Kobe Bryant will always be remembered as one of the greatest players of all time. Bryant was a phenomenal star, who brought maturity to the game even in his younger years. And when you hear about his experience living outside of the United States, you can see where he gets his maturity from.
A video of 17-year-old Kobe Bryant talking about his life experiences recently went viral. In the video, Kobe revealed that he wasn’t excited about moving to Italy after his father was signed to a team there. But when his father retired, he had gotten so comfortable there that he didn’t want to move.
“My name is Kobe Bryant, 17 years old… My father played professional basketball for the Philadelphia, Rockets, and San Diego Clippers. He played professional basketball for 8 years. He decided it was best for him to move on and take his talents elsewhere. We packed our bags and moved to Italy where he played professional basketball for 8 years”.
“At the time, I was only 6 years old and pretty much clueless about the whole situation. He told me ‘Kobe, you’re going to an Italian school, you’re going to learn the language’. You basically do whatever your parents tell you to…”
“I speak Italian fluently. Met a lot of new faces, a lot of interesting people. It became my home, my heart is there. It will always be there. It was very hard when my father told me that he’s retiring from the game of basketball, that it was time for us to come to America. I didn’t want to come back…”
(Till 1:38 mark)
My name is Kobe Bryant. I'm 17 years old…pic.twitter.com/MIus7bspHH https://t.co/3orEI2sKVP
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 6, 2023
Kobe’s time in Italy was a big part of him becoming the player that he did. Being able to learn a whole new language and culture at such a young age prepared him for some very tough situations, many of which he would face in the NBA.
Kobe Bryant Loved His Time In Italy
Kobe Bryant was able to learn a lot in Italy but also continued to pursue his basketball dream. Bryant spoke about learning soccer and Italian to try and make friends. But his competitive spirit was alive and well.
Kobe once told the story of how he made several players cry when he was 9 years old and made their parents angry. Even at 9 years old, Kobe always had that Mamba Mentality and it only got better as he got better.
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