Before starring in NBA, Kobe Bryant was a Philadelphia high school prodigy

PHILADELPHIA — Kobe Bryant, a prodigy at Lower Merion High who leaped into the NBA at 17 and became a basketball legend during two spotlit decades with the Los Angeles Lakers, was killed Sunday when his private helicopter crashed in Calabasas, Calif.

Bryant was 41 and had been retired since the 2015-16 season.

On Saturday, during an L.A. Lakers-Philadelphia 76ers game at Wells Fargo Center, LeBron James surpassed Bryant’s career point total of 33,467 to move into third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

A fiery competitor, he also projected an icy cool, a dichotomy that gave him cachet with young basketball players everywhere.

“I wear No. 24 because of Kobe,” Imhotep Charter senior KamRohn Roundtree said Sunday. “That was my favorite player growing up. To find out he died, it really hit me hard.”

Fans are at Bryant Gym at Lower Merion high school tonight remembering Kobe Bryant

Kobe's accomplishments are on display everywhere @6abc #Kobe #KobeBryant pic.twitter.com/eLCNmRXqfz

— Jeff Skversky 6abc (@JeffSkversky) January 26, 2020

But while he was one of the greatest talents to emerge from the basketball-rich Philadelphia area, Bryant wasn’t universally loved here, in large part because of a two controversial comments early in his career.

During one of his first returns as a Laker, he insisted on a distinction that riled area fans, claiming he wasn’t really a Philadelphian because he had been raised and played outside the city in one of its more upscale suburbs. Then, after his Lakers lost to the 76ers in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals, Bryant predicted he would come back here and “cut their hearts out.”

The Lakers did capture the title in Philadelphia, the second of the five he won, and even his most ardent critics came to acknowledge him as among the best to ever play the game.

Kobe Bean Bryant was born August 23, 1978, in between his father’s third and fourth seasons with the 76ers. His unusual middle name was a nod to Joe Bryant’s nickname, “Jelly Bean.”

When the elder Bryant’s NBA career concluded in 1983, he moved his family to Italy, where he played professionally for another seven seasons. Growing up abroad, Bryant learned the language, eagerly absorbed the culture, and most significantly, began to hone his rare basketball talents. By the time the Bryants returned to the United States and settled in Lower Merion, he was primed for a record-setting tenure there.

A four-year starter with the Lower Merion Aces, Bryant set a Philadelphia-area scholastic scoring career record, surpassing the totals of Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons with 2,883 points. He was already a one-name national sensation when, as a senior, he averaged 30-plus points a game, leading the Aces to a PIAA championship and winning the Naismith High School Player of the Year Award.

He was 6-foot-6, strong, quick, physically gifted and intelligent, assets teammates and coaches said were burnished by a frightening competitiveness.

“There’s an oft-told story of him chasing 5-7 Bobby Schwartz through the hallways after a Schwartz turnover cost Kobe’s team a victory during a drill,” said Michael Egan, a Lower Merion assistant then.

Heavily recruited by Villanova, Duke, Michigan, North Carolina and dozens of other schools, Bryant was invited to a workout by 76ers coach John Lucas. After Lucas said the teenager was good enough to be the first overall choice, Bryant entered the NBA Draft.

He was chosen 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets and subsequently traded to the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant was a HUGE Eagles fan

Kobe was soooo happy watching the Eagles win their 1st Super Bowl with his family 2 years ago, he could not control his excitement @6abc#Eagles #KobeBryant#Kobe pic.twitter.com/3kdxP3jM1Z

— Jeff Skversky 6abc (@JeffSkversky) January 26, 2020