I'm teammates with Kobe

Chapter 161 Demons and Angels

December 12th should be the day for the Lakers to train. Every time they come to Philadelphia to play away games, Kobe always asks for leave to miss training.

"Boss, where are we going?"

"Take you to a small event, and take a walk around by the way."

"okay!"

A stretched Lincoln drove Kobe and Chu Xiao out of the Hilton Hotel. The destination was unknown. Chu Xiao admired the buildings of different styles and cultural sculptures everywhere on the street through the car window.

About half an hour later, the car drove up to a maroon and gray building complex in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Chu Ke got out of the car, and the driver continued to drive to the parking garage.

This is a school, the most conspicuous is the bulldog logo, and then the school name: Lower Merion High School.

"Boss, isn't this your alma mater?" Chu Xiao asked in surprise.

"Of course, I brought you here this time to prepare for some activities. I'm in charge of donating money, and you are in charge of playing ball with the children, haha." Kobe smiled extraordinarily happily.

"It's no problem. I wish I could play in the boss's alma mater." Chu Xiao felt a little excited after thinking about it, and then he asked with some uncertainty, "Boss, they treated you like this, and you still..."

Kobe knows what this kid is going to say, "they" naturally refers to those Philly people who hate Kobe, including the billboard they saw when they entered the city. It should be some people know that Kobe is coming, and they are disgusted to put an advertisement there. .

"It's different," Bryant explained. "Some people in Philly saw me as the devil, but at Lower Merion, my alma mater, I was an angel."

"Ah, what's the difference?" Chu Xiao was a little puzzled when he heard this.

"Of course!" Kobe explained with a smile, "This is where I came from, where I grew up, I didn't go to college, so this is also my college. So, this is where all my memories are. I just left Philadelphia, when I joined the Los Angeles Lakers, the relationship between me and my hometown city was very tense. Especially in 2001, when my team defeated the 4ers with a total score of 1-76 to win the championship, the people in my hometown took me As a "traitor", but only the teachers and juniors at Lower Merion High School understood me. They embraced me with open arms, then supported me, encouraged me, and filled my heart with light , They still treat me as a part of the family, this is the love for me."

Because of this, every year when the Lakers visit Philadelphia and play the only away game in a year, Kobe will never forget to pass by his alma mater, go back to Lower Merion High School to see his former mentors and coaches, and guide him in the school. little players.Tomorrow, the Lakers will challenge the 76ers in an away game. Kobe did not forget to go home and have a look before the game, but this time he brought Chu Xiao with him, which made the latter feel a little special.

In early 2010, Kobe donated $41 to his alma mater to help his alma mater build a new gymnasium. The board of trustees decided to name the newly completed gymnasium "Kobe Bryant Stadium".

Today, just as Kobe returned to his alma mater, the school held a welcome ceremony in front of the gymnasium.

More than 4000 students were wearing Kobe's high school jerseys. When Kobe and Chu Xiao stepped into the court together, the audience was full of excitement. His coach Greg Downer, former teammates Jermaine Griffin, Will Carter and others, while the latter is currently the assistant coach of the school basketball team, and Kobe's high school teacher at the time, Jenny Masteri Yano and others, they just looked at Kobe quietly, expecting him to have a speech.

"Well, I'm actually really nervous, even though I come every year." Kobe said to the juniors at the scene, with a big smile on his face.

"Wow..." He responded with laughter and exclamations at the scene. In the subsequent speeches, enthusiastic students interrupted the process again and again with cheers.

"I'm grateful to be back here, and I'm glad you've welcomed me here," Bryant said. "It's a great opportunity for me to have the opportunity to help the next generation of young talent at this school." A very important thing. I hope you guys can continue to have dreams, continue to have a goal, and don't let others look down on you. Because-I am such a person, never lose my dream, never stop fighting .”

"...There will definitely be certain ups and downs on your road. You will struggle several times, but you will get out. You need a strong spiritual force from your heart. If I want to propose a request, then I will ask you to do your best no matter what you do, because I still want to see more great people come out of this school..."

Kobe's speech lasted only 5 minutes, but his speech was intense for all the young people present, including Chu Xiao. He found that Kobe didn't make a draft when he was speaking, and many golden sentences were said on the spot. When he is not training, he always likes to read more books. It seems that this really helped him.

After the speech, the students returned to the classroom for class. Chu Xiao and Kobe visited the gymnasium accompanied by their former mentors and coaches. On the four walls around the gymnasium, huge photos of famous Lower Merion High School athletes were hung. It was Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, Siegel (professional PGA golfer), Jim Brogan (former NBA player).Under the photo, four words that inspire the athletes - integrity, dedication, passion and pride - are written.

Among the four huge photos, Bryant's is an old photo from many years ago, when he held up the state championship trophy in the 1996 Pennsylvania basketball game.And another photo wall is also very closely related to Kobe, that is Kobe's former coach, Greg Downer, in the photo he is directing the game.

"You stepped into the NBA without taking any shortcuts, and then you came home today, as the greatest basketball player in the world, and brought us such a wonderful stadium." Donner said in front of Chu Xiao He warmly praised his disciple Kobe.

Later, Downer also revealed a small secret to Chu Xiao who was accompanying him: "Kobe likes to wear a Lower Merion jersey under the Lakers jersey, just like Jordan's Bulls jersey back then. There was always a North Carolina jersey hidden away, a secret only me and Kobe knew, and now you know it too."

"I think it's a little different, but I didn't know it was Raul Merrion's jersey." Chu Xiao explained that he often changed clothes with Kobe. He had noticed this situation a few times, but he didn't have the nerve to ask.

Jermaine Griffin, a teammate who won the state championship with Kobe at the time, told how Kobe and him determined to win the state championship at that time, "We were very disappointed that year. After we were out of the game, when we walked out of the stadium , we found that there was no more games to play, and that feeling of loss made us work hard, and this is how we achieved the final success."

The assistant coach at the time, Will Carter, told Chu Xiao, "He is the example we set when we emphasized to the players that we must work hard. Kobe was very hardworking and responsible. He is the greatest player on the planet. , he used to play for this high school."

When these people were telling Kobe's heroic deeds and trying to praise him, Kobe just followed behind and listened quietly, shaking his head and laughing from time to time.

In fact, every time Kobe returns to his alma mater, the schedule is relatively short, the purpose is to try not to affect the children's study and training.

After visiting the gymnasium, Kobe went to the financial office led by the school staff. This time he donated another 10 US dollars, hoping to improve the training facilities of the students and help those sports students from poor families.

For some reason, Chu Xiao suddenly thought of the fat black woman who helped her as a cleaner in the prison. She had five children to support, and it must have been very difficult. I have not found the time to repay my help.

When Kobe went to donate money, Chu Xiao played basketball with the children of the school basketball team. He didn't rely on his talent to bully everyone, but showed some skills in offense and under what circumstances it would be more effective Wait, this benefits the kids a lot.

After leaving the campus, Kobe took him to City Avenue in West Philadelphia. The car made a turn on the road and then stopped in front of a two-story wooden house. The whole house was painted creamy white. There are many flowers and plants planted in the front yard.

Afraid of being recognized, Kobe did not get out of the car, but pointed to the wooden house through the car window and said, "This is my former home in Philadelphia. When we were 13 years old, after we returned to Philadelphia from Italy, my father used Bought this house for $90 so I lived here all through high school and when I got to the NBA my parents lived here for a long time until it was first sold in 2008 you Perhaps unexpectedly, it sold for more than 300 million U.S. dollars at that time."

"Tsk tsk..." Chu Xiao was speechless for a while, but then he figured it out again, and he didn't look at who lived in this house, maybe someone would buy it for 500 million.

Kobe pointed to the back of the house again, and he could vaguely see a basketball hoop in the backyard. He continued, "The backyard is my favorite, because there is a basketball hoop there, and there is my basketball world, and it is my gateway to my dreams." place."

Chu Xiao couldn't sit still when she heard the words, she must go down and have a look. Through the fence, you can see that the yard is very clean. The flowers and plants in the front yard are only planted on the side of the house and the edge of the yard wall, and the rest of the open space is The asphalt road was painted, clean and without a leaf falling, extending to the basketball court in the backyard.

The new owner of the house doesn’t seem to like playing basketball, so the basketball stand has not been well maintained. Some parts are seriously peeled off and rusty. The most pitiful thing is that the net under the basket has long disappeared, leaving only a bare one hoops.

Chu Xiao originally thought that the owner of the house was a bit reckless, but when he went back to the door of the front yard again, he understood everything. The new owner of the house was called Kate, and he left a phone number. It turned out that she/he was selling the house. Underneath the phone was written, "When we moved in, everyone, and I mean everyone, said you know who lived here? So, if you like that person and want to live where he lived ,please contact me."

(End of this chapter)