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Speaker 1: Diversion podcasts, Test Sport or five, Test Sport five, Test

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Speaker 1: Sport five. The first thing I want to ask you

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Speaker 1: about what you think about was all we best fount

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Speaker 1: and post off your mind most it like your home.

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Speaker 1: But I wasn't. I wasn't really thinking about the whole thing. Okay,

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Speaker 1: if my father asked me when when I would like

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Speaker 1: that at prest count I was like, come on, it

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Speaker 1: really didn't matter to me. You know, I didn't care.

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Speaker 1: But I think my mother and father, I can't do

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Speaker 1: it really nervous, like can since that, and I'll kind

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Speaker 1: of tease them any more ever, denying that's kind of

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Speaker 1: plaining me. They're running around make sure I knew what

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Speaker 1: to say, how to say everything, and things like that.

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Speaker 1: I was just cracking up because it really wasn't that

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Speaker 1: verity with this, and so the whole week basically that's

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Speaker 1: where it was. Back in July two thousand ten, everyone

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Speaker 1: in America, at least everyone in America who cared about

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Speaker 1: professional basketball, was fixated on a single question, what team

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Speaker 1: with the biggest basketball star in the world, Lebron James,

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Speaker 1: play for next. Lebron had spent his first seven NBA

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Speaker 1: seasons with his quasi hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. He

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Speaker 1: had grown up a few miles away in Akron, But

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Speaker 1: now he was a free agent and he could play

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Speaker 1: for any team he wanted. And when he was ready

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Speaker 1: to reveal his decision, he reached a deal with ESPN

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Speaker 1: to televise his announcement. He hand picked an interviewer, famed

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Speaker 1: sportscaster Jim Gray, to help build up some artificial drama,

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Speaker 1: and then he said, this Um, and this fall man

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Speaker 1: very tough, Um, and this fall I'm gonna take my

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Speaker 1: talents to South Beach and Um joined the Miami Beach.

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Speaker 1: Any basketball fan who watched that interview and who had

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Speaker 1: a good memory heard something in those words that should

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Speaker 1: have infamiliar. Lebron James might be the greatest basketball player

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Speaker 1: of all time. But when he made that announcement, the

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Speaker 1: one thing he wasn't was original. That line, I'm going

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Speaker 1: to take my talents too, wasn't his not first. He

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Speaker 1: ripped it off from a seventeen year old high school

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Speaker 1: senior who made a similar announcement way back in the

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Speaker 1: spring of Kobe Bryant decided talents to uh I had

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Speaker 1: designed to scoop college towns in India. That was Kobe

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Speaker 1: Bryant on Monday April at Lower Merion High School in

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Speaker 1: a pack gymnasium, making it official. He wasn't going to Duke.

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Speaker 1: He wasn't going to the South. He wasn't going to

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Speaker 1: North Carolina or Arizona or Michigan. He wasn't going to

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Speaker 1: college at all. He was going straight to the n

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Speaker 1: b A two months later, the Charlotte Hornets took him

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Speaker 1: with the thirteenth pick in the NBA Draft, then traded

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Speaker 1: him to the Los Angeles Lakers. That press conference represents

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Speaker 1: the apex of Kobe's confidence and self assurance during his

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Speaker 1: high school years. During that little pause before he says, no,

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Speaker 1: I have decided to skip college, he puts his hand

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Speaker 1: to his chin like he's thinking about something. He's pretending

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Speaker 1: playing to the crowd, like he was an actor or

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Speaker 1: a talk show host. A few days before that press conference, though,

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Speaker 1: Kobe wasn't so confident. In fact, he had been questioning

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Speaker 1: himself about the wisdom of his decision. Those doubts didn't

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Speaker 1: last long, but they were there, and Kobe needed some

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Speaker 1: help and advice to get over them. He needed to

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Speaker 1: talk to his dad, Joe the first time I probably

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Speaker 1: really doubted myself saying, well, I'm not It was it.

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Speaker 1: It was the first time he ever died you something.

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Speaker 1: You never died something in high school. You never died you.

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Speaker 1: So okay, ye, people with doubting you're saying that you

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Speaker 1: can't do this, you can't do that. You pulled them

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Speaker 1: all on, said, nybody, I can do you. Never doubt yourself.

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Speaker 1: So last time. Now, I think that was that was

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Speaker 1: great advice because I have I've never dined a myself,

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Speaker 1: all right, because I've always worried as hard a pop,

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Speaker 1: always wanted, always will poself. You don't want to do

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Speaker 1: good work hard that, don't do it. Kobe had kept

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Speaker 1: this secret from most of the people in his life,

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Speaker 1: even many of those very close to him, his coaches,

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Speaker 1: his teammates. They thought he might jump to the pros,

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Speaker 1: but they didn't know for certain. Only a very few

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Speaker 1: people did. Jeremy treatment was one of them. I'm still

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Speaker 1: amazed by that that no one really knew that a

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Speaker 1: teenager went to such lengths to keep a secret. When

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Speaker 1: I visited Jeremy on Long Beach Island, I asked him

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Speaker 1: about it. What do you think that says about him,

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Speaker 1: that he was able to keep that secret and that

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Speaker 1: he was willing to kind of only tell certain people

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Speaker 1: about he was smarter than anybody we knew. Well, I

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Speaker 1: think a lot of people surmised it, but nobody, nobody

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Speaker 1: actually had heard him say it. But I mean, I

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Speaker 1: don't think people were surprised to day of that press conference.

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Speaker 1: But until you actually hear it, you know, it's like

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Speaker 1: their grandfather is dying and like everybody sad, he's sick,

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Speaker 1: and then but when he actually dies, it's like, oh

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Speaker 1: my god, it happened. You know, it's like, oh my god,

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Speaker 1: the press conference happened. He actually said he's going high school, NBA.

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Speaker 1: It really happened. So it was it was kind of

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Speaker 1: like that. With that announcement, Kobe Bryant launched himself into

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Speaker 1: the stratosphere of stardom, and he would remain there for

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Speaker 1: the rest of his life. But for many weeks before

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Speaker 1: that press conference, he had already been taste celebrity, getting

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Speaker 1: close to it, seeing what it was like, and sometimes

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Speaker 1: it was hard for him to handle. In fact, he

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Speaker 1: needed Jeremy Treatment's help with what you think would be

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Speaker 1: the easiest thing for a superstar high school athlete to

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Speaker 1: do he needed help getting a date. I'm Mike Seals

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Speaker 1: and from Diversion Podcasts, this is I am Kobe the

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Speaker 1: state rat state to create myself. Self, Create yourself, very nice,

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Speaker 1: create yourself? Got any great minds that we gain? Gaining time?

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Speaker 1: Episode eight, The Taste of Fame. We'll come back to

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Speaker 1: that faithful press conference later. First, I want to give

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Speaker 1: you a little context for all that confidence that seventeen

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Speaker 1: year old Kobe flashing there. Like I said, he may

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Speaker 1: have been completely poised on the basketball court or even

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Speaker 1: an electern in a huge room full of people, but

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Speaker 1: in other settings he wasn't so sure of himself, and

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Speaker 1: often those settings involved girls. Now I realized we're heading

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Speaker 1: into sensitive territory here. In two thousand three and two

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Speaker 1: thousand four, Kobe Bryant was accused of and charged with

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Speaker 1: sexual assault. At the least, he committed adultery, At the worst,

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Speaker 1: he was alleged to have committed a heinous crime. It

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Speaker 1: may be tempting to draw a straight line between Kobe's

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Speaker 1: social life and habits as a teenager and his alleged

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Speaker 1: actions as a grown man. It may even be natural

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Speaker 1: and understandable everyone brings his or her own experiences and

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Speaker 1: perspective to this topic and has his her own opinion

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Speaker 1: on that aspect of Kobe's life and story. I'm not

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Speaker 1: going to tell you how to feel or what to

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Speaker 1: think about Kobe or about what he did or did

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Speaker 1: not do. What I will do is present his own words,

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Speaker 1: present anecdotes I uncovered during my research for this podcast

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Speaker 1: and for my book, Present my own insight, and let

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Speaker 1: you decide for yourself. Yo. Talking about how cook Treatment cook, uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, I heard a lot about it. I just

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Speaker 1: want to go check out see plate and con She

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Speaker 1: was a game and she was getting busy. Cheah child

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Speaker 1: like bad. Jeremy Treatment celebrated his thirtieth birthday in February

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Speaker 1: by introducing Kobe to Kristen Ace Clement. She was the

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Speaker 1: female version of Kobe Bryant at the time, the top

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Speaker 1: female high school basketball player, certainly in the Philadelphia area,

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Speaker 1: perhaps in the country. Her name hadn't been in the

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Speaker 1: press as much as Kobe's, but she was something of

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Speaker 1: a local celebrity. Five ft eleven with long brown hair,

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Speaker 1: She had been linked romantically to Eric lynd Ross, the

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Speaker 1: star player for the Philadelphia Flyers, hockey team, she also

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Speaker 1: had serious game. She went to Cardinal O'Hara High School,

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Speaker 1: a girl's basketball powerhouse not far from Lower Merion. She

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Speaker 1: later went on to play for legendary coach Pat Summit

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Speaker 1: at the University of Tennessee. Here's how they described her.

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Speaker 1: During a broadcast on NBC ten of Philadelphia, dried and

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Speaker 1: Smith called her an All American. USA Today called her

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Speaker 1: the best player in Pennsylvania. But as big Almelton reports

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Speaker 1: to her friends and teammates, Kristin Clement simply called eight.

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Speaker 1: Jeremy had covered Clement for the Inquired High School Sports show,

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Speaker 1: the TV show that the paper had started just a

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Speaker 1: year or two earlier to focus on the high volume

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Speaker 1: of amazing young town in the Philly area. He set

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Speaker 1: up a meat cute for Kobe at one of her games.

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Speaker 1: Kobe saw himself and Clement on similar tracks, both elite

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Speaker 1: basketball players, both under the glare of the spotlight. And remember,

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Speaker 1: Kobe was so immersed in basketball, so focused on honing

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Speaker 1: his game and making it to the NBA, that he

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Speaker 1: could be challenging for him to make time for dating

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Speaker 1: or to find a point of connection with a member

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Speaker 1: of the opposite sex. He had a quasi girlfriend throughout

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Speaker 1: high school, a girl he met at a party, but

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Speaker 1: most of their dates consisted of her coming over to

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Speaker 1: the Bryant's house to watch basketball games and basketball videos

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Speaker 1: with Kobe. Not exactly the most romantic thing for two

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Speaker 1: teams to do on a Friday night, but with Kristen Clement,

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Speaker 1: he had that connection through basketball. He sat in the

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Speaker 1: bleachers and watched her play, and after the game Jeremy introduced.

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Speaker 1: From there, they chatted frequently on the phone. Sometimes Kobe

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Speaker 1: would call her from a pay phone after practice or

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Speaker 1: a game, but he insisted they were dating in the

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Speaker 1: traditional set. You know, we have a lot of commage

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Speaker 1: because she didn't number one player. I'm the number one player.

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Speaker 1: It's about the same thing she's going through a junior

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Speaker 1: year I went through my junior year. So you had

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Speaker 1: a lot of things in common. We're talk on the

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Speaker 1: phone about that stuff a lot. You know, a lot

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Speaker 1: of people say, well, they're they're romantic or whatever and

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Speaker 1: things like that. That's really out the kid, which is

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Speaker 1: very in close friends and we get along very well.

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Speaker 1: She made a big decision for to Tennessee and junior. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I give a lot of guts for that, because album

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Speaker 1: I would never do anything like actually exactly exactly. But

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Speaker 1: when I give a lot of prayer now, I wish

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Speaker 1: you the best hope next year and next she is

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Speaker 1: gonna be very active when you've heard whatever the met

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Speaker 1: did you think I would start ship that relationship from her?

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Speaker 1: Whatever it is. I can expect that because we have

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Speaker 1: so much in common. You know, was just gonna be

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Speaker 1: like a high bid thing. Because you have so much

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Speaker 1: in common. I can see and I think she understands that.

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Speaker 1: So we're talking about other things, you know, songs and

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Speaker 1: movies and games and things like that. We just really

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Speaker 1: hang out and have fun. She's another friend. Um, you

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Speaker 1: love getting your ears right, and I love watching the play.

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Speaker 1: She she can play. This is on the show. Oh

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Speaker 1: my god. People to play. It's like it's like watching

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Speaker 1: the great player and go to work. You know. I

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Speaker 1: know when people come to watch me play, I don't.

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Speaker 1: That's why she comes to watch me play, because I

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Speaker 1: can put on the show. I'm come to watch the play.

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Speaker 1: He could put on the show. People some kind of

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Speaker 1: look at it, said, well, they're going out because they're

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Speaker 1: at each other's games and things like that. But I'm thinking,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, why what are you doing there? You're come

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Speaker 1: to watch the play, right, I'm saying, what you're doing,

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Speaker 1: That's what I'm doing. I just put on the show.

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Speaker 1: So it's been j j dropping. He's been he's been

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Speaker 1: the only one. He's been the only one people tracking

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Speaker 1: a little Joe's but a lot of people are saying

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Speaker 1: things wondering, you do you understand when it's in the spotlight,

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Speaker 1: people automatically want to say, we understand that. The Robbie

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Speaker 1: that Kobe and Jeremy mentioned there, of course, is Robbie Schwartz,

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Speaker 1: who I introduced you to in the last episode. Kobe's

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Speaker 1: lower marrying teammate and passenger on those rides to the

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Speaker 1: gym for Kobe's early morning workouts. But Robbie was more

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Speaker 1: than just a guy who chased down rebounds for Kobe

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Speaker 1: or sat on the bench for the aces during games.

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Speaker 1: He was his wingman. On one of Kobe's dates with

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Speaker 1: Kristin Clement, they went on a double date to a

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Speaker 1: restaurant in Ordinary. It was a memorable night for Robbie,

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Speaker 1: but not because of his date or the dinner conversation.

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Speaker 1: Here's Robbie talking to me about Kobe and Kristina. Of course,

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Speaker 1: we went to Ruby's one night. This was after one

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Speaker 1: of our games. I think she came to one of

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Speaker 1: our away games. So we're like getting off the bus

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Speaker 1: and he says to me, he goes, you want to

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Speaker 1: He goes, you want to come to Ruby's with me?

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Speaker 1: I'm like what. I was like, what are you talking about.

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Speaker 1: He's like ye. He's like, He's like, I'm supposed to

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Speaker 1: meet Ace there. She's bringing a friend. He was, you

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Speaker 1: want to come with of course? So it was so weird.

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Speaker 1: We went to Rubies, which is note which is closed

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Speaker 1: by the way in suburban Sware. But I remember sitting

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Speaker 1: in the booth and I was sitting across from this

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Speaker 1: this girl who I did not remember her name for

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Speaker 1: the life of me. And we were sitting there and

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Speaker 1: we were like the wing people, and I just remember

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Speaker 1: looking around and everybody was like staring at our booth.

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Speaker 1: I don't think I said more than like ken words

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Speaker 1: the whole night, but it was definitely it was definitely

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Speaker 1: like a come with us. So it's so we're not alone,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean? He was like, yeah, I

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Speaker 1: don't know what they had, who they helped him. She

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Speaker 1: was a big fan of his. She was he was

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Speaker 1: very nice and we had a very fun night. But

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Speaker 1: I remember I don't I think we said anything. Robbie

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Speaker 1: told me he understood why Kobe asked him to accompany

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Speaker 1: him and Kristen Clement on their day. I mean basketball

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Speaker 1: was of his life, but like he was as normal

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Speaker 1: as the best player in the in country could be,

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Speaker 1: because I think people acting different around him, Like if

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Speaker 1: you were introduced to someone, like if you met me, like, hey,

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Speaker 1: there's a guy who plays lower Marian basketball over there,

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Speaker 1: you would come up to me and say hi, and

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Speaker 1: and be normal. But people never acting normal. They would

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Speaker 1: just say dumb ship or just like act they like

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Speaker 1: they like forgot how to act around him. Around this time,

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Speaker 1: in Kobe's senior year of high school, his fame was growing,

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Speaker 1: sometimes incrementally, sometimes in great leaps. Coverage of his basketball

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Speaker 1: exploits was increasing, which meant more people were reading his

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Speaker 1: name in local and national newspapers, were seeing him on TV,

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Speaker 1: which meant more people were recognizing his face and his name,

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Speaker 1: even basketball's biggest stars, even the biggest sports star in

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Speaker 1: the world, Hey, this is Mike Sealsky, host and writer

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Speaker 1: of I Am Kobe. This podcast project came out of

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Speaker 1: my work on a related book called The Rise Kobe

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Speaker 1: Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality. If you want to

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Speaker 1: explore other parts of Kobe's story, check out The Rise.

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Speaker 1: It's not just a book version of the podcast. I

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Speaker 1: dive deeper into some of the topics covered in this series,

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Speaker 1: and even some that we don't cover at all. Kobe's upbringing,

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Speaker 1: his family, his identity, his effect on his friends and teammates,

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Speaker 1: his journey into the n b A, and his earliest

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Speaker 1: days with the Lakers. The Rise Kobe Bryant and the

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Speaker 1: Pursuit of Immortality is out now. Just head over to

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Speaker 1: the Rise of Kobe book dot com and you can

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Speaker 1: buy it from any of your favorite retailers. That's The

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Speaker 1: Rise of Kobe book dot com. Thanks. On the night

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Speaker 1: of Monday, March eighteenth, the same day that Kobe broke

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Speaker 1: his nose in practice ahead of the state semi finals,

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Speaker 1: he and his father, Joe, went to the Spectrum to

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Speaker 1: see the Sixers play the Chicago Bulls and to get

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Speaker 1: an audience with Michael Jordan's Kobe had met Jordan briefly

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Speaker 1: in eighth grade when Joe had taken him to a game,

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Speaker 1: but this was different. John Lucas, the Sixers coach at

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Speaker 1: the time, invited Kobe into the team's locker room to

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Speaker 1: say hello to his old pickup game friends from the summer,

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Speaker 1: Jerry Stackhouse and Vernon Maxwell. Then Lucas escorted Kobe down

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Speaker 1: to the visiting WAC to meet Michael. Michael had a

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Speaker 1: media people around me. Didn't know what I was. I

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Speaker 1: didn't know. He had it too, want to say, Kobe

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Speaker 1: without right right, right, yeah, trying to another code. I know.

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Speaker 1: The rest out like a hand out and stick his

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Speaker 1: hand so small. The main advice that Michael gave me

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Speaker 1: enjoy it again, I get because a lot of pressure

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Speaker 1: that's going on. I hype that going on was very easy.

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Speaker 1: He can become easily distracted. Therefore, and said, don't let

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Speaker 1: people leave after still yourself and go out there and

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Speaker 1: half fight out there on the court. Everything would be fined.

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Speaker 1: Jordan had no idea, of course, that Kobe had pretty

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Speaker 1: much already made up his mind to go to the NBA,

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Speaker 1: so he did what any loyal North Carolina alumnus would

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Speaker 1: have done. He lobbied for Kobe to go to Chapel Hill.

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Speaker 1: I knew he was gonna say go to Caroline. That's

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Speaker 1: a slap. Said that s about three or four times. Man,

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Speaker 1: it was up to me, I may you go to

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Speaker 1: North Carolina? You know it was cool? Uh But again,

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Speaker 1: like I didn't know he knew anything about me because

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Speaker 1: I'm just saying up during the war and he came

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Speaker 1: up to me, was like, hey, you know, nice being

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Speaker 1: young man. All this thing. It's like that. I'm like,

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Speaker 1: he's like you can about paying the world. You're looking

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Speaker 1: at him and he's just a human being, just like

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Speaker 1: everybody else. Was that like my nervous I was nervous

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Speaker 1: at all. Basketball man to prayer with basketball man, and

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Speaker 1: I knew you can achieve that, go to b but

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Speaker 1: work hard as everybody else. I wasn't nervous at all.

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Speaker 1: I was very hyped up Michael. But I think definitely

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Speaker 1: one that said, n talk to him and hopefully give

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Speaker 1: me some advice. But I can try to pring us

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Speaker 1: right here now. But it would be nice, would be

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Speaker 1: nice to down see he's going through Chiles because things

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Speaker 1: like that, Well, he had done get to wherever. So

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Speaker 1: to me, here's the funny part of that. Now, legendary

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Speaker 1: encounter between the greatest basketball player in the world and

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Speaker 1: young Kobe Bryant. At the time, nobody made a big

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Speaker 1: deal about it. The Philadelphia Inquire barely cared about it

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Speaker 1: or mentioned it. There was a throwaway line and a

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Speaker 1: story about Kobe a few days later. And if you

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Speaker 1: think about it, why would anybody make a big deal

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Speaker 1: of it? There have been lots of quote unquote best

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Speaker 1: high school players in America, and not all of them,

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Speaker 1: not even most of them, turn out to be all

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Speaker 1: time greats. Who thought Kobe was going to be the

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Speaker 1: next Michael Jordan's except maybe his family, Jeremy Treatment and

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Speaker 1: Greg Downer and Kobe himself. I mean, Jordan was thirty

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Speaker 1: three at the time, in his prime and Kobe was

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Speaker 1: just seven. Team But think about this. Michael Jordan's won

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Speaker 1: his last championship with the Bulls in Kobe won his

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Speaker 1: first with the Lakers in two thousand. That's just two

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Speaker 1: years of separation from the king to his heir. When

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Speaker 1: you look at it that way, those few minutes in

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Speaker 1: the locker room before that six years Bulls game back

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Speaker 1: in weren't just a random interaction between an immortal and

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Speaker 1: a kid who admired and emulated him. They were a

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Speaker 1: prelude to a torch passing. There were two more major

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Speaker 1: events that took place in Kobe's life before his time

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Speaker 1: at Lower Marian came to an end. And these events

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Speaker 1: showed two things. One that he was becoming more famous

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Speaker 1: by the day, and two that he knew he was

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Speaker 1: becoming more famous by the day and he liked it.

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Speaker 1: Let's cover the second event. First, in late May, Lower

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Speaker 1: Marian held its Senior Pram, and the gossip at the

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Speaker 1: school came down the one question, who was Kobe going

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Speaker 1: to take? There had been rumors for months. A reporter

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Speaker 1: from the Lower Marian student newspaper actually asked Kobe if

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Speaker 1: he was taking Tatiana Ali, an actress who was starring

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Speaker 1: on the show The Fresh Prince of bel Air Great.

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Speaker 1: I love Champagne, I mean I love the look of it,

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Speaker 1: the color and the and the bubbles. For his part,

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Speaker 1: Kobe was happy to let the scuttlebuts swirm. Here he

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Speaker 1: is talking to Jeremy treatment about it. It would say,

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Speaker 1: first of all, I was joking around at the beginning

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Speaker 1: of the year. I joked around with his girl name

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Speaker 1: Renee Williams was just joking around, right, that's what I'd like,

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Speaker 1: I'll take and I no, no, no, no, I'm okay, okay,

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Speaker 1: that's which I'm taking to the first place. You're like, no, no, no, no,

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Speaker 1: I'm taking. No. I just kind of switching up, playing

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Speaker 1: with him. But the rumors weren't all that far from

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Speaker 1: the truth. And you heard Kobe there mentioned the name

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Speaker 1: of his true eventual prompting the actress and singer Brandy. Now,

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Speaker 1: if that name doesn't ring a bell to you, then

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Speaker 1: you probably weren't alive in the mid nineteen nineties, because

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Speaker 1: in that era, Brandy was everywhere. She had hit songs

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Speaker 1: in her debut album was released and went on to

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Speaker 1: sell more than six million copies. In she began starring

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Speaker 1: in a hit TV show in which she played the

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Speaker 1: title character, a sitcom called Moitia that Kobe and his

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Speaker 1: sisters and seemingly half of young America watched all the time.

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Speaker 1: You can think of her as sort of a younger

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Speaker 1: version of Beyonce in the mid nineteen nineties, with a

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Speaker 1: more wholesome image. Kobe wanted to meet in and he

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Speaker 1: got his chance through another stable of nineties pop culture,

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Speaker 1: the R and B group Boys Two Men. Here's a

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Speaker 1: short version of how it all went down. Kobe's sister Shia,

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Speaker 1: took part in a fashion show. There she met Mike Harris,

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Speaker 1: known as Big Mikey, a marketer and promoter who worked

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Speaker 1: with Boys Two Men. Now, just in case you've somehow

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Speaker 1: missed one of the most successful R and B groups

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Speaker 1: of the last thirty years, a group that has sold

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Speaker 1: more than sixty million records and continues to sell out

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Speaker 1: tours to this day, let me just say that at

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Speaker 1: this time in Boys Two Men was a huge pop

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Speaker 1: music phenomenon that dominated the charts, dominated MTV video airplay,

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Speaker 1: and dominated young women's hearts, especially in Philadelphia. Philadelphia was

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Speaker 1: the group's hometown. Mike Harris was interested in bringing on

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Speaker 1: Kobe as a client too. That's an important detail because

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Speaker 1: it's not like Big Mike was going any lengths for

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Speaker 1: Kobe solely out of the goodness of his heart. So

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Speaker 1: Kobe and Big Mike meet up. Kobe happens to mention

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Speaker 1: that he has a little crush on Brandy. Before you

401
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,320
Speaker 1: know it, Kobe is in New York City a few

402
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Speaker 1: weeks later for the Essence Awards, and he's on his

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Speaker 1: way to the four Seasons hotel in a limousine with

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Speaker 1: Big Mike and two members of Boys Too Men, Mike

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Speaker 1: McCrary and one Yea Morris. One Yea Morris has a

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Speaker 1: room in the hotel and everyone heads up there, going

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Speaker 1: out to his room, and Mike walks in Rome He

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Speaker 1: started giggling, Right, what the hell's going on? I'll walk in.

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Speaker 1: I turned the left A month's job, man, I started laughed, Right,

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Speaker 1: I did the first I've ever been nerved. This cracking up?

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Speaker 1: What else? And all of this was arranged. Big Mike

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00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,000
Speaker 1: had a plan, a scheme to right to coax Kobe

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Speaker 1: into hiring him to have the kid make a big

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Speaker 1: splash on the national scene with the publicity stuff. What

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Speaker 1: nobody in the public knew was Jan Yae Morris and

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Speaker 1: Brandy had been romantically involved. Nevertheless, Big Mike got Morris's

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Speaker 1: permission to have Kobe asked Brandy to lower Marian's prompt.

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Speaker 1: It was all a set up and h So then

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Speaker 1: in there Big Mike, not Kobe, called Brandy and asked

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Speaker 1: her to the prom The man called whatever I mean,

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Speaker 1: the worlds whom I would They're just like that? Okay,

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Speaker 1: back from so when you're nervous. H yes, I mean

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Speaker 1: it was like expected what and I just like um

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Speaker 1: said she said she had. I was just like it

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Speaker 1: more more shot, more than anything, like, hey, how are

426
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:18,840
Speaker 1: you doing? How you doing whatever? I'm saying dying? Yeah,

427
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:23,800
Speaker 1: you can play some ball. The whole thing was an

428
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,240
Speaker 1: odd combination of a cynical hunt for publicity and an

429
00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:31,720
Speaker 1: old fashioned formal courtship. Yes, Brandy did ask her mother

430
00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,640
Speaker 1: for permission to accompany Kobe to the prom. She had

431
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:38,360
Speaker 1: to her mother was her management, and Kobe, the big

432
00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,840
Speaker 1: man on campus, the most recognizable person at Lower Merion

433
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:45,640
Speaker 1: High School, never worked up the nerve to ask Brandy

434
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,880
Speaker 1: to the dance himself. The two of them hung out

435
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:50,960
Speaker 1: a little and chatted on the phone a few times

436
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:55,440
Speaker 1: before finally prom night arrived. Kobe spent the afternoon with

437
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:59,080
Speaker 1: his friend Jermaine Griffin watching a Chicago Bulls playoff game.

438
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:02,879
Speaker 1: Like everybody knows about the house now, Me and Jamaine

439
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:07,600
Speaker 1: watching basketball videos the Buller player players watched the game.

440
00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:12,200
Speaker 1: We're related to, Uh go pick Brandy up at the Marriott.

441
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:14,800
Speaker 1: H go pick it up by myself first of all,

442
00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:18,240
Speaker 1: because I like stopped that target's house. Toby Luca's house,

443
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,200
Speaker 1: drop Jermaine off. They're taking pictures or whatever, and not

444
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:25,560
Speaker 1: with myself to pick Brandy up at the Marriott and man,

445
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:30,840
Speaker 1: she liked she coldress. Everything was just so perfect. When

446
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:33,920
Speaker 1: they got to the Bellevue Hotel in downtown Philadelphia, the

447
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:37,600
Speaker 1: media we're waiting for me. Here's a clip from NBC

448
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,920
Speaker 1: ten Philadelphia that catches them arriving at the prow. Little

449
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,720
Speaker 1: after limo arrived, bringing couple after couple. Everyone was supporting

450
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,560
Speaker 1: all sorts of fashions and hairdoes. Three hours after it started,

451
00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,240
Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant and his date, pop star Brandy Norwood finally

452
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,960
Speaker 1: arrived in a white limo. We pulled around the corner

453
00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:00,240
Speaker 1: of the Bellevue, all these cameras, all these lights and whatever.

454
00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,440
Speaker 1: I'm like, the big deal, ya to seventy ye old

455
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:08,840
Speaker 1: kids going we get out cameras and everybody's asking questions

456
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:12,720
Speaker 1: when people were asked the real through question. But he

457
00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:17,600
Speaker 1: looked at me like what the well when you get

458
00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:22,720
Speaker 1: to sing like like mad, She's like the sweetest deal.

459
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:25,000
Speaker 1: But she's like no, I'm sure don't have a good time.

460
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,040
Speaker 1: And all the class meets who they're bad mouthing the

461
00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:31,400
Speaker 1: whole thing. We get in there, They're like, oh, can

462
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:33,040
Speaker 1: we have a picture with y'all? You know, can we

463
00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 1: get close? Can we talk to you all? And I'm like,

464
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 1: get up bottom my face? Man, it was mouthful. I

465
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,160
Speaker 1: don't know, I don't know, jealous, I guess we walked.

466
00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,800
Speaker 1: The people still were like, Brandy, are you serious? I

467
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:50,200
Speaker 1: thought you said you won't take it. I was like, oh,

468
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 1: A lot, we do. I'm standing there, told my my back,

469
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:56,400
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, I didn't say that. But they're like,

470
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:58,480
Speaker 1: I don't said you want to take it, you know,

471
00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:05,760
Speaker 1: I like, don't madly care about it. I don't care

472
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,920
Speaker 1: about it. Not my friends anyway, you know what I mean.

473
00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 1: My friends people were close to me, have been close

474
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:18,360
Speaker 1: to me the basketball time. Fake friends, that's there. I

475
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,280
Speaker 1: have my close close people to me of course, you know,

476
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:26,040
Speaker 1: guys are a basketball team like my brothers. Interesting, Kobe

477
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:29,640
Speaker 1: was seeing the other side of fame, the whispers, the resentment,

478
00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:33,280
Speaker 1: the curiosity with his every move, and he didn't like it.

479
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:35,800
Speaker 1: He was just a seventeen year old kid, of course,

480
00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,239
Speaker 1: but he was a pretty smart seventeen year old kid,

481
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:40,800
Speaker 1: and one might think that it was hypocritical of him.

482
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,080
Speaker 1: That it showed his immaturity at the stage of his

483
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:47,040
Speaker 1: life to complain about people talking behind his back. You

484
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,120
Speaker 1: can completely understand that a teenager wouldn't want all the

485
00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:52,240
Speaker 1: ins and outs of his life revealed to the world.

486
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,520
Speaker 1: But remember, Kobe had courted all the attention he was getting.

487
00:30:57,360 --> 00:30:59,880
Speaker 1: It was unrealistic of him to think that nobody was

488
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,800
Speaker 1: going to resent him, or be jealous of him, or

489
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:06,160
Speaker 1: think he was entitled and spoiled and full of himself.

490
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:29,640
Speaker 1: All of that brings us back to where we began

491
00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:34,040
Speaker 1: this episode in the Lower Merion High School gymnasium in

492
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:38,280
Speaker 1: late April. Kobe at that lectern for that fateful press

493
00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:41,200
Speaker 1: conference telling the world that he was off to play

494
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:46,720
Speaker 1: pro basketball. Kobe Bryant, I decided to see my talent

495
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:58,400
Speaker 1: to uh no, I have designed to skip Collins in

496
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:03,480
Speaker 1: towns in NBA. He didn't seem to mind the attention

497
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,320
Speaker 1: he got that dead throughout the morning and into the afternoon,

498
00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:10,040
Speaker 1: he welcomed every question from his classmates and teachers. He

499
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,720
Speaker 1: liked having a secret, knowing something that everyone else wanted

500
00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:16,920
Speaker 1: to know but didn't. I picture him walking around all

501
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,200
Speaker 1: day with a sly little grin on his face. He

502
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,000
Speaker 1: had this piece of information about himself that everyone wanted

503
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,320
Speaker 1: him to share, and he wouldn't not until he was ready.

504
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,720
Speaker 1: He was in control of his story. He had to

505
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:33,920
Speaker 1: love it. And the day at the press conference, right,

506
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:35,840
Speaker 1: my classmates coming to you and say, Colby, you know

507
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:37,240
Speaker 1: I to the Crows game. Don't you tell me what

508
00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:41,200
Speaker 1: what's you gonna do? I said, uh no, They help

509
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,640
Speaker 1: people ask me I I don't know yet. He's gonna

510
00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:46,480
Speaker 1: make it up at the sport a moment, but uh,

511
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:48,840
Speaker 1: I'm glad I to turn out. A lot of people

512
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:50,960
Speaker 1: came in and you know, supported or whatever. But the

513
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,360
Speaker 1: whole week before I was really nice to mind what

514
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:57,400
Speaker 1: he was here, folks, and about the whole decision process.

515
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:00,680
Speaker 1: That's just like a normal date to me. Everybody else

516
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:03,320
Speaker 1: is so hype around it that they kept aggravate you

517
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:05,480
Speaker 1: kid in school and asked me and it was class

518
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:07,720
Speaker 1: but it wasn't the same. I just talked about the

519
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:12,720
Speaker 1: whole decision days. Yea, it was money, but it was funny.

520
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:16,640
Speaker 1: Held like an example of one of the classes. Well,

521
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:20,720
Speaker 1: we're actually have that well metal and jeweliry class usually

522
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:26,240
Speaker 1: have to mix stuff little metal bracelets whatever. That day, kids,

523
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: it just running around just asking me. I'm sitting off

524
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 1: close to saying, Oh, what's it gonna be? In my

525
00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:38,080
Speaker 1: kind of listening the conversation. You know I'm got to do.

526
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,120
Speaker 1: You know, I took him a little, put a little

527
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,520
Speaker 1: successions and well, I think you should do it or whatever.

528
00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:56,520
Speaker 1: It was funny, it was back yea. I love the

529
00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,800
Speaker 1: thought of that scene. Kobe Bryant in metal jewelry class

530
00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:03,640
Speaker 1: making a braceletter and necklace, fending off questions about whether

531
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:07,120
Speaker 1: he was going to college or the NBA. The press

532
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,080
Speaker 1: conference had been his dad's idea. Joe thought Kobe's announcement

533
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,239
Speaker 1: was newsworthy enough for such a spectacle, and he was right.

534
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,400
Speaker 1: He also got Jeremy Treatment to plan and set up

535
00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:19,600
Speaker 1: the whole thing. Jeremy wrote up a press release and

536
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:22,239
Speaker 1: called all the local and national media to make sure

537
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:25,360
Speaker 1: they knew about the event. All that build up really

538
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,840
Speaker 1: revealed Kobe's intentions without him having to reveal them himself.

539
00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:33,640
Speaker 1: Think about it. Would he and his family have called

540
00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:36,320
Speaker 1: a press conference if he weren't going to the NBA.

541
00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:39,879
Speaker 1: The answer by them was so obvious and had been

542
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,279
Speaker 1: obvious for so long. If you were reading the tea

543
00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,840
Speaker 1: leaves that Kobe never had to tell anyone outside his

544
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,080
Speaker 1: inner circle what he was doing. And who was in

545
00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:52,960
Speaker 1: that inner circle. Well, there was his father, there was

546
00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:56,440
Speaker 1: his mother, There were the Bryant and Cox families. There

547
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 1: was Sonny Vacara, the sneaker mogul who had signed Michael

548
00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:03,640
Speaker 1: George to his first contract with Nike. By that point, though,

549
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 1: Sonny was working for Adidas, and he had been talking

550
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,520
Speaker 1: to Joe setting up a deal with Kobe for months.

551
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,680
Speaker 1: Included in that deal was super agent. Aren't tell him? Remember,

552
00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,719
Speaker 1: aren't tell him? The kid from Southwest Philadelphia and Lower

553
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:20,960
Speaker 1: Merion Township who grew up admiring Joe Bryant. Well, now

554
00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:25,120
Speaker 1: he was going to represent Joe's son. Kobe's teammates. He

555
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:27,719
Speaker 1: never told then the secret, but he didn't have to.

556
00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:32,640
Speaker 1: They knew same thing with Greg Down That's right. Kobe

557
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:36,960
Speaker 1: never explicitly told his high school basketball coach whether he

558
00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 1: was choosing college or the NBA. When I was at

559
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:43,080
Speaker 1: that press conference, I I really kind of oddly did

560
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:47,040
Speaker 1: not know what he was gonna say. He had, you know,

561
00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:49,960
Speaker 1: a really small inner circle at that time, which was

562
00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:54,680
Speaker 1: probably Joe, Pam and the Coxes and and probably Sonny

563
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:58,360
Speaker 1: Vicarro aren't tell him. But you know, I didn't know

564
00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:01,400
Speaker 1: what was going to happen that day. The sunglasses up

565
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:06,200
Speaker 1: on the forehead. Ah, yes, the sunglasses. Talk show hosts

566
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,960
Speaker 1: and columnus went bonkers over Kobe's decision, and they went

567
00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:13,440
Speaker 1: really bonkers over the spectacle of it, the arrogance of

568
00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:17,000
Speaker 1: it all, the press conference, his manner at that press conference,

569
00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:20,440
Speaker 1: and his attire at that press conference, which included a

570
00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:24,759
Speaker 1: pair of black Oval Designer sunglasses that rested on top

571
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:30,680
Speaker 1: of his head. How dare he improvised? I think a

572
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:35,360
Speaker 1: mother When he came over where the big much had

573
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:37,440
Speaker 1: a couple of shoots out and the side which went out,

574
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:42,920
Speaker 1: I prefer uh he described this problem. It was like

575
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:49,279
Speaker 1: a page kind of covered jack uh halft night beach.

576
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,080
Speaker 1: My kid gave me a detail and really glad like that.

577
00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:00,360
Speaker 1: That was my I've always loved I loved black, and

578
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:05,160
Speaker 1: I figure, why not saw sow I throw mylay in

579
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,480
Speaker 1: and I didn't know the big deal everybody but I

580
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,279
Speaker 1: evened it up. That criticism didn't bother COVID question and

581
00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:15,480
Speaker 1: neither did the questions from the reporters on no, everybody

582
00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:18,480
Speaker 1: must add everything I expected in the ad, and then

583
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:23,520
Speaker 1: I think them some of the questions will really um

584
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,680
Speaker 1: trick kind of questions, really really trying to catch you

585
00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:30,160
Speaker 1: and saying something that that you might regret. And I

586
00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:33,160
Speaker 1: don't know if they they took me for grant, and

587
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:34,920
Speaker 1: they will. He's a young kid. Maybe you won't be

588
00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:38,719
Speaker 1: able to see it. Right. I'm not gonna let you.

589
00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:40,680
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna let you tack me. And I'm saying

590
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:42,279
Speaker 1: something that I thought I don't want to say. I

591
00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:47,040
Speaker 1: look at media questions that that's enough game. It's like

592
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:53,040
Speaker 1: a game game to catch up thinking I can row runner.

593
00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:55,719
Speaker 1: I know you've seen that cartoon. He's always trying to

594
00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:57,719
Speaker 1: catch him. You can never catch him. I think that's

595
00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,719
Speaker 1: a that's how a question kind of trying to catch

596
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:05,680
Speaker 1: get a situation, but thinking devocation. Jeremy Treatment, of course,

597
00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,160
Speaker 1: was one of the first people to learn that Kobe

598
00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:11,000
Speaker 1: was jumping straight to the NBA. It would be easy

599
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:13,000
Speaker 1: and self flattering for him to look back at that

600
00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,520
Speaker 1: time and tell himself and everyone else, Hey, I knew

601
00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:19,359
Speaker 1: what Kobe was gonna do before just about anyone else did.

602
00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:22,160
Speaker 1: But as we sat there together by the Long Beach

603
00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:24,440
Speaker 1: Old in Bay, he made what I thought was a

604
00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:28,040
Speaker 1: pretty honest admission that even he didn't see the big

605
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,719
Speaker 1: picture back then the way Kobe did. Maybe being in

606
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,440
Speaker 1: the eye of a hurricane means you don't see clearly

607
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:38,240
Speaker 1: how it's going to reshape the entire landscape. Was pretty

608
00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:40,080
Speaker 1: naive to this whole thing. And even though like I've

609
00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:43,560
Speaker 1: become one of these big basketball showcase entrepreneurs, I was

610
00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:45,799
Speaker 1: still I was actually pretty naive when I started that too.

611
00:38:46,719 --> 00:38:49,080
Speaker 1: Did I ever think about he was comparing himself to

612
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:51,239
Speaker 1: the NBA at that time? No? Have I ever thought

613
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:54,480
Speaker 1: about it ever, Not really until you know, I think

614
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:57,400
Speaker 1: about it a little bit now. But he definitely was

615
00:38:57,480 --> 00:38:59,680
Speaker 1: preparing him. Him and Pam were definitely preparing him for

616
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:01,960
Speaker 1: life in the n b A. What did you think

617
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,080
Speaker 1: at the time before his senior year, did you think

618
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,280
Speaker 1: this was a kid who could jump straight to the NBA?

619
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:09,880
Speaker 1: Did you think he just mean touring college player? What

620
00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:12,720
Speaker 1: did you think? No? I I didn't think that until

621
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,560
Speaker 1: they told me. To be honest, Um, I did. I

622
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:18,560
Speaker 1: was privy to the plan, but I didn't. I didn't.

623
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:20,600
Speaker 1: I mean, who would have thought it at the time. No,

624
00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:23,520
Speaker 1: But nobody thought about that when Kevin Garnett did it

625
00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:28,839
Speaker 1: the year before. I remember a lot of people were saying, God,

626
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:30,960
Speaker 1: he's so smart, he would have to sit out of here.

627
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,239
Speaker 1: There's no other option either have a seven s a T.

628
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:35,200
Speaker 1: So he bucked the system and he went into the

629
00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:38,920
Speaker 1: NBA and bam number five pick in the draft. And

630
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:42,080
Speaker 1: I remember just thinking, Kevin Garnett, there was such great advice.

631
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:44,760
Speaker 1: Whoever gave it to him? Um? And then with Kobe,

632
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,920
Speaker 1: he was like, No, I did think NBA started him.

633
00:39:47,960 --> 00:40:01,120
Speaker 1: I absolutely thought Michael Jordan's absolutely, but not sure Jeremy

634
00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:04,319
Speaker 1: really thought through the implications of what he was saying there.

635
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,840
Speaker 1: He was right. If Kobe didn't become the next Jordan's,

636
00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:10,840
Speaker 1: he got as close as anyone ever did. But for

637
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Speaker 1: Kobe to reach that level, to develop into the greatest

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00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:17,440
Speaker 1: basketball player on the planet and come close to matching

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00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:20,280
Speaker 1: the greatest of all time, he would have to change.

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00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,040
Speaker 1: As I'll explore in the next episode, Kobe would have

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00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:27,600
Speaker 1: to harden himself even more as he grew older, as

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00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:30,920
Speaker 1: the demands and pressure on him increased, as his world

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00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,839
Speaker 1: grew more vast, and as his world at the same

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00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:38,319
Speaker 1: time shrank, There would have to be sacrifices along the way,

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00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:41,680
Speaker 1: his free time would be scarcer than it already was.

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00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:45,640
Speaker 1: The charms of his youth would begin to vanish, and

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00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:48,080
Speaker 1: he would no longer have room in his life for

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00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:53,280
Speaker 1: certain relationships. His friendship with his old confidante, Jeremy Treating,

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00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:57,120
Speaker 1: would be one of those sacrifices. Sure, I wanted to

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00:40:57,160 --> 00:40:59,359
Speaker 1: be part of his knife. I absolutely, I love the kids,

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00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:02,800
Speaker 1: I love the family. I loved it. You know it

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00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:04,960
Speaker 1: wasn't it wasn't about money, it was about fame. It

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00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:07,239
Speaker 1: was about I want to be. I want to be

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00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:12,040
Speaker 1: part of his life. That's next week on I Am Kobe.

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Speaker 1: I Am Kobe is a production of the Version podcasts

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00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:28,040
Speaker 1: in association with I Heart Radio. This season is written

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00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:31,640
Speaker 1: and hosted by me Mike Sealskin. It's produced by Jacob

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00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:36,360
Speaker 1: Bronstein and directed by Mark Francis. Story editing by Jacob Bronstein,

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00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:40,919
Speaker 1: with editorial direction from Scott Waxy, Editing, mixing and sound

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00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:44,920
Speaker 1: design by Mark Francis. Stephen Tompkins is our production assistant.

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00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:49,440
Speaker 1: Our theme music is Create Yourself by Grover Brown featuring

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00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:55,120
Speaker 1: Justin Starling find Create Yourself wherever you stream music. Music

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00:41:55,160 --> 00:42:00,239
Speaker 1: supervisor is Scott Velasquez. For Freesan Sinking. Executive produce sers

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00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:04,560
Speaker 1: are Mark Francis and Scott Waxman join the conversation about

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00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:07,840
Speaker 1: I Am Kobe on social media on Twitter and Instagram.

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00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:13,000
Speaker 1: It's at diversion Pods thanks to Rain Rosenbaum, Susan Cannavan

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00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:18,040
Speaker 1: and Jeremy Treatment. They rise before the sun. They don't

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00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:20,720
Speaker 1: understand when I said to Brian is fun. Never clocked

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00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:22,719
Speaker 1: you out. Even when my work is done. If they're

670
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:25,040
Speaker 1: trying to block me, I might hurt someone throw the

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00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:28,160
Speaker 1: blood sweat and says, we persefit, stay tending in, let

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00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:30,160
Speaker 1: it keep the hurses and then if they don't believe

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00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:32,960
Speaker 1: in themselves, they revert to find that it Sampa says,

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00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:35,879
Speaker 1: So I'm telling them, ask my am, this the reason

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00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:39,040
Speaker 1: why my work so damn different to the negatives. I

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00:42:39,239 --> 00:42:42,480
Speaker 1: can't listen see me at the time. You can't listen

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00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:46,160
Speaker 1: where I'm a vote to play like cash is see

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00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:49,319
Speaker 1: I pay my dudes because Texas gotta work. I thinking

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00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:51,560
Speaker 1: Brian ahead of his time. So I'm saying that they

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00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:56,799
Speaker 1: made you. Don't tell them you create yourself. Finn watch us,

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00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:01,799
Speaker 1: but that's you got snake clock, then break clock break

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00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:07,680
Speaker 1: We create ourselves watch me, watch me to create myself.

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00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:15,040
Speaker 1: Shack client times up and create yourself. Stay nice. Ain't

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00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:19,520
Speaker 1: so hard create yourself. You gotta learn from the great minds. No,

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00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:22,920
Speaker 1: we ain't lying. Tell them next game time. This time

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00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:25,960
Speaker 1: I wasn't given it was made the future. Any time

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00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:28,320
Speaker 1: I could change better, tell them that I made it

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00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:31,239
Speaker 1: back home as I walked through the hearts of the fact,

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00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:33,439
Speaker 1: I came from the valley of the shadow with death

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00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:36,480
Speaker 1: waiting for us. Some spoons. Don't hold your breath, sat Town,

691
00:43:36,600 --> 00:43:38,560
Speaker 1: sat train. But I did it with less. I know

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00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:41,520
Speaker 1: warm that the being so there's nothing to guess. Yeah,

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00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:44,600
Speaker 1: there's nothing to guess. It's our times and then we

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00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:47,400
Speaker 1: up next. We don't got any regrets. I did it

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00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:50,400
Speaker 1: with my soon hands, and we never forgets my This

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00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:54,239
Speaker 1: the reason why my work so damn different to the negatives.

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00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:57,240
Speaker 1: I can't listen see me at the time. You can't

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00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:02,480
Speaker 1: listen for where rebuild, reshape, give me your eye. You

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00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,319
Speaker 1: got to risk take do it now. When I'm saying

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00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:07,440
Speaker 1: why wat, I was saying that they mayn't it will

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00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:10,840
Speaker 1: tell them you create yourself the best you finn or

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00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:15,920
Speaker 1: watch us by It's by that time you've gotta sneak click,

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00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:20,640
Speaker 1: then creak clock creak. We Create yourself, Watch me question,

704
00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:27,680
Speaker 1: watch the Create Myself exac clim times LP. Create yourself

705
00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:33,520
Speaker 1: may nice and ain't so hard. Create yourself. Gotta learn

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00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:36,000
Speaker 1: from the great minds. No, we ain't lying, tell them

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00:44:36,040 --> 00:45:03,960
Speaker 1: next anytime. Diversion Podcasts