WEBVTT - The Taste Of Fame 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:13.039 Diversion podcasts, Test Sport or five, Test Sport five, Test 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:15.200 Sport five. The first thing I want to ask you 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.200 about what you think about was all we best fount 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:20.360 and post off your mind most it like your home. 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:24.160 But I wasn't. I wasn't really thinking about the whole thing. Okay, 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:26.599 if my father asked me when when I would like 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:28.960 that at prest count I was like, come on, it 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:31.200 really didn't matter to me. You know, I didn't care. 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:32.800 But I think my mother and father, I can't do 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.599 it really nervous, like can since that, and I'll kind 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:39.320 of tease them any more ever, denying that's kind of 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.120 plaining me. They're running around make sure I knew what 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:44.640 to say, how to say everything, and things like that. 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:46.400 I was just cracking up because it really wasn't that 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:50.919 verity with this, and so the whole week basically that's 0:00:50.920 --> 0:01:01.720 where it was. Back in July two thousand ten, everyone 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:04.640 in America, at least everyone in America who cared about 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:09.920 professional basketball, was fixated on a single question, what team 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.280 with the biggest basketball star in the world, Lebron James, 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:18.759 play for next. Lebron had spent his first seven NBA 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:23.000 seasons with his quasi hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. He 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.640 had grown up a few miles away in Akron, But 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:28.000 now he was a free agent and he could play 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:30.839 for any team he wanted. And when he was ready 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:34.200 to reveal his decision, he reached a deal with ESPN 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:38.679 to televise his announcement. He hand picked an interviewer, famed 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.319 sportscaster Jim Gray, to help build up some artificial drama, 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:46.800 and then he said, this Um, and this fall man 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:50.040 very tough, Um, and this fall I'm gonna take my 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.960 talents to South Beach and Um joined the Miami Beach. 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:56.920 Any basketball fan who watched that interview and who had 0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:59.800 a good memory heard something in those words that should 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.760 have infamiliar. Lebron James might be the greatest basketball player 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.840 of all time. But when he made that announcement, the 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:11.200 one thing he wasn't was original. That line, I'm going 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:15.720 to take my talents too, wasn't his not first. He 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:18.360 ripped it off from a seventeen year old high school 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.520 senior who made a similar announcement way back in the 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:39.760 spring of Kobe Bryant decided talents to uh I had 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:45.840 designed to scoop college towns in India. That was Kobe 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:51.720 Bryant on Monday April at Lower Merion High School in 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:55.880 a pack gymnasium, making it official. He wasn't going to Duke. 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.040 He wasn't going to the South. He wasn't going to 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:03.040 North Carolina or Arizona or Michigan. He wasn't going to 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.960 college at all. He was going straight to the n 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:09.720 b A two months later, the Charlotte Hornets took him 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:12.760 with the thirteenth pick in the NBA Draft, then traded 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:17.079 him to the Los Angeles Lakers. That press conference represents 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.720 the apex of Kobe's confidence and self assurance during his 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:25.040 high school years. During that little pause before he says, no, 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:28.399 I have decided to skip college, he puts his hand 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:32.160 to his chin like he's thinking about something. He's pretending 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.120 playing to the crowd, like he was an actor or 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:39.200 a talk show host. A few days before that press conference, though, 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:43.080 Kobe wasn't so confident. In fact, he had been questioning 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:46.520 himself about the wisdom of his decision. Those doubts didn't 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.640 last long, but they were there, and Kobe needed some 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.040 help and advice to get over them. He needed to 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:54.920 talk to his dad, Joe the first time I probably 0:03:54.920 --> 0:04:00.520 really doubted myself saying, well, I'm not It was it. 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:02.360 It was the first time he ever died you something. 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.080 You never died something in high school. You never died you. 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:10.160 So okay, ye, people with doubting you're saying that you 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:12.480 can't do this, you can't do that. You pulled them 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:18.360 all on, said, nybody, I can do you. Never doubt yourself. 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:20.840 So last time. Now, I think that was that was 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.239 great advice because I have I've never dined a myself, 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:26.560 all right, because I've always worried as hard a pop, 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:31.919 always wanted, always will poself. You don't want to do 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:43.640 good work hard that, don't do it. Kobe had kept 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:45.799 this secret from most of the people in his life, 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.239 even many of those very close to him, his coaches, 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:51.920 his teammates. They thought he might jump to the pros, 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:54.760 but they didn't know for certain. Only a very few 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:58.279 people did. Jeremy treatment was one of them. I'm still 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:01.760 amazed by that that no one really knew that a 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:05.000 teenager went to such lengths to keep a secret. When 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.520 I visited Jeremy on Long Beach Island, I asked him 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:09.800 about it. What do you think that says about him, 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.000 that he was able to keep that secret and that 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.599 he was willing to kind of only tell certain people 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:22.919 about he was smarter than anybody we knew. Well, I 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:26.000 think a lot of people surmised it, but nobody, nobody 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:28.280 actually had heard him say it. But I mean, I 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:30.359 don't think people were surprised to day of that press conference. 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.920 But until you actually hear it, you know, it's like 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:37.000 their grandfather is dying and like everybody sad, he's sick, 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:39.200 and then but when he actually dies, it's like, oh 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:41.920 my god, it happened. You know, it's like, oh my god, 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:44.479 the press conference happened. He actually said he's going high school, NBA. 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:46.800 It really happened. So it was it was kind of 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:51.360 like that. With that announcement, Kobe Bryant launched himself into 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:54.479 the stratosphere of stardom, and he would remain there for 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:57.520 the rest of his life. But for many weeks before 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:01.200 that press conference, he had already been taste celebrity, getting 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:04.440 close to it, seeing what it was like, and sometimes 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.200 it was hard for him to handle. In fact, he 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.400 needed Jeremy Treatment's help with what you think would be 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:13.840 the easiest thing for a superstar high school athlete to 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:21.920 do he needed help getting a date. I'm Mike Seals 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:29.479 and from Diversion Podcasts, this is I am Kobe the 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:40.719 state rat state to create myself. Self, Create yourself, very nice, 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:46.600 create yourself? Got any great minds that we gain? Gaining time? 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:53.080 Episode eight, The Taste of Fame. We'll come back to 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:55.840 that faithful press conference later. First, I want to give 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:59.159 you a little context for all that confidence that seventeen 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:02.520 year old Kobe flashing there. Like I said, he may 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.320 have been completely poised on the basketball court or even 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:08.039 an electern in a huge room full of people, but 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:11.320 in other settings he wasn't so sure of himself, and 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:19.920 often those settings involved girls. Now I realized we're heading 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:23.800 into sensitive territory here. In two thousand three and two 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:28.080 thousand four, Kobe Bryant was accused of and charged with 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:33.880 sexual assault. At the least, he committed adultery, At the worst, 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.280 he was alleged to have committed a heinous crime. It 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.560 may be tempting to draw a straight line between Kobe's 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:45.320 social life and habits as a teenager and his alleged 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:48.480 actions as a grown man. It may even be natural 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:53.400 and understandable everyone brings his or her own experiences and 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:57.440 perspective to this topic and has his her own opinion 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:03.840 on that aspect of Kobe's life and story. I'm not 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:06.440 going to tell you how to feel or what to 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.400 think about Kobe or about what he did or did 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:13.360 not do. What I will do is present his own words, 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:17.920 present anecdotes I uncovered during my research for this podcast 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:22.240 and for my book, Present my own insight, and let 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:28.400 you decide for yourself. Yo. Talking about how cook Treatment cook, uh, 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:30.440 you know, I heard a lot about it. I just 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.720 want to go check out see plate and con She 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.640 was a game and she was getting busy. Cheah child 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:53.240 like bad. Jeremy Treatment celebrated his thirtieth birthday in February 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:59.080 by introducing Kobe to Kristen Ace Clement. She was the 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.959 female version of Kobe Bryant at the time, the top 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:05.920 female high school basketball player, certainly in the Philadelphia area, 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:09.160 perhaps in the country. Her name hadn't been in the 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:11.760 press as much as Kobe's, but she was something of 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.280 a local celebrity. Five ft eleven with long brown hair, 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.080 She had been linked romantically to Eric lynd Ross, the 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:21.839 star player for the Philadelphia Flyers, hockey team, she also 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.199 had serious game. She went to Cardinal O'Hara High School, 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:29.320 a girl's basketball powerhouse not far from Lower Merion. She 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.000 later went on to play for legendary coach Pat Summit 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:35.880 at the University of Tennessee. Here's how they described her. 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:39.040 During a broadcast on NBC ten of Philadelphia, dried and 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.960 Smith called her an All American. USA Today called her 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.320 the best player in Pennsylvania. But as big Almelton reports 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:48.960 to her friends and teammates, Kristin Clement simply called eight. 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.880 Jeremy had covered Clement for the Inquired High School Sports show, 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:55.120 the TV show that the paper had started just a 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:57.840 year or two earlier to focus on the high volume 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:01.280 of amazing young town in the Philly area. He set 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:04.160 up a meat cute for Kobe at one of her games. 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:08.480 Kobe saw himself and Clement on similar tracks, both elite 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:12.840 basketball players, both under the glare of the spotlight. And remember, 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:17.240 Kobe was so immersed in basketball, so focused on honing 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:19.920 his game and making it to the NBA, that he 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.199 could be challenging for him to make time for dating 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:24.400 or to find a point of connection with a member 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:27.800 of the opposite sex. He had a quasi girlfriend throughout 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.319 high school, a girl he met at a party, but 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:32.959 most of their dates consisted of her coming over to 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:36.920 the Bryant's house to watch basketball games and basketball videos 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.360 with Kobe. Not exactly the most romantic thing for two 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:44.240 teams to do on a Friday night, but with Kristen Clement, 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:47.880 he had that connection through basketball. He sat in the 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:51.680 bleachers and watched her play, and after the game Jeremy introduced. 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.880 From there, they chatted frequently on the phone. Sometimes Kobe 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.040 would call her from a pay phone after practice or 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.120 a game, but he insisted they were dating in the 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:03.800 traditional set. You know, we have a lot of commage 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:06.199 because she didn't number one player. I'm the number one player. 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:08.679 It's about the same thing she's going through a junior 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.080 year I went through my junior year. So you had 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:12.760 a lot of things in common. We're talk on the 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.720 phone about that stuff a lot. You know, a lot 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:20.240 of people say, well, they're they're romantic or whatever and 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:23.199 things like that. That's really out the kid, which is 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:27.040 very in close friends and we get along very well. 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.240 She made a big decision for to Tennessee and junior. Yeah, 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:32.400 I give a lot of guts for that, because album 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:38.760 I would never do anything like actually exactly exactly. But 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:40.520 when I give a lot of prayer now, I wish 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.079 you the best hope next year and next she is 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:46.160 gonna be very active when you've heard whatever the met 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:48.720 did you think I would start ship that relationship from her? 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:51.280 Whatever it is. I can expect that because we have 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:53.920 so much in common. You know, was just gonna be 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:56.120 like a high bid thing. Because you have so much 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:58.959 in common. I can see and I think she understands that. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:01.920 So we're talking about other things, you know, songs and 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:06.719 movies and games and things like that. We just really 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:10.520 hang out and have fun. She's another friend. Um, you 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:13.000 love getting your ears right, and I love watching the play. 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:16.600 She she can play. This is on the show. Oh 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:22.880 my god. People to play. It's like it's like watching 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:24.719 the great player and go to work. You know. I 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:26.800 know when people come to watch me play, I don't. 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:28.280 That's why she comes to watch me play, because I 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.559 can put on the show. I'm come to watch the play. 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:32.480 He could put on the show. People some kind of 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.440 look at it, said, well, they're going out because they're 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:39.240 at each other's games and things like that. But I'm thinking, 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:41.439 I'm like, why what are you doing there? You're come 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:43.920 to watch the play, right, I'm saying, what you're doing, 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.000 That's what I'm doing. I just put on the show. 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:53.440 So it's been j j dropping. He's been he's been 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:57.920 the only one. He's been the only one people tracking 0:12:57.920 --> 0:12:59.640 a little Joe's but a lot of people are saying 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.560 things wondering, you do you understand when it's in the spotlight, 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:07.680 people automatically want to say, we understand that. The Robbie 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:10.720 that Kobe and Jeremy mentioned there, of course, is Robbie Schwartz, 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:13.600 who I introduced you to in the last episode. Kobe's 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:16.480 lower marrying teammate and passenger on those rides to the 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:22.720 gym for Kobe's early morning workouts. But Robbie was more 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:25.240 than just a guy who chased down rebounds for Kobe 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:27.720 or sat on the bench for the aces during games. 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.559 He was his wingman. On one of Kobe's dates with 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:34.000 Kristin Clement, they went on a double date to a 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.280 restaurant in Ordinary. It was a memorable night for Robbie, 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.280 but not because of his date or the dinner conversation. 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.720 Here's Robbie talking to me about Kobe and Kristina. Of course, 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.240 we went to Ruby's one night. This was after one 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:48.199 of our games. I think she came to one of 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.000 our away games. So we're like getting off the bus 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:52.559 and he says to me, he goes, you want to 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:54.040 He goes, you want to come to Ruby's with me? 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:56.960 I'm like what. I was like, what are you talking about. 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:59.000 He's like ye. He's like, He's like, I'm supposed to 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.120 meet Ace there. She's bringing a friend. He was, you 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:07.040 want to come with of course? So it was so weird. 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.679 We went to Rubies, which is note which is closed 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:12.679 by the way in suburban Sware. But I remember sitting 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:14.839 in the booth and I was sitting across from this 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.360 this girl who I did not remember her name for 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:19.800 the life of me. And we were sitting there and 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:22.600 we were like the wing people, and I just remember 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:26.160 looking around and everybody was like staring at our booth. 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:28.440 I don't think I said more than like ken words 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:31.560 the whole night, but it was definitely it was definitely 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:35.240 like a come with us. So it's so we're not alone, 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:37.680 you know what I mean? He was like, yeah, I 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:39.720 don't know what they had, who they helped him. She 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.240 was a big fan of his. She was he was 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:45.360 very nice and we had a very fun night. But 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:48.160 I remember I don't I think we said anything. Robbie 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:50.920 told me he understood why Kobe asked him to accompany 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.800 him and Kristen Clement on their day. I mean basketball 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:57.760 was of his life, but like he was as normal 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:00.720 as the best player in the in country could be, 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.200 because I think people acting different around him, Like if 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.000 you were introduced to someone, like if you met me, like, hey, 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:10.720 there's a guy who plays lower Marian basketball over there, 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:12.720 you would come up to me and say hi, and 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.200 and be normal. But people never acting normal. They would 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:19.360 just say dumb ship or just like act they like 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:23.120 they like forgot how to act around him. Around this time, 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.960 in Kobe's senior year of high school, his fame was growing, 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.800 sometimes incrementally, sometimes in great leaps. Coverage of his basketball 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:34.280 exploits was increasing, which meant more people were reading his 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:37.800 name in local and national newspapers, were seeing him on TV, 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:41.800 which meant more people were recognizing his face and his name, 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:46.480 even basketball's biggest stars, even the biggest sports star in 0:15:46.560 --> 0:16:02.880 the world, Hey, this is Mike Sealsky, host and writer 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.360 of I Am Kobe. This podcast project came out of 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.880 my work on a related book called The Rise Kobe 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:12.960 Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality. If you want to 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:16.280 explore other parts of Kobe's story, check out The Rise. 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:19.440 It's not just a book version of the podcast. I 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.440 dive deeper into some of the topics covered in this series, 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.880 and even some that we don't cover at all. Kobe's upbringing, 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:29.800 his family, his identity, his effect on his friends and teammates, 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:32.760 his journey into the n b A, and his earliest 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:36.400 days with the Lakers. The Rise Kobe Bryant and the 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:39.800 Pursuit of Immortality is out now. Just head over to 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.720 the Rise of Kobe book dot com and you can 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:47.200 buy it from any of your favorite retailers. That's The 0:16:47.440 --> 0:17:10.639 Rise of Kobe book dot com. Thanks. On the night 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:15.080 of Monday, March eighteenth, the same day that Kobe broke 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:18.080 his nose in practice ahead of the state semi finals, 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:21.320 he and his father, Joe, went to the Spectrum to 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.320 see the Sixers play the Chicago Bulls and to get 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:28.439 an audience with Michael Jordan's Kobe had met Jordan briefly 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:30.840 in eighth grade when Joe had taken him to a game, 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:34.600 but this was different. John Lucas, the Sixers coach at 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.680 the time, invited Kobe into the team's locker room to 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:40.359 say hello to his old pickup game friends from the summer, 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:45.640 Jerry Stackhouse and Vernon Maxwell. Then Lucas escorted Kobe down 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:48.960 to the visiting WAC to meet Michael. Michael had a 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:53.600 media people around me. Didn't know what I was. I 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:59.400 didn't know. He had it too, want to say, Kobe 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:06.280 without right right, right, yeah, trying to another code. I know. 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:10.119 The rest out like a hand out and stick his 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:16.760 hand so small. The main advice that Michael gave me 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:24.439 enjoy it again, I get because a lot of pressure 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:26.680 that's going on. I hype that going on was very easy. 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:33.000 He can become easily distracted. Therefore, and said, don't let 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:36.320 people leave after still yourself and go out there and 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:39.080 half fight out there on the court. Everything would be fined. 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.080 Jordan had no idea, of course, that Kobe had pretty 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:44.520 much already made up his mind to go to the NBA, 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.200 so he did what any loyal North Carolina alumnus would 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:51.000 have done. He lobbied for Kobe to go to Chapel Hill. 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:54.640 I knew he was gonna say go to Caroline. That's 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:59.879 a slap. Said that s about three or four times. Man, 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:02.440 it was up to me, I may you go to 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:07.160 North Carolina? You know it was cool? Uh But again, 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:10.760 like I didn't know he knew anything about me because 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:12.159 I'm just saying up during the war and he came 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:14.120 up to me, was like, hey, you know, nice being 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.879 young man. All this thing. It's like that. I'm like, 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:21.520 he's like you can about paying the world. You're looking 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:23.159 at him and he's just a human being, just like 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:26.680 everybody else. Was that like my nervous I was nervous 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:31.159 at all. Basketball man to prayer with basketball man, and 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:33.000 I knew you can achieve that, go to b but 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:36.639 work hard as everybody else. I wasn't nervous at all. 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:42.959 I was very hyped up Michael. But I think definitely 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:47.119 one that said, n talk to him and hopefully give 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:48.760 me some advice. But I can try to pring us 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:52.680 right here now. But it would be nice, would be 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:57.440 nice to down see he's going through Chiles because things 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:06.600 like that, Well, he had done get to wherever. So 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:09.720 to me, here's the funny part of that. Now, legendary 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:13.080 encounter between the greatest basketball player in the world and 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:25.600 young Kobe Bryant. At the time, nobody made a big 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:29.040 deal about it. The Philadelphia Inquire barely cared about it 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:31.560 or mentioned it. There was a throwaway line and a 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.760 story about Kobe a few days later. And if you 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:37.440 think about it, why would anybody make a big deal 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:40.800 of it? There have been lots of quote unquote best 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:43.639 high school players in America, and not all of them, 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:45.800 not even most of them, turn out to be all 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.399 time greats. Who thought Kobe was going to be the 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:52.399 next Michael Jordan's except maybe his family, Jeremy Treatment and 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:56.480 Greg Downer and Kobe himself. I mean, Jordan was thirty 0:20:56.520 --> 0:20:59.399 three at the time, in his prime and Kobe was 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:04.879 just seven. Team But think about this. Michael Jordan's won 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:09.560 his last championship with the Bulls in Kobe won his 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:13.760 first with the Lakers in two thousand. That's just two 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:18.040 years of separation from the king to his heir. When 0:21:18.080 --> 0:21:20.359 you look at it that way, those few minutes in 0:21:20.400 --> 0:21:22.840 the locker room before that six years Bulls game back 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:27.879 in weren't just a random interaction between an immortal and 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:31.080 a kid who admired and emulated him. They were a 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:37.200 prelude to a torch passing. There were two more major 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:39.720 events that took place in Kobe's life before his time 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:42.520 at Lower Marian came to an end. And these events 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:46.600 showed two things. One that he was becoming more famous 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:50.000 by the day, and two that he knew he was 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.879 becoming more famous by the day and he liked it. 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:58.119 Let's cover the second event. First, in late May, Lower 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:01.000 Marian held its Senior Pram, and the gossip at the 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:04.520 school came down the one question, who was Kobe going 0:22:04.600 --> 0:22:07.959 to take? There had been rumors for months. A reporter 0:22:08.040 --> 0:22:11.560 from the Lower Marian student newspaper actually asked Kobe if 0:22:11.600 --> 0:22:14.919 he was taking Tatiana Ali, an actress who was starring 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:20.359 on the show The Fresh Prince of bel Air Great. 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:25.480 I love Champagne, I mean I love the look of it, 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:31.640 the color and the and the bubbles. For his part, 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:34.520 Kobe was happy to let the scuttlebuts swirm. Here he 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:39.480 is talking to Jeremy treatment about it. It would say, 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:41.240 first of all, I was joking around at the beginning 0:22:41.280 --> 0:22:44.120 of the year. I joked around with his girl name 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:48.800 Renee Williams was just joking around, right, that's what I'd like, 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:58.080 I'll take and I no, no, no, no, I'm okay, okay, 0:22:58.640 --> 0:23:05.480 that's which I'm taking to the first place. You're like, no, no, no, no, 0:23:06.920 --> 0:23:10.040 I'm taking. No. I just kind of switching up, playing 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:12.960 with him. But the rumors weren't all that far from 0:23:13.000 --> 0:23:16.880 the truth. And you heard Kobe there mentioned the name 0:23:17.040 --> 0:23:22.080 of his true eventual prompting the actress and singer Brandy. Now, 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:25.000 if that name doesn't ring a bell to you, then 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:28.280 you probably weren't alive in the mid nineteen nineties, because 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:32.720 in that era, Brandy was everywhere. She had hit songs 0:23:32.880 --> 0:23:36.119 in her debut album was released and went on to 0:23:36.240 --> 0:23:40.720 sell more than six million copies. In she began starring 0:23:40.760 --> 0:23:43.080 in a hit TV show in which she played the 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:47.040 title character, a sitcom called Moitia that Kobe and his 0:23:47.160 --> 0:23:51.400 sisters and seemingly half of young America watched all the time. 0:23:52.440 --> 0:23:54.000 You can think of her as sort of a younger 0:23:54.160 --> 0:23:57.119 version of Beyonce in the mid nineteen nineties, with a 0:23:57.160 --> 0:24:00.800 more wholesome image. Kobe wanted to meet in and he 0:24:00.880 --> 0:24:04.200 got his chance through another stable of nineties pop culture, 0:24:04.760 --> 0:24:07.879 the R and B group Boys Two Men. Here's a 0:24:07.920 --> 0:24:11.480 short version of how it all went down. Kobe's sister Shia, 0:24:11.560 --> 0:24:15.280 took part in a fashion show. There she met Mike Harris, 0:24:15.680 --> 0:24:18.800 known as Big Mikey, a marketer and promoter who worked 0:24:18.840 --> 0:24:22.280 with Boys Two Men. Now, just in case you've somehow 0:24:22.359 --> 0:24:24.480 missed one of the most successful R and B groups 0:24:24.520 --> 0:24:27.200 of the last thirty years, a group that has sold 0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:30.239 more than sixty million records and continues to sell out 0:24:30.280 --> 0:24:33.000 tours to this day, let me just say that at 0:24:33.080 --> 0:24:37.240 this time in Boys Two Men was a huge pop 0:24:37.359 --> 0:24:42.960 music phenomenon that dominated the charts, dominated MTV video airplay, 0:24:43.440 --> 0:24:48.840 and dominated young women's hearts, especially in Philadelphia. Philadelphia was 0:24:48.920 --> 0:24:52.480 the group's hometown. Mike Harris was interested in bringing on 0:24:52.600 --> 0:24:56.359 Kobe as a client too. That's an important detail because 0:24:56.400 --> 0:24:58.560 it's not like Big Mike was going any lengths for 0:24:58.680 --> 0:25:02.320 Kobe solely out of the goodness of his heart. So 0:25:02.520 --> 0:25:05.919 Kobe and Big Mike meet up. Kobe happens to mention 0:25:06.200 --> 0:25:08.920 that he has a little crush on Brandy. Before you 0:25:09.000 --> 0:25:11.320