Kobe Bryant 's impact on the basketball court was not just felt in the city of Los Angeles, and the U.S. Basketball fanatics across Italy celebrated all those championship trophies and individual accolades KB collected throughout his illustrious 20-year career.
Kobe's Italian qualities
Bryant lived in Italy between the ages of six and 13 while his father, Joe Bryant, played professionally for several teams in the country.
Those were formative years for the young Kobe, both in life and in basketball. The country remembers Bean not just for his superior basketball prowess but also for his affinity with Italian culture.
"All of the NBA players are important, because they're legends, but he's particularly important to us because he knew Italy so well, having lived in several cities here," Italian basketball federation president Giovanni Petrucci told The Associated Press.
"He had a lot of Italian qualities. He spoke Italian very well. He even knew the local slang," Petrucci added.
Those were critical years for "The Black Mamba". Even though he was young and slim, and his fundamentals were unpolished, Kobe tested his mettle against the big boys. Several photos and documentation of a young NBA MVP matching up against grown men in Italy. The Philly native was forced to learn the ropes quickly or get left behind.
Knowing Kobe, he diligently studied the language to talk smack and understand strategy and tactics. The five-time NBA champion was known for his attention to detail. Bryant obsessed over everything. Seemingly trivial matters like language and slang were very essential to him.
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Can't forget about your roots
Kobe's deep connection with Italy helped the country in many ways. Young Italian ballers tuned in to the NBA simply because of Bryant's roots in the country. Even when the 18-time All-Star reached basketball immortality, he did not forget about the country that helped shape his personal and professional life.
"He was a supernatural," Italian coach Ettore Messina, who worked with Bryant as an assistant for the Lakers, told the AP. "To hear him speak and joke in our language and to remember when his father played here and he was a kid drew a lot of people to the NBA."
"He was also always very attentive to help Italian kids arriving in the NBA and to help them enter such a tough and competitive world. He also did that with me when I arrived at the Lakers, and I'm still very grateful to him for that," he added.
The whole world misses Bryant, his basketball talents, great intelligence, and love for life. Italy, the country that helped create one of the best ballers ever, is proud of its greatest adopted son.
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