I Am Kobe7 Des 2021

S1E5: We Need A Hero

When Kobe Bryant was making his rise through the high school basketball ranks, it would have been a miracle for Philadelphia's La Salle University to win an NCAA championship. It didn’t take long for people around La Salle to start thinking that maybe Kobe was going to choose to go to La Salle and become their savior. Kobe played a ton of pickup games in La Salle’s little sweatbox of a practice gym. Kobe could come to La Salle, stay for a year or two, and dominate. The school had won a national championship in 1954 and had been great in the late 1960s. If La Salle basketball was going to have any kind of renaissance, it needed Kobe bad, and everyone knew it. As for Kobe, he was keeping most of these plans to himself, and even though his dad was in a tough spot, being an assistant coach at La Salle, he and Kobe were kind of stringing La Salle men's basketball coach Speedy Morris along. La Salle might have a chance to get Kobe. Their school might be the one that Dick Vitale was screaming and shouting about on ESPN. Their school would be in the spotlight for a change.

Pre-order Mike Sielski's related book: “The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality" (1/11/22): TheRiseOfKobeBook.com

Join the conversation about “I Am Kobe” on social media: on Twitter and Instagram: @diversionpods

Our theme music is “Create Yourself” by Grover Braam feat. Justin Starling: Listen to Create Yourself on Spotify

But Kobe was at the vanguard of a new generation of players, young men who knew how much power they had and knew that they could wield it. Kobe could choose any path he wanted: college, the NBA, whatever. He could do what was best for him; he just had to be bold enough to follow through on it. Kobe’s future wasn’t dependent on Speedy Morris. If anything, it was the other way around. And Speedy Morris’ future wasn’t exactly a high priority for Kobe. It got to the point that Kobe started mocking the idea that he’d choose La Salle.

Cover photo © Eileen Blass – USA TODAY NETWORK

“I Am Kobe” is a production of Diversion Podcasts in association with iHeartRadio. This season is written and hosted by Mike Sielski. Produced by Jacob Bronstein and directed by Mark Francis. Story editing by Jacob Bronstein with editorial direction from Scott Waxman. Editing, mixing, and sound design by Mark Francis. Production Assistant: Stephen Tompkins. Music Supervisor: Scott Velasquez for Frisson Sync. Executive Producers: Mark Francis and Scott Waxman.

Thanks to Oren Rosenbaum, Susan Canavan, and Jeremy Treatman.

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Episoder(13)

S1E12: Legacy

At the second anniversary of Kobe Bryant's death, we explore how the change in Kobe late in his career might have come about and what this “new Kobe” was like. We hear from Carmelo Anthony, future Hal...

25 Jan 202228min

S1E11: Tricks of the Basketball Trade

Let's drill down on the physical and mental attributes that made Kobe Bryant a great basketball player--the granular stuff that basketball junkies love. We examine each stage of Kobe's life and career...

18 Jan 202243min

S1E10: Remembering Greatness

“Kobe Bryant dead? That can’t be." Kobe Bryant’s death affected those people who knew him when he was a kid differently than it affected anyone else. It's not that Kobe’s Lakers teammates or his frien...

11 Jan 202240min

S1E9: The Bond That Broke

2001 was the year that Jeremy Treatman’s relationship with Kobe Bryant changed, because Kobe’s relationship with his family changed. 2001 was the year that Kobe married his wife, Vanessa, which led to...

4 Jan 202246min

S1E8: The Taste Of Fame

Kobe Bryant on April 29, 1996, at Lower Merion High School, in a packed gymnasium, made it official: He wasn’t going to Duke. He wasn’t going to La Salle. He wasn’t going to North Carolina or Arizona ...

28 Des 202145min

S1E7: The Mind of a Champion

The most dramatic Kobe Bryant story of his teenage years is the 1995-1996 season of the Lower Merion Aces. It doesn’t have to do with the NBA or Jerry Stackhouse or Kobe’s appreciation for his time in...

21 Des 202152min

S1E6: The Summer of '95

In 1995 it was common for pro and college players to work out, scrimmage, and play pickup games together during the NBA offseason. Philadelphia 76ers General Manager John Lucas was so impressed with l...

14 Des 202141min