Kobe Bryant’s lengthy basketball resume includes two Olympic gold medals, so it makes sense that U.S. athletes meeting with reporters in a series of news conferences before the upcoming Tokyo Games evoked the former Lakers star’s name.
The best story of the week involved the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, where Bryant joined in a game of spades with several players from the women’s national team.
“There was a little wine involved and he got very competitive in drinking the wine,” recalled Sue Bird, a four-time gold medalist. “And it was like he didn’t want to be behind anybody on these glasses.