
Even though he was but a high schooler, Bryant spent plenty of time running pickup inside Temple University’s Pearson Hall gymnasium. These weren’t run-of-the-mill battles against Joe Frat Boy. No, his opponents included many of the Owls stars, including future NBA players Rick Brunson, Aaron McKie and Eddie Jones. “God, he was so polished for a high school kid,” recalled Jones. “Flat-out talented. Most impressive, he wasn’t scared. We were All-Americans, big names in college basketball. And Kobe just brought it right at us. You knew this kid was NBA-bound. There was zero question.”