After his father Joe Bryant had completed three seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, he was blessed with the birth of his son, Kobe Bryant, in 1978 in Philadelphia. The only son of Pamela Cox and Joe Bryant, a young Kobe was always on the move because of his father’s professional endeavors. After eight seasons in the NBA, Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant went to Italy and played eight more years in the European country. He returned to Philly after a sizeable stretch in Italy till 1991. Thus, Kobe Bryant’s childhood and adolescence were shaped in both Philly and Italy.
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Kobe Bryant in Italy
Kobe Bryant spent a huge chunk of his childhood and teenage years in Italy. In 1983, his father Joe Bryant joined the ball club AMG Sebastiani Basket, based in the Italian city of Rieti. Since the age of 3, Bryant was involved in basketball. When he reached Italy at the age of 6, he vowed to make the NBA.
After two years in the city of Rieti, Joe Bryant moved to Reggio Calabria to play for their ball club. After Reggio and Olimpia Pistoia, Kobe and his family moved to Reggiana as his father joined his third Italian ball club. In Reggiana, as a 12-year-old, Kobe often flashed his incredible basketball skills on the court during half-time shows. Through his years in Italy, the Mamba also became a fluent speaker of the Italian language
An article by NBC News author Claudio Lavange covers the reaction of Bryant’s friend Davide Giudici, who played with him in Reggiana’s youth club. After learning about his friend’s passing in 2020, Giudici expressed, “When he often told us that one day he would become a professional NBA player, we would make fun of him. But he worked hard for it even back then. At the end of our training, the rest of us would just go watch TV or do other things. Kobe, instead, would go home and keep training with the basket his father put up for him in his garden.”
While Bryant would often come back to his home and shoot through the hoop, it was football that grabbed all the attention in Italy. Therefore, it was natural that as a kid, the Mamba took a liking to the most famous game in the world. In fact, when he played the game, he likened himself to Brazilian legend Pele.
Kobe Bryant in Philadelphia
While Bryant’s love for the NBA peaked in Italy as he became a showman himself, his NBA journey could only take off in full flow when he returned to Pennsylvania. Jack Fleming of the LA Times wrote an article containing the details about Bryant’s childhood home which was put up for sale in 2020. The listing agent revealed that the Mamba’s metal hoop by the driveway is still intact, thus preserving a huge piece of his legacy. Bryant’s 1950s-built 3,400 square feet childhood home was sold by his father in 2008 for $500,000.
His high school Lower Merion was situated just a few miles away from the home and this is where Bryant shot to prominence in his teenage years. As a freshman, he made the varsity team which was the first instance for the school. After a 4-20 record in his first year, the scintillating player led the team to a 77-13 record in the next three years.
In his junior year, Bryant put up 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.8 blocks, and 2.3 steals per game. He made it to the fourth All-American Parade team. Despite attracting big attention from colleges, it was in Philly that Bryant decided to enter the 1996 NBA Draft as the youngest player in league history.
