Kobe Bryant was on hand recently to unveil his new game at the Watts/Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club in Los Angeles, California, taking time out to challenge kids who were quick to use the Lakers guard to throw one down on, well, the Lakers guard.
"Every opportunity I get, I try to bring awareness to the Boys & Girls club," says Bryant, looking smooth in his purple and yellow stripped shirt. "You can make donations and all that, but anytime you can bring awareness to the clubs, that means more than just donations, because that money runs out."
And what about kids beating
Kobe Bryant as Kobe?
"The only way to shut me down is to control the
Los Angeles Lakers and bench me," Bryant laughs before taking on some more of his fans at NBA 07. "Being on the cover of a game, it's like the new Wheaties, it's that important to an athlete…it's the hot thing to do."
Here's what else the best player in the NBA had to say as we talked about everything from dropping 81 on the
Toronto Raptors to the importance of team chemistry.
IGN Sports: The videogame industry is plagued by a cover curse. It has taken down everyone from Michael Vick to Amare. Should Laker fans be concerned?
Kobe Bryant: Hmmm…no! Laker fans don't need to be concerned, there's no cover curse, but if you just jinxed me that means I'm coming after you. [laughs]
IGN Sports: Are you a big gamer?
Kobe Bryant: I'm a competitive individual, so if there's a competition involved, I'm all for it. I came from an extremely competitive household, and games between me and my cousins would get ruthless. Everything in my family was about bragging rights, so if you could beat someone using the worst team in the game, that was the best. It was all about challenges.
IGN Sports: Did you ever score 81 in a videogame?
Kobe Bryant: [laughs] I never even imagined I could do that in a videogame, let alone real life. I just never even thought about it.
IGN Sports: What was going through your head when you were scoring 81?
Kobe Bryant: Everything was happening in slow motion for me, and you just really want to stay in that moment. You don't want to step outside of yourself and think about what is going on because then you are going to lose that rhythm. You just need to keep going, then at the end of the game, I really just felt numb. I couldn't really grasp what had just happened.
IGN Sports: So when you get in a zone, everyone moves in slow motion?
Kobe Bryant: What it is, you start seeing where guys are going before they get there. It gives you the effect of the game being in slow motion. It's a combination of anticipation and visualization.
NBA Future:
Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant His upside is out of this world ... This kid is not even begining to scratch the surface of his potential ... Looking at him you see his frame is going to fill out in 3-4 years ... Very fluid athlete with explosiveness ... He plays hard and is still learning the game ...
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