Bryant, who is set for posthumous induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame this year, powered the United States to a gold medal in 2008 with his trademark work ethic.
Kobe Bryant was 17 when he worked out for the Phoenix Suns before the 1996 N.B.A. draft. Jerry Colangelo, who owned the team at the time, already knew a great deal about Bryant, who had emerged from Lower Merion High School in suburban Philadelphia as the flashiest phenom of his generation.
Colangelo knew, for example, that Bryant had spent part of his childhood in Italy. Sure enough, there was something about Bryant’s demeanor, the way he carried himself, the way he spoke, that struck Colangelo as different. Bryant was not a typical teenager, and Colangelo suspected that had a lot to do with his childhood.
“He was becoming a man of the world as a young guy,” Colangelo said in a recent telephone interview from his home in Phoenix. “And there’s a maturity that goes along with that. Once you travel and you’re involved in other cultures, you just kind of grow up differently and more quickly, and probably with a little more depth.”
The workout itself was spectacular, Colangelo said — so spectacular that it was the best predraft workout Colangelo had ever seen.
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“He had this self-confidence,” Colangelo said. “He knew he was special. He knew he was good — really good. And then you add to that the incredible desire he had to be the very best. It was the combination. It’s one thing to have confidence. It’s another thing to be able to back it up with talent.”
The bad news for Colangelo was that the Suns had the 15th pick in the draft and were unable to move up in the order. Bryant went 13th to the Charlotte Hornets, who had agreed to trade him to the Los Angeles Lakers for the veteran center Vlade Divac. Bryant went on to spend the bulk of his career torching the Suns and the rest of the league.
Colangelo saw it all — and even found an opportunity to nurture his relationship with Bryant through their association with U.S.A. Basketball, which culminated in a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Another punctuation of sorts will come later this year when Colangelo, in his role as chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is scheduled to preside over Bryant’s posthumous induction. Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles on Jan. 26, is part of a celebrated class that also includes Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Tamika Catchings.
Bryant retired in 2016 with five championships and all the gluttonous statistics befitting an 18-time N.B.A. All-Star. But far beyond his longevity and the production he crammed into a 20-year career, Bryant will be remembered for the moments he created. He was the rare player capable of turning basketball into theater.
His alley-oop to Shaquille O’Neal during the 2000 Western Conference finals. His jersey-tugging celebration after he hit a game-winning jumper against the Suns in 2006. The 61 points he scored against the Knicks in 2009. The two free throws he sank on a freshly torn Achilles’ tendon in 2013.
“He was the fiercest competitor I ever played against,” Michael Redd, the retired shooting guard, said in a telephone interview. “He made me a better basketball player.”
Even Bryant’s final game in uniform seemed to come straight from a Hollywood studio lot: 60 points on 50 field-goal attempts in a narrow win over the Utah Jazz.
“Mamba out,” Bryant told the crowd afterward as he dropped the mic onto the court at Staples Center.
