On Saturday, Kobe Bryant was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, something his Lower Merion High School coach Gregg Downer had expected to see happen after he first saw the NBA legend play decades ago, writes Melissa Rohlin for FOX Sports.

Gregg Downer invited 13-year-old Bryant to attend one of his varsity practices and he was amazed by what he saw.

“Five minutes into the workout, I turned to my assistant coaches and I said, ‘This kid is a pro,'” said Downer. “I could tell right away.”

The following year, Bryant made varsity and he and his new coach set the goal to make him one of the top ten players in the world in his grade by the time he was a senior.

Bryant put everything into achieving that goal, always being the first at practice and the last to leave. The results soon followed, including a state championship in 1996. Downer knew Bryant had made it when he moved to the NBA straight from high school.

“It means that I played a small part in a kid reaching his dream,” said Downer.

Read more about Kobe Bryant and Gregg Downer on FOX Sports.