Conversations around Kobe Bryant always carry an added layer of intrigue. The late Hall of Famer’s NBA resume, his collection of accolades, and last but not least, his unique personality, the famed Mamba Mentality, placed him on a pedestal reserved only for the game’s greatest. However, before he became the Black Mamba, Bryant was just one of the many kids trying to make it big in basketball. A standout kid, though.
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Michael Cooper, a legend of the Showtime Lakers team, was one of the coaches who got to train with an 18-year-old Bryant in 1995. While sharing a story of that workout on VladTV, Cooper admitted that he had never heard of Bryant at that point.
“I didn’t know anything about Kobe,” Cooper stated. “All I was told was, ‘Coop, come early. We got this kid named Kobe Bryant coming in. We want you to work him out.'”
But there was something about the player that caught his discerning eyes before he even got to the gym. Though he met Kobe as an unknown entity, Cooper became enamored by the future baller on the spot. He was amazed by Bryant’s physical attributes.
“First thing I was impressed with is his height. To be that you, usually you don’t see kids that height. And a nice little build to him,” recalled the 5x NBA champion.
Bryant was taller than people perceive him to be. Maybe that has something to do with his agility. He stood at 6’6″ as a shooting guard. But he could bang into the paint like a small forward and snatch rebounds from centers due to his vertical leap.
Cooper didn’t know any of that when he met Bryant. His job during the workout was just to defend against the teenager.
“My job was to defend him, bang on him a little bit. I remember after that workout, and it was a workout, I was drenched. I remember going over to Jerry [West] and they go, ‘Coop, what [do] you think?’ I said, ‘He [is] pretty good,'” said Cooper.
“So we all look at Jerry, and Jerry goes, ‘He’s the one.’ Just by the way he was moving on the court,” he added. That was it. Back then, Jerry West‘s approval was the biggest ticket a young player could ever get for entering the NBA. And, as we know now, it all worked out for all parties involved.
Cooper later mentioned that even if there was someone had arrived that day not convinced about Bryant’s potential greatness, those doubts were dispelled once the drills were over.
“Kobe, being so young, just had a trickle of sweat down there. I was drenched. Full sweat. He was ready to go. Once we went through that workout, everybody was pretty much convinced,” said Cooper.
Moments like these are reminders of how some stars announce themselves even before playing a real NBA minute. Bryant walked into that gym as an unknown teenager and walked out with West, the man in the NBA logo and GM of the Lakers, calling his shot.
