“Like Harry Potter Going to Hogwarts”: Kobe Bryant Claimed Playing Alongside the Best Athletes in the World in 2008 was an Unrivaled Experience

Back in 2010, Kobe Bryant sat down with GQ for an interview during his cover shoot. Bryant was just coming off a Championship win with the Lakers and had also led Team USA to an Olympic gold just a year before that. During his interview with GQ, Bryant talked extensively about his Olympic experience. Even though Kobe was coming off a heartbreaking loss to Boston in the finals, it didn’t deter Bryant from chasing his Olympic dream in 2008.

The only problem was that Kobe was badly injured in his right ‘pinkie’, causing many to speculate if he would play in the Olympics, to begin with. But Kobe had other plans, as the Black Mamba would push back his surgery further, giving him a fair chance at playing in the Olympics.

A year later, Kobe would describe his experience playing at the Olympic Village saying,

” I felt like Harry Potter going to Hogwarts.”

It’s understandable why Kobe would feel that way. Bryant was an athlete, who was purely obsessed with his sport. For the first time in his life, Bryant was surrounded by people like him, people who lived to perfect their craft, the craft that is the physical pursuit of a sport. So naturally, Kobe being Kobe, he decided to maximize the opportunities presented to him, by gaining knowledge about various subject areas from the experts that were present at the village.

The 2008 Olympics gave Kobe Goosebumps

Kobe Bryant won five NBA championships in his long and illustrious career. But to Kobe, nothing was more precious than winning a gold medal at the Olympics.

As a kid, Bryant often dreamed about making the USA national team, as his idol Michael Jordan had done before him. Bryant’s dream would come true, as he would be selected to the 2008 USA men’s team.

Describing the moment he first received his USA jersey, Kobe said,

” I had goosebumps, and I just looked at it for a while…..I just held it there, and I laid it across my bed. I just stared at it for a few minutes. Just because, as a kid growing up, this is the ultimate, ultimate in basketball.”

Ironically enough, Kobe would play China during his Olympic debut. With the games being held in Beijing, it was surprising for Kobe to see so many USA flags. Talking on the moment, Bryant said,

“When I look up in the crowd, and I see all the USA flags waving and people chanting the USA, it gives you goosebumps…When I heard the national anthem, I teared up a little bit, and I had to gather myself.”

Bryant would help the redeem strike gold in 2008 and would return in 2012. With USA basketball looking shaky once again, the upcoming games in Paris could spell a new era in world basketball, a world where the Americans don’t steamroll through the competition.