NBA legend and Lower Merion High School graduate Kobe Bryant continues to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration for many players within Temple University‘s basketball program, reported Javon Edmonds for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Temple basketball coach Aaron McKie played against Bryant in the 2001 NBA Finals during his professional career and later spent two seasons playing with Black Mamba as his teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers.

McKie also played at Temple while Bryant was making a name for himself in high school.

“When he got out there, he was electric,” said McKie. “Just flying all around the court.”

Now, McKie’s players are looking to Bryant for inspiration.

Both sharpshooting forwards on Temple’s men’s and women’s teams pay tribute to Bryant by showcasing his signature No. 24. Zach Hicks wears the jersey with the same number while Caranda Perea has tattooed a purple No. 24 Lakers jersey on her left arm.

“Kobe Bryant was the reason I started playing basketball,” said Perea.

Temple guard Khalif Battle agrees.

“Kobe is everything to me; he’s one of the reasons why I play basketball,” he said.

Read more about Kobe Bryant in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

_____

1996 VHS footage from a Lower Merion High School Kobe Bryant classmate.