Categories: Courtside

Kobe Bryant says he’s a better player cause he skipped AAU ball

via @Lakers

Kobe Bryant is not a fan of AAU basketball. In fact, Kobe says one of the keys to his success was avoiding AAU while growing up in Italy.

“I was lucky to grow up in Italy at a time when basketball in America was getting f—– up with AAU shuffling players through on strength and athleticism,” Bryant said. “I missed all that, and instead I was taught extreme fundamentals: footwork, footwork, footwork, how to create space, how to handle the ball, how to protect the ball, how to shoot the ball.”

Kobe recently said that if the playoffs were starting, he could play. Bryant tore his Achilles in April, during a match up at Staples Center against the Golden State Warriors. But Kobe knows adjustments will have to be made to his game. He’s using boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. as inspiration.

“Maybe I won’t have as much explosion,” Bryant says. “Maybe I’ll be slower. Maybe I’ll lose quickness. But I have other options. It’s like Floyd Mayweather in the ring. There’s a reason he’s still at the top after all these years. He’s the most fundamentally sound boxer of all time. He can fight myriad styles at myriad tempos. He can throw fast punches or off-speed punches, and he can throw them from odd angles.”

Jill Munroe

Jill Munroe is a Los Angeles-based host, producer, and writer. You can find her work on sites such as FoxSports.com, EURweb.com, and MSN.com. Munroe is a current member of the African-American Film Critics Association and the National Association of Black Journalists. Munroe has also been a frequent guest on ESPN radio and Yahoo Sports. In 2015, Munroe released her first book, "PostGame Pass: access into "the life" JillMunroe.com