Sporting Up Blog — Kobe Bryant

By Mark Schremmer A lifelong Boston Celtics fan, I begrudgingly stood outside Kansas City’s Kemper Arena with my older brother waiting for the Los Angeles Lakers’ team bus to arrive. Little did I know that arriving hours before tipoff of a 1997 exhibition between the Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers would provide me one of my most vivid sports memories. At first, the arrival was a bit of a letdown for my brother, who has rooted for the Lakers since the days of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. When the team bus emerged, only a few players were passengers....