Growing up in Burbank, CA, I idolized Kobe Bryant.
I fell in love with sports — basketball in particular — at a very young age and some of my earliest memories are sitting on the couch with my dad and watching Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal dominate the league to the tune of three straight championships.
They were the reason I started playing basketball and wanted to become a YMCA Jr. Laker at six-years-old and to this day, they are still the reason that basketball is a big part of my life writing for Lakers Nation.