Kobe Bryant was shutting down his critics since he was 15 years old.
It was in Italy where honed his basketball skills. Once he went back home to the States, Kobe continued mastering the sport. Little did he know that he would face critics that underestimated his talent.
Speaking with HuffPost co-founder Arianna Huffington, Bryant shared some interesting bits about growing up in Italy and the first incident that sparked the fire inside.
Kobe said, per the .
When asked about when did the light go off, Kobe remembered a basketball camp he attended in the States.
Bryant added.
From the looks of it, Kobe was used to getting snubbed early on. To recall, Kobe was the 13th overall pick of the 1996 NBA Draft. He worked out for several teams, including the other Los Angeles squad, the .
According to Kobe, the Clippers passed up on him because they didn’t feel that the city would take them seriously if they drafted a 17-year-old kid. The Clippers have been on his hit list since.Also, after left the , critics hounded Kobe, saying he could never win without the Big Diesel. After hearing their criticisms, no matter how unfair, Kobe made it his mission to win at least an NBA Championship by himself. It was a tough journey, but Kobe accomplished the seemingly impossible feat.
