20 youths get up close and personal with Kobe Bryant during training clinic

Story by Erwin Wong, Jan Lin and Les Tan/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan/Red Sports.

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - To the strains of Kanye West's Stronger, and a bedlam of screams from the 8000-strong crowd, Kobe Bryant appeared.

And like the song which sampled French duo Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", the Los Angeles Lakers and global basketball icon proved that he was, indeed, a step quicker and a touch more accurate than everyone else this year. He led his team to the coveted NBA championship title despite the challenges of young upstarts from Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Denver Nuggets, and was named the Finals' Most Valuable Player.

Bryant was here as part of his Asian tour which Nike put together, and fielded questions from a panel consisting of Singapore's finest young athletes at an earlier press conference at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Several nuggets of personal trivia which were unearthed were that he enjoys rollercoasters, his favourite football team is 2009 European Champions League winners Barcelona, and that he first dunked a basketball when he was 14.

He also touched on a quality that he is well-known for – his tireless work ethic. “When I was their age (the Singapore students), I wasn’t even ranked. So I was training 8 hours a day, I was working all the time, training like a maniac. I only scaled down to about 5 hours when I turned 25.” said Bryant, who turns 31 on August 23.

And he expounded on this during the training clinic with 20 young basketballers conducted by Singapore Slingers coach Frank Arsego and Singapore's head coach Neo Beng Siang. Bryant looked on intently as the players were put through their paces in various offensive drills and personal skills, and took over whenever he deemed necessary. He certainly did not look out of place, despite giving a emphatic “No!” when asked whether he saw himself as a coach at the earlier press conference.

"Think about it like you're actually in a game!" offered Bryant, during the first drill of the session, one where players dribbled around cones which represented defenders. He felt that the youths were perhaps not approaching the drill in the right frame of mind as he observed them, and continued, "Don't see it just as a cone, but as the defence."

After the second drill which consisted of various 3-man attacking possessions where he noted that the trailing offensive player from the blind side should lurk behind the defence before cutting in at an angle to receive the ball, Bryant finally made his charges puff their cheeks in exhaustion.

As the players bent their knees and settled into a defensive stance as instructed by the coaches, Bryant bellowed sternly, "Get down! Don't cheat!" and walked around the group to ensure no one slackened on this lactic-acid inducing, 2 and a half minute exercise.

"Don't put your elbows on your knees! I think about Boston and I'll get my elbows off my knees!" the Lakers player continued as he encouraged the players to do the drill properly, while referring to the 2008 NBA Finals when his team was seen off in 6 games by traditionally fierce rivals Boston Celtics.

The players barely had time to catch their breath when Bryant called out Singapore's Asian Youth Games representative, Russel Low, for some suicide runs. The activity was simply termed ´17', and the Presbyterian High School student was made to run the breadth of the court 17 times in under a minute. After completing it the first time, Bryant alleged that he only managed 15 repetitions, and made Russel go through the entire drill again. The 16 year old was seen panting and slowing down tremendously towards the end, but with the crowd and the Lakers superstar egging him on, Russel managed to complete the run and got a high-five and a hug from Bryant for his troubles.

Russel was delighted despite the tiring workout, saying, "It was great! I hugged a superstar! He was very friendly."

After the players carried on with a drill involving pull-up jumpers at the free-throw line, Bryant concluded the training session by displaying two of his offensive moves, to the delight of the crowd. The first was a post-up move at the low block, with multiple fakes to elude the defender for an easy layup. He needed a player to accentuate his demonstration, and Temasek Polytechnic student Ng Han Bin was the fortunate one to be called upon.

The first thought that crossed the 20 year old's mind was ´Why me?!' Han Bin was then made to practise the move with Bryant guarding him, and he managed to do it smoothly after several attempts. Like Russel, he embraced Bryant after the 1-on-1 encounter and exclaimed "Oh my god!" when asked to convey his feelings about it.

Bryant then demonstrated a fast-break move where the ball-handler would fake one way and go another. Han Bin's schoolmate Richard Neo was chosen by coach Arsego to be under personal tutelage from one of the world's most silky-smooth offensive players, and the 19 year old felt the pressure immediately.

"My legs were wobbly, and I was very nervous when I was called out. My mind was totally blank and I certainly did not expect this, especially with 8000 people watching me!" Richard, too, received pointers from Bryant on his execution and had a congratulatory hug.

Bryant then wrapped up his hour-long appearance by tossing, hoofing or simply rolling autographed basketballs to the crowd. He then took off his pair of Nike Zoom Kobe IV shoes, signed them, and presented one each to 2 young children who were among the crowd. After posing for photographs with the 20 youth players, the “Black Mamba” exited the arena.

The training clinic was preceded by a friendly 20 minute game between a Singapore selection team and an ASEAN basketball league (ABL) selection but for the excited youths, the night was always about meeting Bryant in the flesh. Said Raffles Girls School student and AYG representative, Hannah Ng, “It was amazing. I love Kobe! Too bad I didn’t get the autographed ball and I didn’t see him dunk.”

This year's B Division MVP, Lor Weng Siang, who was among the 20 who trained under Bryant's watchful eye, added, “The experience was good! When I see him live, it’s different. It makes me feel like wanting to train non-stop!”

Another of the 20, Lin Cheng Yu, said, "It was a great experience, and I never expected it to be so great. He taught us like how our coaches teach us, and what he taught was basic, but useful. He is a very clever and smart player."

And they certainly had useful lessons and experiences to bring home with them. Han Bin remembered what Bryant taught during Russel's double suicide run. "He said that only you would know what your own limit is." AYG representative Jabez Su's most meaningful lesson from Bryant was his encouragement to this country's basketball players to train harder, while for Richard, it was what the Lakers' player taught him personally.

"The snake-dribble was the most important lesson for me. I will be practising that from now on."

The Kobe Bryant Asian tour was definitely a crowd-pleaser and electrifying experience for most, as about 8,000 people came to see him live in the flesh, 20 youth basketball players trained with him in close proximity, and at least three of them got to literally rub shoulders with him.

REDpoll

 Loading ...