Sports Illustrated writer. However, his road to success involved a lot of days as a beat writer as well.

Back in the day, just after graduating college, Davis landed a dream job with Sports Illustrated. Back then, in the pre-digital media age, getting published was not as easy as it is today.

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Seth was always in the look of a story that could make his name and get him published. When Kevin Garnett made the leap from high school to the NBA, he pitched a story that compiled the list of all high school players that could follow suit. It was then when Seth Davis sat down with a young Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant knew what he wanted, right from his time in High-School

Seth Davis and his search for rising highschool stars landed him with a rising star in Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania. Kobe averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.8 blocked shots in his senior year.

Even as a senior in high school, Kobe had a lot of swagger to him. In a telephonic interview with Seth Davis, Kobe confirmed that he was hoping to make the leap from high-school to the pros.

The biggest reason behind the same? Davis recalls and says, “Kobe confirmed that he was indeed hoping to make the same leap to the pros because ‘I want to get to the NBA before Michael Jordan gets too old.”

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Mamba made his way to the league and surely got to play Michael Jordan there. Kobe developed a strong bond with Jordan there and got as close as brothers. In his 20 years in the league, Kobe won 5 championships, and made the world know of his Mamba Mentality, and became an inspiration for many.

Even though Kobe is no longer with us, his Mamba Mentality and his lessons would guide the way for years to come.