Transcription
It's the most fun thing I can remember. So much of the man he became began here. Since his tragic passing in 2020, he is deeply missed by his Italian loved ones.
Kobe, I've been thinking about this quote of yours. "I jump high, everything else is groomed Italian style." I wanted to know what you meant by that. So I've come to Italy, where the people here remember you so fondly. This film is for you.
The Bryant family moved to Italy in 1984. There was Kobe, his sisters Sharia and Shia, Mum Pam and Dad Joe. For the first two years, they found themselves in the ancient town of Rieti, which is almost 3,000 years old. After an eight-year NBA career, Joe is about to get his first taste of Italian basketball.
Luigi, it's a pleasure to meet you here in your wonderful town. You've been a basketball journalist here since 1974, so the perfect person to tell us a Joe Bryant story. When Rieti had the chance to sign Joe Bryant, they invited him to play at the summer tournament in San Benedetto del Tronto. The game started and Joe Bryant put on a show. At the end of the first half, the coach said to the general manager, "OK, let's get him."
The general manager of Rieti saw Joe Bryant talking with the manager of another team, Livorno. The manager of Rieti rushed, yelling, "Get out of the way, get out of the way, leave my player, I don't want to see you anymore." They said to the hotel, "Don't have him talk to anyone on the phone until we sign the contract."
This was Joe's new home, the Pala Soggiorno, which opened its doors 10 years before the Bryants arrived. Joe was dominant on this floor, recording multiple 60-point performances, you could say, like father, like son. Kobe would tail his dad to games, immersing himself in a professional environment from the beginning.
Kobe, for the first time, was accompanied by his mother Pamela to the Pala Soggiorno. In those days, we played mini-basketball. I was the coach of the mini-basketball team in those years. He took me to this kid, who was very small, he was much smaller than the kids we used to coach. But after a few minutes, I immediately understood that the boy was already ahead of the kids, who were 4 or 5 years older than him. That's what I remember about Kobe, every suspension, he waited for the suspensions to enter the field, and played with our baskets. That was great, because there was this joy of the whole family.
The arena itself is named after Willy Sessione, a former ABA champion with the New York Nets. He spent six seasons here in Rieti. And just like the five Bryants who lived here, Willy was born in Philadelphia. He tragically passed away after his playing career was over. And it's extremely harrowing to see both his and Kobe's jerseys hanging in the rafters here.
We are in front of what was Kobe and Joe Bryant's house. At the gate of the house, you see at the top, there is that stone triangle. And Kobe used that top of that triangle like a basketball. And the administration of the eyes was very worried, because he said that one of these days he would destroy the glass of the gate. But it never happened. Kobe always, always hit the point of that triangle. So no surprises then. Kobe was able to find a way to shoot, even if there wasn't a basket around.
They say his bedroom walls were covered in magic. They say his bedroom walls were covered in Magic Johnson posters. And his U.S.-based grandparents used to send over tapes of basketball games. Kobe would then study his idol Magic, Larry Bird and MJ, and come to this court down the road from his house, which is now adorned in lake of purple and gold, to perfect his craft.
The very first game of Kobe at the age of eight, 1986. The game starts, Kobe gets the ball and scores. The other team makes the inbound pass, Kobe steals the ball and scores. And at a certain point, there were nine boys crying. The four Kobe stealers were crying, and the other team was crying. The other team was crying, and the other team was crying, and the other team was crying. There were nine boys crying. The four Kobe teammates were crying because they said, "He doesn't make us play, he doesn't pass the ball." And the five boys on the opponent team, because they couldn't do anything. They grabbed Kobe, they gave him some cake, some eggs, and they said, "Kobe, OK, you are the MVP of the tournament, and now let us play." The Kobe show.
Now we are going to Kobe's first school, Guglielmo Marconi Elementary School. Guglielmo Marconi was the inventor of the radio. Kobe Bryant easily learned Italian at school. In the NBA, when you wanted to refer to the referees, you had to say the Italian slogan, so they didn't understand.
Kobe was our son, the son of all the directors, of all the fans. We miss them a lot. They left a positive mark on Rieti. Each one of them is one of us. We are happy, we are happy that he was for the first time in Italy, in our town, so we consider him like a citizen of Rieti, an adopted citizen.
That was the perfect way to finish my stay in Rieti, watching a game here. There he is, Luigi, my best friend. Darius Perry and Lorenzo Pichin were both wearing Kobe's shoes. That made me stop and think, especially with his jersey hanging above them whilst they played. These are my favorite shoes, easily. Kobe's job back then, here on this very court, he was a towel boy, and that job still exists. One of the boys, every time he got back to the basket, had to meticulously fold his towel, put it back in the tray, and on he went. Such a good stop. I'm already in love with Italian basketball. I cannot imagine how a young Kobe Bryant felt here for two years. But he and the family headed south next, and that's where I'm off to, Reggio Calabria. I'll see you there.
And what a beautiful place it was. Here you can see the Strait of Messina, which separates Reggio Calabria from Sicily. My first port of call was to meet up with Davide Giudici, who was a former teammate of Kobe's. While I would be staying with Davide at his home in Reggio Emilia to finish the trip, he was kind enough to travel south and experience this area with me.
"Hi Kobe, I'm Davide, your former teammate. I wanted to thank you because I was finally able to come to Reggio Calabria, a city I've wanted to come to for many years. It's a basketball city, a bit like our Reggio Emilia. I especially came to see this wonderful pitch that you've been given. This pitch will remain forever, so I think you'll be very happy with it."
It was the 80s, Reggio Calabria was 3,000 difficulties away. I used to live in a building, the Botteghelle Palace. Today it's a welcome home for the greatest coach of those years. The palace was built in 45 days to host that team. Joe Bryant came to Reggio Calabria in Serie A2. It was a team built and programmed to win the league. This is the same exact floor, it hasn't changed in 40 years, that you can now see the juniors playing on. That's vintage. I'm sure that in the 80s, here the fans were crazy. It was full of people, very crowded. I think that Joe Bryant really liked to play for Biola Reggio Calabria at that time.
When they used to hide the basketballs from Kobe here, in this gym, he would screw up magazines and start shooting into the bin. That sounds like Kobe, right? Absolutely, absolutely. Kobe would be thrown out and he would stand in the first row at the Botteghelle to follow the game. He didn't follow the game, he would take the trash bin and with any paper, he would continue to play, even without looking at his dad's game, because his goal was always to make money. And then the rest became history.
So this is where the Bryants lived in Reggio Calabria. Was Kobe sat on this little beach dreaming about playing in the NBA one day? Who knows? It's a nice spot. During an all-time game, the telechronist of the time, Giuseppe Barrile, went to interview Joe Bryant on the field. "Hi Joe." "How are you?" "Good, thanks." The journalist asked, "How is Kobe's growth going?" It was the 90s. And Joe said, "Kobe is growing well. I'm sure he'll become a player." And some player Kobe became. Five NBA titles, 2008 league MVP, two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Long before all of that, the Bryants' one-year stay in the south of Italy meant they did not see the Pala Calafior open in 1990. It's a building Manu Ginobili once called home before his own NBA journey began and it remains a landmark for the locals.
"Hi Kobe. I'm Rocco Romeo, your former coach at Reggio Calabria. It's as if you could see him now. He came in with the shirt. Viola gave him the shirt with the pants. He came in, hi, hi. We gave each other a five and then he took the ball. Hi Kobe. I'm Renato, your old team-mate. Kobe was in love with the ball. He was in love with the game. And that's what he said to us, the team-mates, that we were sometimes understanding in his desire to always have this ball in his hand. The hardest job in the world is to say to Kobe Bryant, you have to come off. What did you used to say in that situation? With a lot of education, he made me understand that he wanted to stay on the pitch, but I already knew how to manage it. I can say with a lot of sincerity that Italian basketball gave him a lot. It taught him the fundamentals, it taught him the team game, it taught him how to stay together, the group, the moves that he wanted to do, the way Michael Jordan did them. These attitudes on the pitch, these moves, you learn them as a kid. It's not a race as to who was the most important for Kobe Bryant. It's part of his story, of our story, and it's a wonderful story for an indelible champion that we will all always carry in our hearts."
Why did Kobe love living here? He was always treated, at least here, like a little brother, like someone in the family. So I guess he felt a bit like family wherever he went here in Italy. I know for sure that when he played, for example, against Ginobili, he spoke in Italian. Ginobili grew up here, Reggio Calabria, so he remembered Reggio Calabria. He had this vivid memory. He absorbed that love even more than Reggio Calabria, that love that Italy gave him. I always carry it in my heart. You were his coach, so his coach, especially when he was little, when he was very important, then with all the work you did, teaching him the basics, which he always recognized even when he was older. So a bit of the Lakers' rings are also yours. What I ask you, when you hear the word family, to remember my thoughts, that photo, to show him the photo and to always tell him that famous phrase, that Kobe lives only for us. Know that in Reggio, you can always count on us. Thank you. Maxi, thank you. Thank you. For all. Thank you. Good luck. And long live basketball.
There was such a kind and sweet nature to Rocco and I just had to give him a hug goodbye. I was at the halfway point of my stay in Italy and what I was discovering more than anything else was how welcoming and generous people were. What a guy. Super. They adored Kobe. They cherished the Bryant family and because of that, they were going above and beyond to support me. Before I boarded a train towards Pistoia, stop number 3 in Kobe's story, this region had one more surprise in store. This is known as Penta Datilo, a mysterious yet breathtaking ghost town. Its name derives from the Greek penda, meaning five, and dactyli, meaning fingers, which refers to the mountain's shape. That name felt fitting given Kobe, well... Reggio Calabria. Memorable for so many reasons. Thank you for showing us this, Davide.
So what a place. Your story with Kobe is actually in Reggio Emilia, which is where my final stop will be and it's where the Bryants finished their Italian trip, right? Kobe spent two years there. We played together for two seasons, so we have a lot of memories there, a lot of people knew the Bryants family and Kobe, of course. So I wait for you there.
I was headed north, anticipating what was still to come. It's not just the places Kobe lived in Italy that still celebrate him and mark the heartbreak. I had to jump off the train at Salerno because I've heard there's an incredible basketball court at a school dedicated to Kobe and Gianna. Let's go and find it. 50 miles up the coast, Naples was host to the Encore. Welcome, everyone, to Kobe Park. So my first experience as a driver in Italy. Let's see how I go, shall we?
My next stop, I'm headed to Cirelio, which is a mountainside village with a population of approximately 750 residents. The Bryant family lived there for two years whilst Joe was playing for Olympia di Storia, which is about 20 minutes drive down the road. And this village is where Kobe formed some seriously strong friendships that continued after he left Italy. And I'm very fortunate to be meeting with three of those friends today in what I've heard is a beautiful village. We're going to start with Alessia Piriatini. Kobe actually went back to Cirelio in 2013. And he knocked on Alessia's door. I can't wait to meet her and I can't wait to get there.
He was on his knees and had bruises. And when I told him to go up the stairs, he said, "Mum, there's Kobe." She saw him, she left the bruises, he took her in his arms and there was a cry of friendship, of memories. What was beautiful about him was that he was able to grow up and I think that's where he got his Mamba mentality from. Growing up in a place where you can go up the stairs and there's no one there and it's free. A child is free. Here, the children have always been free. He came home, he played, he had lunch with his family, he did his homework and then you could hear him very well because you could hear tum-tum-tum-tum and he, with his basketball ball, would pass and go to the field to play. Joe really wanted and he was offered several rooms on pistons and he chose Cireglio, yes.
When Koby came to see me that day when we went down to the sports field when we got to Cireglio's sign, he looked at me and said, "I want a photo now." We have the original sign that we're going to see now. Here, this is Koby's sign. This is where we took the photos, where someone later started to write and leave messages. Here they wrote, "For all of us." In Cireglio we have a lot of chestnuts, it's really a chestnut zone. We have a typical dish of the Pistoia mountain called pasta con farina di castagne that we roll up and put ricotta or nutella inside. Koby really liked these nuts. Do you think he probably tried to cook it when he was back in LA? Impossible. Impossible. But he wanted to come back here and eat those things, pizza, everything.
I wanted to show you the first jersey of Koby's I ever bought. This is exciting. I know. I think of all the people I've met this week in Italy, you are the one who connected with Koby the most in your heart. Why is that? I think when you're that famous people think they know who you are. You can tell us what would you say? He was... He was like that. This is my brother's communion book where I spent the communion with Koby, Shay, and Sharia. This is his expression, the one from Furbetto. They all had a flower in their hands because it was a custom for us when the children entered the church with these flowers in their hands. Tell me what you think when you see Koby like that? That he was so happy here. He was a happy child. They were well, they were happy, a nice family. He felt in this country this freedom which for him was an inspiration of life. That's why that day we came down here and we talked, he said more than once, insistently, he said, "I want my children to know this reality, to see how we live here." Ok, here we are all in the church. This is me, Pamela, my mother, my brother, my sister, my brother, Koby. Do you feel a responsibility, not just yourself, but as a country, to remember Koby the right way and continue his legacy? More than a responsibility, it's a duty to him, because his family was so important to us, because they were humble. Despite everything, Pamela had participated in Miss Universe, a beautiful woman, above the lines, for those times. I remember she already had nails, she did her nails, which here in Italy we were still behind on these things. They could also feel a step higher than us. Instead, they were always really good people, people who loved each other. So, yes, for all of us in Cirelli, it's a thing of the heart to remember him, always.
There was always a lot of calm in the house and everything was faced with a smile. They were a beautiful couple. He was throwing away the presents that had been given to him. Are they having cake here? That's probably the only time I've seen Kobe eating sugar. Yes, it could be, it could be, yes, it's true. And they each had one cake each. This was all of his cake and then there was this idea that you meant a great deal to him. He was always a little bit upset because he was not happy with what he was supposed to do. He was always crying and also angry and he was I wrote him, "Tell me it's not true," but he didn't answer me. Those days are like the days when my father passed away. At first, I live them with a bit of anguish and melancholy. And then I think that fundamentally he is well, so I am equally happy. With a bit of sadness, but I am happy. I would write to our hearts forever, but I would like to write that I would have liked him to come back to Cirelia. Yes, really. Thank you, thank you for what you are doing, thank you very much. It's going to make me cry. Thank you, thank you. This is a lovely place to remember him. I was so grateful to have met Alessia. She truly is an extraordinary woman. No part of me wanted to leave this special place, and there was just enough time to connect with two more of the Bryant family's closest friends during their time here. Giacomo and Elisa were waiting for me back at Campetto Cobi, with some remarkable stories to share.
Giacomo would stop at the time of the game, when he had the gun, and when his father was called down to the Stair Game, he called my dad, who was the sponsor, and he said, "If I wear the suit with Maltinti written on it and I advertise you, what would you give me?" And he said, "I would give you a bicycle." During the game, every second he stopped in time, he threw himself on the pitch to clean up, to show the logo well, and the next day he called my dad, without saying hello, hello, "I'm Cobi, and I want the red one." Do you remember this one? Now I remember it, I remember it very well. You should know that Joe gave it to me, and it's the shirt from the derby, finished in 1984-82, against Mutertini. I remember it, I remember it. Because I had asked him, not once, but I think a hundred times, this shirt, but I'm not saying this for rhetoric, I would never give this shirt away to the world. We didn't know, of course, if he would stay, if his dad would stay here or not. He and I had this conversation, we said, "We'll both become champions." I mean, this was... For the 50,000 shirts. I signed for him, sorry, a white t-shirt, and he signed this one, because he said, "So at least when we're really famous, we'll have something of us." In fact, this is another thing that is untouchable. Instead, if I see the Kobe sign, it comes to mind that for Kobe's first Christmas, the one that seemed to me to be in the country of wonders, I brought him this gift, I gave him a CD from the time of Michael Jackson, and I wrote for Kobe, and I wrote it with the C and the Y. And he took this note and said to me, "Anyway, it's spelled K-O-B-E, with a lot of subtlety, so..." But there's... I think there's another signature. To testify to the fact that with Shea there was a special sympathy, let's put it that way, when Kobe signed this scarf, I remember well that Shea also wanted to sign it, and in fact there is also his signature on this scarf. So, double value. Double value.
I was headed to Montecatini Terme, about 30 miles southwest of Cirelio. Speaking of memories to last a lifetime, how about this one? 20-year-old Federico Biagini being guarded by 11-year-old Kobe Bryant. Federico was waiting for me, along with his friend Bruno Ialluna, who was Kobe's coach on that unforgettable day. I say that we should defend like those emotions we experienced when we shared the experience with each other. In 1989, do you remember? What a story! Yes, an incredible thing, because it was the first time that the father and the son played together in the same team. In 1989, I remember, he called me to play. I was a very poor minor league player. Well, in short, a poor minor league player, but at the level of the people who attended the tournament, you were the organizer of the tournament and the cursed coach of the opposing team who played against me, right? Yes, yes, yes. But it's an honour, because playing, training, even for just two series, people like Joe Bryant, Kobe Bryant, the great Serie A champions, there were only a few. But there's this very strange thing, it's beautiful, it's unique in its kind, it reminds me of the Walk of Fame of Montecatini Terme. Here, deep down, right at the beginning of this sector, where all the athletes are, there is the bowl that reminds me of Kobe Bryant. Because one morning, I get out of the house and I find Joe, who calls me, and together with the family, the wife, the boys, so also Kobe, who came for a walk in Montecatini and here, coincidentally, we have a typical Montecatini dessert. Yes, now we have one here, we open it and eat it. And maybe we'll let Max taste it too. Max is there, no, Max, it's good that I'm filming. So, look, we'll eat it. This is the reason why Kobe, Joe, and then also Kobe, came back to Montecatini to eat the chalets. And now we're going to the Palace. Yes, it's the best moment. Let's relive that evening of many years ago, this time with Max. Kobe was down there, a little boy among all these adults, and so we were a team and at a certain point, during the game, I said, well, it's a tournament for me. As a coach, I have always liked to make young people play, that every time I turned the bench, he looked at me as if to say, "When it's my turn." I was 20 at the time, Kobe's 11. Kobe goes on to the court, Federico is defending him. Were you looking forward to it? Good luck Federico, let's find out what happened next. This is the exact spot where you were standing. I'm Kobe here. So here's the photo. Just tell me what you see and what you remember here. I was an Italian Minors player, and so, this is an important player, you have to defend, you don't have to be on the bench, you have to mark him. You take the ball, he tries to shoot, and I do this. I don't want to see him, I stop like this, he shoots, the ball hits my hand. I go to my coach and tell him, "My friend, either you take me off, or you come and defend this kid, because I don't know what to do." And it's so bizarre that he's wearing number 8, his number for 10 seasons with the Lakers. Was that just a coincidence? Destiny, fatality, fate, coincidence, there are a thousand names. I found myself in a place, maybe at the right time, maybe at the wrong time, I don't know. Bruno, you texted me the other day, you said, "I might be able to find one of Kobe's jerseys, because he wore two during this tournament," and you found it, the number 4. This shirt was put on by a player who was supposed to come, but he didn't come to the tournament. And the number 8 shirt, as you can see in the photo, he wore it as a jersey. The small jerseys were the ones with low numbers, the number 4, so he wore the number 4 shirt and this one from the second evening. And I guess, this is where it ended, right? The shirt is full. I was 20, 24. It's perfect. And before I left Montecatini Terme, I wanted to shine a light on something. After Kobe and Gianna's passing, Federico wrote a heartfelt letter to the person he had once shared the court with. Here is the final passage. "Ciao, bimbo. Adesso potrai far innamorare anche gli angeli della pallacanestro. Ogni tuo canestro un disegno divino. Forse un giorno giocheremo ancora uno contro uno e senza dubbio mi renderai quella tragicomica stoppata, mentre tua figlia ci guarderà ridendo. Fai buon viaggio, Kobe. È stato bellissimo conoscerti."
Reggio Emilia. The final stop for the Bryants. It's where Kobe became a teenager and the city where the Italian flag was born. It was a Saturday morning and I was reunited with Davide, who had joined me down south earlier in the trip. He was on coaching duty for one of his youth teams and afterwards he showed me that this very project had made the local newspaper Gazzetta di Reggio. Davide shared the court a lot with Kobe in Reggio Emilia and became friends with him off it. In the city's Piazza della Vittoria they had once played in the Finale Provinciale mini-basket tournament and Davide's mum captured some priceless footage, not least the moment Kobe's dad Joe had briefly checked in on an injury for Davide before sending him back onto court. It was a wise decision. Their team won the competition comfortably. Naturally, Kobe got his hands on the trophy first.
A few minutes walk away from the piazza is Kobe's old house. We used to come here by bike and call, "Hey Kobe, come down!" And as difficult as it always is for him when he returns there, Davide wanted to visit the last place he saw Kobe in 2016. A big bus came in from the cellar and in the end Kobe got off the bus. Christopher Ward and I were here with Andrea Menozzi, our coach. We looked at each other from afar and smiled. It was a great feeling because so many years had passed and in the meantime we had become parents. Our lives had changed a bit. He had just stopped playing. I said, "Hey Davide, how are you?" He said, "Hi Kobe, it's great to see you here in Reggio." I said, "I still play, even though I'm a bit old. You stopped playing." He looked at me and said, "Yes, you're right. I was a bit tired." That's how it happened. Unfortunately, he left. We said, "Maybe later we'll go for a pizza in the city centre with Kobe Bryant." We said goodbye and promised to see each other again soon. Unfortunately, this never happened and it won't happen again. This is what makes us sad. Fate was really cruel to him. It makes me feel a bit bad thinking about myself as a father. The fact that I couldn't spend a lot of time with my children and family. This is where the love story between Kobe and Reggio and between Kobe and Italy comes to an end. It was the last place he visited in our country. This is a place that is sacred to me and will always be in my heart. I remember this. Thank you. Thank you, Kobe. Ciao.
He avoided playing playground with us when we were 11 years old because he had a sore knee. He said, "No, I'm not going to play today because I'm too scared about getting hurt. Then my NBA career could be compromised." That was the mindset that Kobe had at 10, 11 years old. It was just incredible. For him, playing is something he lived with passion since he was little. It allowed him to go through challenging moments in his life. His words have always brought Reggio to his heart. I think the most important thing that tied Kobe to Reggio and Reggio to Kobe is the idea of family. To be a family person and to feel like family every time he came back to Reggio Emilia. The great thing about Reggio Emilia is that Kobe was one of his own children who had a career, but he remained one of his own children. We left him as a kid, as Joe's son, and after four or five years we had a poster with Kobe Dunkin' winning the NBA Dunk Contest. 1997, he came back in Italy for a couple of weeks for an Adidas event. The smiling and the eyes right away, you know, "my Kobe." When we arrived to Milano and the whole city was moving for him and he was arriving in a limousine, I was shocked because I understood who he was becoming. Any Italian is proud about Kobe and about having hosted Kobe from the beginning, the first part of his life. Kobe said a lot of things over the years about your city. He left you a lovely gift. Actually, Kobe has been the first friend we lost. To be honest, I was really sure that he would have been the last one. I don't think there is an end of a processing of what happened. I'm just missing something. A little part of my life, a piece of the puzzle, is just missing. That's it. It will be always missed and I will always try to find it. That's it.
Not many people know about this place. We are in Monte Cavolo. This is a small village where Brian's family lived here for the first season. Joe played for Pallacane Storizzana and this is the local newsagent. Probably inside we found the same guy who worked at the time. "Come on." "Sports newspapers?" "Stadio and... I don't know, Gazzetta di Reggio, Carmino..." "Yes, local and Stadio. They were all about the matches. I used to go around when I lost." How was it for you to live here in Monte Cavolo for the first time? I liked it. When I used to go away, I used to bring my house keys. You used to leave your house keys in the car. There was something so moving about Giuseppe, the man running the newsagents, still working there all these years later. And then it was off to dinner with Marco Ferraroni, who was Kobe's teammate and shooting partner in Reggio Emilia. Tucked behind a small church, their old stomping ground happens to be one of the more distinctive basketball settings you could possibly find. We are eating zuppa inglese that is a typical dessert from Reggio Emilia. Tell me more about the space and how often you guys used to go there. We played there almost every Saturday, surrounded by houses. The three-point line is the midline of the court and the baskets are stuck to the walls. One window here and two windows there. When we were lucky and the windows were not open, otherwise it was more difficult, you know. And you played for the Reggio Emilia junior team. And you brought with you a photo, which is a very precious photo. This is the original. There is one particular thing that people need to look for. Kobe was playing with me and he was one year younger. In this photo you can see that he was putting himself on the tiptoes. Is that correct? Yeah, tiptoes. When you guys played one-on-one, how many times did he win? What was the overall score? 50-50. I was one year older. You've got a good record against him. I think just two years more and it was like 0%. It was almost impossible, really impossible to stop playing. He didn't want to leave the court being the team that lost the last game. What did you take against him? He was shorter than me. He had a completely different way of playing basketball compared to us. Why? Because I think he was already aspiring to, let's say, copy his father. Tell me about Joe. All of Reggio Emilia was in love with Joe. He was a very good three-point shooter. I'm very conscious as well on my travels that there are a lot of memories for Kobe. Joe less so. He's now passed away as well. Reggio Emilia, at the court itself, they have something to remember Joe. There's a photo you're going to see, I think, tomorrow in front of the arena. Joe hugging Kobe from behind with a basketball. This is the memory that came to the mind of Reggio Emilia when he died. I mean, I've seen pictures of the city lit up in purple and gold. You love the guy. We've talked enough and you haven't touched your dessert so I need to let you eat. Thanks, Mark. You're welcome. Cheers. Cheers.
I spent the next morning at Kobe's old school in the city. What I discovered there, well, imagine the teachers trying to prize Kobe away from this at the end of the lunch hour. Globally renowned as a heartland for art, Italy, it would appear, is in endless supply of basketball masterpieces too. When Kobe was in the classroom he spent much of his time sitting next to his friend, Giada Masloverich. I drove to Milan, where she now lived, and it turned out to be one of the most revealing conversations I had.
"When I was 13 years old I was sure that it's the end of the friendship. And then 15 years later he came back to Reggio Emilia. Yes. And he surprised you. He entered the shop of my mum for asking, 'Giada, where is Ciao Luisa?' It's the name of my mum. 'Ciao Luisa, come stai?' No, Giada, where?' He said, 'No, Giada, where?' He asked me, 'Dai Giada, ma perché non vieni? Puoi vedermi giocare? Ti metto vicino a Jack Nicholson? Perché a me piace il teatro?' Because there are two Kobes. There's basketball Kobe and the Kobe that you knew. Quando arrivi a quel livello, di chi ti puoi fidare? E mi diceva, 'Tu, Giada, gli amici, quando avevo 13 anni, siete le ultime persone che hanno scelto me come Kobe non come Kobe Bryant.' He must have loved having those real, true friendships that took him away from basketball. Quando ci siamo ritrovati a 28 anni, dopo che la prima cosa che ha fatto mi ha sollevato letteralmente da terra e mi ha abbracciato fortissimo. E più io parlavo e più lui si commuoveva. Gli occhi lucidi, lacrime. Why did he cry? Per la malinconia. Anzi, a un certo punto dopo che mi raccontava la sua vita, a me veniva quasi da piangere dicendo, 'Kobe, ma è difficile. Cioè, tu non sei mai libero.' Ed è lì che lui poi switchava al Kobe che conosco. Diceva, 'Tutto questo è solo per quello che sento quando metto il piede in campo e quando tutti iniziano, Kobe, Kobe. Quel momento, basta, è quello. Per quello io farei tutto. E lui anche, no? Già da tornerò, ci rivedremo. Cioè, quello è stato l'addio, perché poi non l'ho più rivisto, Kobe. Ma non potrei pensare a nessun migliore ultimo saluto, perché io l'unica cosa che continuava a dire e lì sì, anch'io mi sono commossa è, 'Sei sempre tu, sei sempre Kobe. Rimani così, per piacere rimani così.' È stato, è un bel momento. Un bellissimo momento. Io penso che lo porterò nel cuore da qui alla fine dei miei giorni. Ho pensato, lui ha fatto la vita che voleva, come la voleva, ha giocato a basket, ha amato le sue figlie, sua moglie, però è morto come solo un VIP. Very important people could die with his helicopter, private helicopter. E lì è stato, quando eravamo 28 anni, avevamo proprio parlato della gabbia d'oro. And my forces, gold cage, killed him. For me it was very, very sad. To me, I've been in Italy for 10 days now. This is not a basketball story, it's a human story. Finché potete, nutritevi delle relazioni, degli amici, quelli veri. Perché poi questo è quello che a me ha lasciato Kobe e penso io nel mio piccolo di aver lasciato quello a lui."
Thank you so much, Max. The spectacular Fiji is where Joe Bryant spent his final two seasons in Italy. Kobe played for the junior team and outside this arena, there are now many pictures of father and son. This evening, Palacanestro Reggiano take on Canto. Tomorrow is the 6th year anniversary of Kobe's passing, so it will be a very emotional evening inside this building leading into tomorrow, the 26th of January. He was one of the best NBA champions in the history of Palacanestro and he grew up in our little fields. His passing left an almost unbearable void, the passing of his daughter, Gianna. It's a blessing just to be able to celebrate Kobe, you know? This is actually an honor to be where Kobe's from, just to be in his presence, just to be in the memorial that he just had, just to be able to attend that. My mom used to call me Fadeaway, but it was actually Kobe, so you inspired that shot, man. It was tragic when the day we lost you. I feel like everybody in the world felt it, everybody who knew you would still continue to shine, so we love you, Kobe, and see you. It's been so nice to get to know you. Thank you for your generosity and I really believe that you are doing everything right here at Reggio Emilia to celebrate Kobe's legacy and to continue it. You do so much work in this city, so it's been an honor. We are truly in his heart, and I think that helped everyone to have a better life, to have a different world view. We are happy, we are sad for what happened, but we are happy to think that he left his heart here.
After all the emotion of the memorial, it was good to say a proper goodbye to Davide in his happy place, at home, with his sons, sharing a love for the game that his old friend Kobe had truly mastered. It was time for me to leave Italy, but it will come as no surprise to anyone to hear that there was one more court to see on the way to the airport. Making this film has stirred many emotions, and I have felt a profound sense of connection to everybody I've met. To those special people, thank you. Kobe, I have no doubt, will remain part of your family forever. Forgive my Italian, Kobe, for it isn't as natural as yours was, but I will leave you with my best. Kobe, grazie mille per tutto. Ciao.