Kobe Bryant Has Game - on Court, off Court and in Video Games

LOS ANGELES--Kobe Bryant walked into luxury suite E-11 at the Staples Center and said, “Wow, you guys have a great view up from up here. I’ve never been up here before.” One of the 13 people gathered in the spacious suite in the empty arena joked that Kobe probably has a much better view of the action from where he sits. Bryant had just scored 20 points in a season-ending game against the Sacramento Kings, which secured the Los Angeles Lakers the top seed in the Western Conference and home court throughout the 2008 NBA Playoffs.

I was able to catch the second half of the game inside that suite, courtesy of Gameloft, which partnered with Kobe on its new mobile cell phone game, Kobe Bryant Basketball 2008. I had just flown in from San Francisco, where I spent the day playing Activision’s Quake Wars: Enemy Territory and Namco Bandai’s latest line-up of titles, including Soul Calibur IV and Afro Samurai. That was enough time to watch Kobe score some points before being taken out of the game in the fourth quarter to a standing ovation.

By the time the game clock had ticked to zero, after a half-quarter of bench players representing the Lakers, the crowd was chanting “MVP” for Kobe, who has a loyal following in LA.

Kobe arrived up in the suite less than an hour after the game was over and long after the once-packed house had vacated to celebrate another championship season (with division and Western conference crowns). Sharply dressed in a brown suit, Kobe—all 6’7” of him—was in a great mood. He greeted everyone in the suite with a personal handshake and a “nice to meet you” and then he asked if Gameloft wanted him to “hook up” the table filled with Lakers jerseys, basketballs and other items.

When asked if it was too much, Kobe said that sometimes personal appearances have like 10,000 things for him to sign. Someone in the suite joked, “Go get those other 9,900 basketballs out of the car.” Kobe just laughed. He was in a good mood tonight.

I’d heard all types of stories about Kobe through the media and others, so I didn’t know what to expect. But the perennial NBA All-Star was nothing but a gentlemen to everyone in the suite. After he signed all of those items and posed for pictures, it was time for me and Kobe and to go one-on-one. I had an exclusive interview with him to talk about videogames. He sat down in the suite’s one couch, filling most of it up with his huge body. And started talking about his love of gaming from his early days of Double Dribble to his current Wii gaming experience with his kids. Kobe’s one of the 85 percent of NBA players who’s a videogamer.

When he’s on the road, he uses one of his five cell phones to play videogames—rather than a PSP or Nintendo DS, neither of which he owns. He does have all of the new consoles, which he plays at home with his kids on a big screen plasma TV.

I’ve interviewed a lot of athletes over the years, but Kobe’s definitely up there as one of the biggest. And it was refreshing to see him so happy, relaxed and laid back. I can’t say anything but nice things about him after the way he treated Gameloft and myself in that suite. And although I’m not a basketball fan, I wouldn’t mind seeing him get that other ring that drives him on the court.