Former Bulls Guard’s Mother Declared Kobe Bryant the “Next Best Great Thing” 2 Years Before NBA Debut

It seems that in the years since we’ve lost Kobe Bryant, the NBA legend’s star has only shone brighter. Current and former pros love nothing more than to share their favorite Kobe stories, which is what John Lucas III did when he stopped by the Club 520 podcast this week.

Lucas may best be remembered by basketball fans for guiding Oklahoma State to a Final Four over that incredible Jameer Nelson-Delonte West St. Joseph’s team, but he also played in the NBA for eight seasons.

Lucas came from a basketball family, as his dad played and coached in the NBA for decades. That context is important for understanding what went down the first time Lucas’ mom saw a young Kobe Bryant play. He recalled,

“My mom is the one who discovered Kobe … my mom comes home one day and tells my pops, ‘I think I seen a better high school player than you.’ And my dad’s like, ‘What?!’ He low-key about to bring the drug test out to test my mom and make sure she’s straight.”

The Lucas family decided to go see Kobe the next time he played to see what all the hype was about, and as they were about to enter the gym, Lucas’ dad recognized Joe “Jellybean” Bryant.

Bryant had a long pro career himself, and he revealed that he was there to see his son play, to which the elder Lucas replied, “Yeah man, my wife come home talking about there’s a kid up here named Kobe that’s supposedly better than me in high school, like he’s the next best great thing ever to play the game.” 

Bryant said, “Yeah, that’s my son,” to which Lucas said, “For real?!”

Kobe Bryant proved to be worthy of the hype at a young age

Any skepticism the Lucas family had about this basketball prodigy was laid to rest immediately at the start of the game, as Kobe won the opening tip and then went down the court and threw down a windmill dunk. “That day I was locked in,” Lucas said.

Lucas and his family began going to all of Kobe’s games, and his dad even invited him to practice with the Philadelphia 76ers, who he was coaching at the time. Lucas described how his dad would match Kobe up with all of the players who were about to be drafted into the NBA, including guys like Jerry Stackhouse, who had been an All-American at UNC and would go on to an 18-year career in the league. “Kobe beat them all one-on-one,” Lucas recalled. Kobe was only a junior in high school at the time.

Bryant would go on to set all sorts of records as he led his Lower Merion Aces to its first state basketball championship in 53 years. He won the Naismith High School Player of the Year and the Gatorade Men’s National Basketball Player of the Year awards and was named a McDonald’s All-American. He also became Southeastern Pennsylvania’s all-time leading scorer with 2,883 points, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain in the process.

Kobe Bryant had a career full of records and championships, but as impressive as they are, they pale in comparison to the stories other players tell about him. This was another good one from Club 520.