WEBVTT - The Bond That Broke 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:15.080 Diversion podcasts. People give you closer for you now. You know, 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:18.400 that's kind of funny too. What people who are rich 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:23.599 don't have to buy things because everybody wants them to 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:25.520 endorse their clothes. They'll give it to one for free. 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:28.560 The people w are poor, they try to raise the price. 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.360 You know what I'm saying as that's weird. That kind 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:35.199 of tripped me out because I think, you know, I 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.400 have money, I'm going to be buying all these sneakers 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:41.640 and shorts and tank tops and he'll figure and Polo 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:44.199 and guests and now they're like, oh please wait this 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:46.400 where this? What kind of what do you want? Okay, 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:49.519 what kind of sneaking you want? Yeah? No, give them 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:52.080 to you for free? Yah? Then what you do endorse 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.120 their products? Like could you wear this? If you want, 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:57.360 we can give you this or just ask for something. 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.280 Since the start of the pandemic, I've spent more time 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:14.319 in my home office than I have anywhere else. In 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:18.160 one corner is a big bookcase. In another corner is 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:20.959 my desk. That's where I did much of the research 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:23.960 and reporting and just about all of the writing for 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:27.200 my book about Kobe Bryant. I could make phone calls, 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:30.880 I could search online databases, and as much as I 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.880 love my wife and two sons, I could close the 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:36.080 door on them so I could get some work done 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:40.240 in peace and quiet. Early on in my writing process, 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:43.679 I reached out to someone who twenty five years earlier 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:46.679 had also tried to write a book about Kobe. It 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:49.520 was Jeremy Treatment. You've heard a lot about him in 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:53.559 this series. I called Jeremy, knowing his own Kobe book 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:56.800 project had been scuttled at some point, but also knowing 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.880 he was still in touch with several of Kobe's coaches 0:01:59.880 --> 0:02:04.680 and teammates from Lower Merion High School. Jeremy kept transcripts 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:09.840 from his interviews with Kobe from and he handed over 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:16.160 a cardboard box full of those transcripts and other material. Later, 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.880 when he found the tapes of those interviews, he gave 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:22.480 those to me too. I kept the tapes in that box, 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.799 and I kept that box right next to my desk. 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.200 I had easy access to the tapes there in case 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:31.440 I needed to listen to them or read over the 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:34.880 transcripts as I was writing the book. And I have 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:38.320 to admit that sometimes I just pick up the transcripts 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:42.280 and page through them, reading Kobe's words, trying to put 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:46.720 myself there, listening to him speak, imagining what it must 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:49.880 have been like to know him, that a seventeen or 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:53.000 eighteen year old kid who knew exactly what he wanted, 0:02:53.720 --> 0:03:06.160 and what he wanted was immortality. Here's the sample, chapter four. 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:13.560 Here's how the chapter would have started out. The build 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:15.920 up before the draft was a very exciting and scary 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:18.560 time for me because I really didn't know what was 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.600 going to happen. All I knew is that my dream 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:24.160 was about to be answered. I just didn't know where 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:30.680 I was going to live my dream. That was from 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:33.840 one of the chapters that Jeremy had written from Kobe's perspective. 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:36.360 There were three or four chapters like that in that 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:40.320 cardboard box, each of them about ten pages long, preserved 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:44.320 for a quarter century. I've listened to the tapes sometimes too, 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.480 to get a feel for Kobe, for his voice. It 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:50.720 was like my own little space of living Kobe history, 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:55.040 right there in my office. The thing is, Jeremy didn't 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.120 even listen to the tapes before he let me have them. 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:00.560 It wasn't until I met him on Long Child in 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:03.880 August several months later, and I played him a bit 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.520 of them that he heard them for the first time 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:09.720 in more than twenty years. When was the last time 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:14.240 you heard any of these? Day Kobe got rid of 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:18.240 his family today assault ended. Two thousand one was the 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:22.520 year that Jeremy's relationship with Kobe changed, because Kobe's relationship 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:26.400 with his family changed. Two thousand one was the year 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:29.760 that Kobe married his wife, Vanessa, which led to a 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:35.279 falling out between him and his parents, Joe and Pam. 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:38.120 There's been a lot of speculation about why the Bryant 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:41.240 family fractured as it did. From what I gathered and 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.560 talking to people who knew Kobe well back then, the 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.279 problem came down to this. Kobe felt like he was 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:52.479 ready to move fully into adulthood to get married, and 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:56.799 his parents thought he was too young. That separation marked 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:00.839 the moment symbolically and practically that Kobe he left much 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.800 of his Lower Marian life behind, not all of it. 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.960 He kept in contact with Greg Downer, and he visit 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.640 his old high school every year or so, but for 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:13.640 the most part he had become a Laker, fully engaged 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:16.800 in his NBA career, in his life on the West Coast, 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:21.520 and in Los Angeles culture, of beautiful weather and famous people. 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:25.400 He got used to the public adulation, the love from 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:29.320 the fans. The wonder and naive te you heard in 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:31.960 that opening clip I played for you at the beginning 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:36.680 of this episode, slowly disappeared. He got used to getting 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:40.719 clothes for free, more and more lower Marian and the 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:43.960 friends he had made there were receding into Kobe's past. 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.440 For example, after he entered the n b A, he 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.280 stayed in touch with his former teammate Guys Stewart for 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:58.840 a while, but just a while. I think the first 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:03.440 tour three years, we talked pretty frequent whenever he would 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:06.680 come to play the Sixers or you know, when the 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:08.760 season was over, he would be home and we would 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.520 hang out. And then I think, you know, as the 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:15.560 bigger he got, he worked even harder, if even if 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.560 that was even possible, because he wasn't the type of 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:20.160 guy that was just going to get to the league 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:21.880 and be like, all right, I'm in the league, that's 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.719 that's okay. No. He he wanted to get to the league, 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:26.960 and he wanted to dominate the league, and he wanted 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:29.960 to be the best ever. Um So he worked like 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:34.440 it and with your work ethic your schedule becomes crazier, 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:37.880 and you know, you just naturally drift apart. You know, 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:41.200 I'm in school, I'm studying, and I'm kind of doing 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.400 my own thing, and he's doing his own thing. But 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:48.120 it was never any love loss. It was whenever we 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:52.200 got together or talked on the phone, it was great. 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:55.279 It was like we never missed a beat. So for 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:57.680 the first three years we talked pretty pretty frequent, and 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:01.240 then it kind of doing go down a lot more 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:17.440 um the years after that, Jeremy's relationship with Kobe evolved, 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:19.960 if that's the right word for it, in the same way. 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:23.960 And remember he hadn't been close just to Kobe. He 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:27.360 had been tight with the entire Bryant clam If there 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.520 wasn't a clean break between him and Kobe. As Kobe 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.640 moved on from Lower Marian and progressed in his pro career, 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:38.120 there was certainly more distance between them. But during that 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.800 day Jeremy and I spent together on Long Beach Island. 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.640 This year, I could tell that listening to the tapes 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.120 closed some of that distance. For Jeremy. It had been 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.560 nearly thirty years since he met Kobe. It had been 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:53.440 twenty five years since he was there on the aces 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:57.960 sideline celebrating a state championship with Kobe. It had been 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:02.280 twenty years since he heard the tapes, but that special 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:06.200 period of time was fresh in his memory. Kobe had 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:08.520 been dead for a year and a half, but he 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:12.720 was alive in Jeremy's mind and heart. It wasn't about money, 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:14.800 was about fame. I wanted to be a part of 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:17.120 Copy's life. I absolutely I love the kid, I love 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:31.840 the family. I loved him. I'm Mike Sealsky and from 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:38.480 the Version podcasts, this is I am Kobe the West 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:50.880 settle to Create Myself, Create Yourself, Stay nice on Create Yourself. 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:53.880 Got a lot of really great mass, but we gained 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:59.520 last sets Getting Time Episode nine, The Bond that Broke. 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:07.280 Before he joined Greg Downer's coaching staff at Lower Merion 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:11.240 High School in the fall of Jeremy already had gotten 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:13.800 to know Kobe and the rest of the Bryant's pretty well. 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:16.560 He and Joe had met when they were both coaching 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.560 at a Keba Hebrew academy, and that connection allowed Jeremy 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.000 to enter Kobe's inner circle. But it wasn't until Lower 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:27.440 Marian's Christmas time trip to Myrtle Beach for the Beach 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:31.400 Fall Classic that he and Kobe really bonded. They had 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:33.880 to bond on that trip. They were roommates for it. 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:37.880 The team stayed in Myrtle Beach for five nights, and 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:41.400 the players and coaches had modest accommodations in town at 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:45.040 the Swamp Fox Motel, not far from the city's convention center, 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:48.480 where the tournament was being helped. The original plan was 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.920 for Kobe to room with Greg Downer's brother Drew, who 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:55.040 you'll remember from episode four was one of the team's 0:09:55.040 --> 0:10:03.120 assistant coaches, but that plan changed. Here's Jeremy. Kobe did 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:08.800 not want to room with True Downer. So I guess 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:12.199 Gregg on tent was, I'm gonna have my biggest enforcement 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:14.920 guy at room with Kobe and make sure he's safe 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:18.840 and make sure nobody messes with him. And I think 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:21.240 Kobe said to me, like, you know, I want to 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:22.880 room with you up there. I'm like, fline with me, 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:26.240 and then Toby go tell Greg and he did. Why 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:28.240 do you think he wanted to room with you? I 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:31.000 think he wanted to room with me because we were close, 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:35.520 and because it's this one adult on the entire trip. 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:40.400 That would keep secrets. It would be me. And so 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:42.520 what if everybody thought he was sleeping but he was 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:45.880 out being a girl, or if he was out playing 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.920 or Mr Curfew, I wouldn't tell him. I would have 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:52.640 to say that's true, and I would have to say 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:56.240 I had zero problem with it. I was flattered and honored, 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:59.000 you know, to be rooming with him. At this point, 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:01.959 Jeremy already he had approached Kobe and his parents with 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.000 the idea of writing a book about him. They loved 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:07.760 the idea and thought he was the perfect person to 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.480 do it. Now he and Kobe would have plenty of 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.640 time together to talk. Their sweet had two bedrooms, a 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:16.599 smaller one in the front and a larger one in 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.600 the back. Jeremy figured that as the coach and as 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.680 the adult, he would take the bigger rooms. Seemed natural, 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:26.559 So I put my stuff in the back bags put 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:28.679 back on the first. Bet He says, why don't you 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:30.840 stay here? And then you know, then you can hang 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:33.319 out with being come out sometimes and hang out with 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.760 the bean in the back. He said to Bet. He 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:39.640 never said the bean to me, ever, he was charming me. 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:42.319 He said, why why you let me stay back here? 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:44.400 I'll come over here well, and then you can come back. 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:46.720 Sometimes you can hang out with the bean. We could 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.599 talk about stuff, we could work on the book. The 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:52.280 setup seemed ideal for Jeremy to get to know the 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:55.120 best high school player in the country even better than 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:58.120 he already did. There was just one thing that worried. 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:02.719 I was only nervous about getting the bathroom wet and 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:06.080 having him slipped and causing the end of Kobe Bryant's career. 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:10.439 And that's the neurotically Jewish man in me, because I 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:12.800 come from a family where my older brother would splash 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:14.520 the bathup so bad we'd all come in there, go 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:18.000 fly in. And I was I was honestly nervous about that. 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:20.600 I was almost afraid to take a shower because I'm 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:22.600 known to just let the water fly all over the place. 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:24.640 And I'm like, Nope, my roommate's Kobe Briant. I can't 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:40.920 do that. Hey, this is Mike Sealsky, host and writer 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.439 of I Am Kobe. This podcast project came out of 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:47.960 my work on a related book called The Rise Kobe 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:51.040 Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality. If you want to 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:54.320 explore other parts of Kobe's story. Check out the Rise. 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.520 It's not just a book version of the podcast. I 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:00.520 dive deeper into some of the topics covered in the series, 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:03.920 and even some that we don't cover at all. Kobe's upbringing, 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:07.880 his family, his identity, his effect on his friends and teammates, 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:11.199 his journey into the NBA, and his earliest days with 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:15.000 the Lakers. The Rise Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.920 Immortality is out now. Just head over to the Rise 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:22.120 of Kobe book dot com and you can buy it 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:26.040 from any of your favorite retailers. That's The Rise of 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:43.000 Kobe Book dot com. Thanks. I've spent a lot of 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:45.679 time in this series diving into the crucial moments in 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.960 Kobe's early life. Well, this was a crucial moment for Jeremy. 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:52.880 He was realizing that he didn't really want to write 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.319 for a newspaper anymore, that he didn't want to be 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:58.640 on the outside when it came to sports. He didn't 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:00.880 want to write about the games. He wanted to have 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.319 a direct hand in the games. He wanted to coach them, 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:08.559 set up and schedule them, promote them. He wanted to 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:12.760 be on the inside. And I can understand why when 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.160 he was a kid growing up in Lower Merion Township. 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:18.960 Just like Kobe, Jeremy had always been on the outside 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.320 of things. His family was one of the first Jewish 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:25.440 families to move into his neighborhood in the nineteen seventies, 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:29.160 and he had jumped up a grade in school. So 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:32.320 even though he was as smart or smarter than all 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.920 the other students in class, he was younger and smaller. 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:39.600 That's a tough spot for a kid. And Jeremy told 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.160 me that back then he dealt with a lot of bullying, 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:46.360 a lot of teasing, and a lot of behavior that well, 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.640 let's just say, the kids who weren't Jewish weren't getting 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:53.680 treated as harshly as he was. But he had been 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:56.960 accepted by Kobe and the Bryant's. That meant a lot 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.920 to him, and now he had a chance to learn 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:02.960 as much as he could about Coupe, to get to 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:06.480 know him on a more personal, intimate level, and to 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:10.840 help tell his story in their book. He didn't get 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:13.560 that chance because he was a reporter for a big newspaper. 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:17.520 He got it because he was part of the Lower 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:22.880 Marian program and part of Kobe's life was it at 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:25.080 that point more important to you to be on the 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.960 inside with Kobe than on the outside covering him. Definitely, 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:31.440 I definitely felt like it was a great opportunity be 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.120 on the inside. I did know that he was going 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:39.080 to be jumping. I'm I'm almost positive because I do 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:42.400 remember Joe also called me saying, well, I wanted you 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:44.560 to be on the staff. And they had both discussed 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:46.840 with me that it's going to go from high school 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.760 the NBA. And I had this idea my freshman year 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:51.760 in the NBA by Kobe Bryant with Jeremy Treatment, and 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:55.080 they both said absolutely, just such a novelty. He was 0:15:55.120 --> 0:16:00.200 just such an unbelievable story at the time. There's no arts, 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:04.440 There's no well educated person who didn't need money jumping 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:06.240 in the NBA in the history of the NBA. And 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:08.640 it was a unique story. A kid who didn't grow 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:11.960 up here, who appealed to everybody. I mean, he was 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:17.320 just clean cutter, marking kid that you know, every everybody 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:19.640 was falling in love with. That was one of the 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:22.680 big reasons that Jeremy thought people would go gaga for 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:25.560 a book about Kobe. There was just enough of an 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:29.080 edge to him that he would be intriguing Kobe Bryant 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:42.600 decided to see my talents to uh No, I have 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:51.480 decided to skip Collins and my talents in NBA. Thanks 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:53.480 to the trade that the Lakers made but the Charlotte 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:55.760 Hornets to get him, he'd be playing for one of 0:16:55.800 --> 0:17:02.480 the NBA's premier franchises, maybe it's most prestigious franchise as 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:04.879 Magic ever, Consul, do you ever told you anything about 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:07.960 the game? Um? Not really. We really had really had 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:10.200 an opportunity and saw so far this season. But I'm 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:12.520 definitely looking forward to having some conversation with him and 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.800 his background. His upbringing in Italy and in Lower Marian 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:20.359 His father's playing and coaching careers set him apart from most, 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:24.640 if not all, of his peers. One time, Jeremy showed 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:26.959 me a list he had made of all the topics 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:29.480 he wanted to cover with Kobe in their book. The 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:34.440 list went on for several pages, because I don't think 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:42.919 it funny something years ago. Yes, smiles on the academic, 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:44.920 but he wasn't allowed to play basketball unless you's done 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:48.320 his homework. Kenney. He had toy stories like that, so 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:50.320 I know I know he got his homework on. I 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:54.680 know he his work seriously, and I think that. I 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:59.280 think the background in Italy, where school was important um 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:04.520 properly really helps in that. Plus, Jeremy had access to 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:07.760 Kobe and had earned his trust at a pivotal time 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.080 in Kobe's life. Kobe had been well known in the 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.720 Philadelphia area and in basketball circles, but now that he 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.240 was a professional athlete, he was starting to experience a 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.360 different kind of existence. It was one thing to take 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:24.240 Brandy to the prom a is a pr move, and 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.000 have some of his classmates resent him for it. It 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.359 was another thing to have strangers know you were a 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:34.760 first round draft pick and a multimillionaire and to have 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.760 them think you owed them something. Here's one example Kobe 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:42.280 told Jeremy about after the Lakers had traded for him, 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:47.600 he went to a house party in West Philadelphia. I 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:49.680 don't believe it is We'll tell you that one time. 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:53.840 This flash party. You pay to knowledge to get here 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:59.679 in West Philadelphia. I know, whatever side for a little bit, 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:03.560 come out, We walk around. This girl comes up, a 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:05.399 good looking girl, you know what I'm saying. Comes to 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:08.440 He's like be around, like, yeah, can you near me? 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:13.320 Ten dollars? I was like uh huh. You're like, I 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:14.840 don't have any money. I want to I really want 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:17.600 to get this blast body blocks, but I'm like, you 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:19.240 got all this money he was to dollars. I'm like, 0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:21.720 if I know, I'm be like, look, this is my 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:24.880 damn money. And then I'm saying I work for this money. 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:29.560 I just like, um um, She's like, bro, I'll pay 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.920 you back. I'm melingant down to the Lakers. I'm saying. 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:36.280 I'm like, can you believe I'm not believe I'm hearing this. 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.000 I cannot believe it. I was just like I finally 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:42.200 came up with something. I said, I'm sorry, I only 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.240 have plastic. Like all that money, you can't be carrying 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:47.600 around in cash. I only have plastic. They take plastic 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:49.679 and then they take visa mask. I'll hook you up. 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:52.879 They don't. You can't think that for you. It's like, 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:55.960 you know you got money, you got plastic. You want 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:58.320 me to do break the plasket? You know what I'm saying, 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:07.280 So I'll made it's in the Lakers, look right National Bank. 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.640 It was those kinds of funny personal anecdotes that Jeremy 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:26.600 thought would make the book appealing first to publishers. And 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:30.240 then to readers, I have to say, my freshman year 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:32.480 in the n b A isn't a bad title, and 0:20:32.600 --> 0:20:35.840 the idea of an inside look at Kobe's last year 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:38.880 of high school and first year of pro ball definitely 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.440 had some allure. But the book couldn't be something that 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:45.240 Jeremy worked on whenever he felt like it or whenever 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:48.360 he had a free moment. He would have to make 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:52.679 a major commitment of effort and time. So would Kobe, 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:56.160 and Jeremy wondered how the project might change the nature 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:59.560 of their relationship. I certainly was curious about it. I 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:03.119 mean I certainly thought I was, you know, I was 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:04.960 hoping that I was gonna have a role or hoping 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:08.159 to be out in Los Angeles because, uh, the dad 0:21:08.240 --> 0:21:10.040 said he wanted me to be around him, you know, 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:12.840 stay around him, whether it was with the buckle or 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:15.800 anything else. So you know, I was. I was invited 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:18.800 there many times. I mean I think I was out 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:21.120 there eight eight times or so the first couple of years, 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:24.639 and he was getting good stuff. It took some prodding 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:28.040 and coaxing, but once Kobe started to live in NBA life, 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:32.240 he gradually got more open with Jeremy more revealing. You 0:21:32.359 --> 0:21:35.000 listen to these tapes and you really do get an 0:21:35.040 --> 0:21:37.760 inside look at what Kobe was thinking when he was 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.639 eighteen nineteen years old. Here he is talking about how 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:45.480 he approached his entrance to the NBA and the expectations 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:47.840 that people would have him. I didn't want to come 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:53.800 in like the shaquillo, like maybe I could press weapon. 0:21:54.240 --> 0:21:58.760 Why has all these expectations? Ryan noys him? And even 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.280 if you're performing great, still not good enough. It's never 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:07.359 gonna be thesplicating people for kind eat and then sneak 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:11.800 up more people. Nexting people are saying, oh great, you 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:14.120 know that. That's how I always want to down people, 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:16.919 more people, kind of like a shark. That's a fascinating 0:22:16.960 --> 0:22:19.560 piece of tape. I had never thought of Kobe as 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:23.320 sneaking up on anyone when it came to basketball. He 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:27.159 struck me more as being like Nukeluloche, the hotshot pitching 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:31.119 prospect played by Tim Robbins in Bull Durham. I always 0:22:31.160 --> 0:22:34.400 felt like Kobe wanted to announce his presence with authority. 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:38.119 I was a little Mary and I'm a lad No. 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:44.480 I was kind of surprised and shot at first, but 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:47.240 you know now, I was just like, Okay, now I 0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:49.720 don't want to win a championship. I'm not stepping in 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:52.320 there saying okay, I just want to have a next 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:54.639 movie season. If you get a championship five, if it 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:58.640 wasn't kinda five, not like that. I want to give 0:22:58.680 --> 0:23:01.080 this championship I want to get. And now it's gonna 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:04.720 be like that every every year. I won't tell me 0:23:04.760 --> 0:23:08.080 ship next year. Next year, I'm coming back and say, look, man, 0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:10.960 I'm wanna get a chimpship. A cam say shot, come on, man, 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:13.840 let's go. Let's get this. Get another one Michael got 0:23:13.880 --> 0:23:16.760 for Let's get five. Man, come on, let's go. And 0:23:16.920 --> 0:23:19.359 I'm saying, so that's how it's gonna be from this 0:23:19.480 --> 0:23:23.119 point where you can hear how much deeper Kobe's voice 0:23:23.320 --> 0:23:26.560 is here compared to the earlier tapes. He doesn't sound 0:23:26.600 --> 0:23:29.399 like a kid anymore, and no one's treating him like 0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:33.200 a kid anymore. Take the first time he met Magic Johnson. 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:38.679 Kobe described the entire encounter to Jeremy. The circumstances were 0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:41.520 exactly what you would have expected. They met in a 0:23:41.640 --> 0:23:45.840 gym and played pick up at first steps jenneral you 0:23:45.880 --> 0:23:48.440 said ratter and he comes and walk through the door. 0:23:49.320 --> 0:23:51.560 I looked back on the steps and I still welcome 0:23:51.560 --> 0:23:56.240 to the man. He comes up to me, have you 0:23:56.560 --> 0:24:00.160 left my mom? I'm doing I'm doing good. So out 0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:04.440 of seats on sneakers and temptops. So he's playing. I'm like, alright, cool, 0:24:04.480 --> 0:24:07.640 I can go over against Magic. So the first couple 0:24:08.080 --> 0:24:10.720 totally leaves game. Just pick up games. I first THI 0:24:10.800 --> 0:24:12.240 the games were the same team. Then I have to 0:24:12.320 --> 0:24:15.920 we against each other. That were like three games they like. 0:24:16.760 --> 0:24:19.080 So he comes back like the Newt's day. And when 0:24:19.119 --> 0:24:21.639 it was like three games, you know, he's now whatever. 0:24:21.720 --> 0:24:27.320 We're talking trash each other. Um. Sometimes sometimes sometimes you 0:24:27.359 --> 0:24:29.600 would come out like I can remember one time we 0:24:29.640 --> 0:24:32.720 had to picking a rule and I feel we forced 0:24:32.760 --> 0:24:35.240 him to switch out so I had to win. So 0:24:35.320 --> 0:24:38.480 we got as isolation somebody related with magic. So I'm 0:24:38.520 --> 0:24:41.959 looking right, I'm not really playing that much attention. I'm like, man, 0:24:42.040 --> 0:24:44.040