Former Nebraska basketball star Erick Strickland, arguably the best defender to ever play for the Huskers, took his hard-nosed approach into the NBA for nine seasons starting in 1996.
Yes, that was the season that a teen-age Kobe Bryant showed up in Los Angeles as a Laker rookie with monster plans.
What a wonderful period for the NBA, with the likes of Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Ray Allen and Stephon Marbury entering the league. Strickland remembers it all with a matter-of-fact fondness, if you will.
A graduate of Bellevue West now living in suburban Dallas, Strickland guarded Bryant dozens of times, but didn't get to know Kobe personally.