Philadelphians might have warmed up to Kobe Bryant recently, but he was not always in good graces of the City of Brotherly Love, according to Mike Sielski, author of The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality, writes Dan Woike for the Los Angeles Times.

While the smaller group of people who knew him during his Lower Merion High School days always felt a strong connection to him, the rest of the city has had a pretty fraught relationship with Black Mamba.

“Kobe always thought himself beyond Philadelphia, and around here, there’s no greater sin an athlete can commit,” said Sielski.

While writing the book, Sielski found there was one person who had a major impact on Bryant’s path while he was in high school: Katrina Christmas, a librarian at Lower Merion High School and faculty adviser to the Student Voice.

“Kobe confided in her quite a bit during his high school years, especially about his identities, insecurities, and challenges as a Black teenager growing up in a tiny suburb of Philadelphia,” said Sielski. “They had quite a bond.”

Read the entire interview with Katrina Christmas, the Lower Merion school librarian, and Mike Sielski’s book, at the Los Angeles Times.