The former champion says that he is the reason that Kobe Bryant went straight to the NBA instead of going to college.

Mamba Day is just around the corner, and official images of the Nike Kobe 8 Protro ‘What The Kobe' have officially surfaced.

His team went on to win the game and the championship, with Bryant's high school career being impressive enough for him to enter the NBA straight out of school. Kobe Bryant was among the NBA's ...

It’s hard to imagine Bryant ever feeling like he didn’t ... I wouldn’t trade that experience for the world. I was so shy in high school that I walked home for lunch to make sure I wouldn ...

Bryant finished his high school career in 1996, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons and becoming the leading scorer with 2,883 points. Kobe Bryant has won 5 rings in 20 seasons in the NBA.

While the late Kobe Bryant never experienced the pageantry ... Dante Maddox Jr., whose father is the head coach at Bloom High School in Chicago, only catches a whiff of March Madness projections ...

Andrew Nemec covers national high school recruiting and brings more than a decade of experience. Andrew hosts "Recruiting with Andrew Nemec" on ESPN-affiliate 1080 The FAN in Portland, Oregon.