Kobe Bryant Superfan Aaron Rodgers Once Made the Front Page for His Basketball Heroics as a 9-Year-Old; “Free Throws are His Forte”

QB Aaron Rodgers seems to have a penchant for the spotlight. He has spent his fair share of time in the headlines this year alone. From a drama-filled team transfer from the Packers to the Jets, a saga that had everyone asking ‘Will he? won’t he?’, to his fast-tracked recovery from an Achilles injury, he knows how to grab eyeballs. Turns out, this is a talent that he’s had since childhood, along with his athletic chops.

Rodgers might have a storied career in football, but he has never hidden his love for basketball. From acquiring an ownership stake in the Milwaukee Bucks to being a die-hard fan of Kobe Bryant, the veteran QB has worn his love for basketball on his sleeve. And he is quite the hooper himself. However, the story goes way back to when he was just a charming little kid growing up in Ukiah, California.

Rodgers had not even spent an entire decade in this world when he made the front page of a newspaper for his hooping abilities. In 1993, a 9-year-old Aaron Rodgers was featured on the front page of the Ukiah Daily Journal, with the headline ‘Free Throws are his forte,’ accompanied by an adorable snapshot of the nine-year-old, his signature dimply smile unencumbered by a mustache.

And the young Rodgers’s achievements were nothing small, as he became the Ukiah Elks Lodge’s first district winner in the lodge’s annual basketball Hoop Shoot contest, for the first time since the 70s! To top it all off, he beat 5 others in a “shoot-off” to claim his first headline. Free throws are indeed Rodgers’ forte:

Tracking how far back A-Rod’s love for basketball goes, it is no surprise that one of his idols is the late NBA great Kobe Bryant. Rodgers idolizes Kobe so much so that he regularly takes inspiration from the Lakers legend. The Jets QB once revealed that he had hoped to dedicate his entire career to one team, much like Kobe.

Aaron Rodgers’ ‘Gangsta’ Moment with Kobe

A-rod once detailed his first interaction with his idol Kobe Bryant, describing the hooping legend as ‘Gangsta.’ Rodgers detailed meeting Kobe, who was in an Italian and smoking a cigar, in the locker room after a Milwaukee vs LA matchup. Gangsta, indeed.

The NFL QB described Kobe as charismatic, and the interaction left him with a nostalgic remembrance. Rodgers continues to idolize and revere Kobe Bryant. When he went down with a season-ending injury during the first moments of his Jets debut, he once again turned to Kobe for strength and inspiration.

The Jets QB detailed sitting in the locker room after the injury, and immediately googling Kobe Bryant. What he was looking for was the doctor who operated on Kobe, entrusting the basketball star to make the best decisions.

Aaron Rodgers is going through a tough year, and he surely must look to Kobe for hope and courage. After all, the Black Mamba had to miss 19 games in his career for Achilles surgery.