Kobe Bryant, who disappeared last Sunday with his daughter Gianna in a helicopter accident. The pain shared by the family with all its fans also in Reggio Emilia. In fact, it was in Reggio that the Lakers champion took his first steps as a basketball player. A budding champion.
Kobe Bryant will have a square named after Reggio Emilia
The square at the end of via Guasco in Reggio Emilia will be named after Kobe Bryant. This is what the city administration has decided to commemorate its idol of basket. The words of Mayor Vecchi are the words of a city and a community that does not forget its little Kobe. This in fact is, and always will be, his home. A stele is also planned for this commemoration. The death of Kobe Bryant does not interrupt the bond of affection and love that always exists between the city and the champion. The municipal administration also thinks in the same way, after the news of the tragedy and the terrible plane crash took away Kobe, the thirteen-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people. Kobe grew up on the Reggio pitches between improvised challenges with athletes older than him and with schoolmates. While his father wins success in the first team, Kobe grows up in the youth teams of the Reggiana Basketball. His smile, his love for basketball entered him and Reggio Emilia has forever become a part of him.
Kobe Bryant also remembered at Mappei Stadium
Thrills of emotion at Mapei Stadium when the words of Kobe Bryant appear on the big screen of the stadium. To read is the speaker but above all you listen to thelove that Kobe Bryant had for Italy and, in particular for Reggio Emilia. In fact this is the city that the NBA legend calls his home.
The two teams on the field, Reggiana and South Tyrol, they stopped the game at minute 24. This is in fact Bryant's jersey number since 2007. Likewise in the stands there are banners in honor of Mamba. The mayor of Reggio Emilia announces that a square will be dedicated to the former Los Angeles Lakers star. The emotion is general for the disappearance of Kobe in a helicopter accident along with his second child and seven other people.
Kobe's Italy
Kobe Bryant known as the "half Italian". On the other hand, he lives his childhood in Italy, from 6 to 13 years. In our country, little Kobe has learned the basics of basketball. While touring from Rieti to Reggio Emilia, passing through Reggio Calabria and Pistoia, to follow his father Joe, a professional basketball player. Even now that he had become an idol of American basketball he returned often, even for private visits to his friends. Nice to remember how in July 2013 at 7 in the morning Kobe is in Cireglio, where he had lived. He had done the same in Reggio Emilia, where he met with all his adolescent companions in a gym for a hug. Also in Italy the passion for Van basten and two Fantozzi, Paolo Villaggio and the player Alessandro. With his fluent Italian he told us “I carry this country in my heart”.