Kobe Bryant’s bond with future Louisville basketball star went beyond hoops

As the world mourns the loss of one of the game’s greatest on the court, a future Louisville basketball star is proof that Kobe Bryant’s impact will be felt for generations to come.

Future Louisville basketball star and current Cashmere high school stand out Hailey Van Lith performed in a quintessential manner by her standards on January 12th. The senior guard dropped 35 of her team’s 63 points accompanied by plenty of highlight-reel moments in a well-rounded game that helped continue the Bulldogs’ undefeated season.

For Van Lith, 35 points fall right around her season average, and the win was yet another step towards completing her decorated high school career before moving to Louisville this summer.

However, it was a familiar face watching from the stands that made this game a little sweeter when Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna drew the attention of a packed gym.

It’s not uncommon to see professional athletes crash a game at their high school from time to time, or to be in attendance for their children’s games. However, this wasn’t such an occasion for the Bryants. Van Lith doesn’t live close to any major cities or airports, nor is her school easily accessible via nearby highways. Wenatchee, Washington is about a two and a half hour drive from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and in the middle of January, one is bound to run into some inclement weather on the backroads in Washington state.

Louisville coach Jeff Walz previously detailed the difficulty of getting to Van Lith for recruiting trips prior to her signing with the Cardinals, and the journey figured to be at least a day’s trip, even for someone that has the means of Kobe Bryant.

The eighteen-time NBA All-Star, five-time NBA champion, two-time NBA finals MVP, Oscar winner, and New York Times Best-seller spent a considerable amount of time taking his daughter to watch Van Lith and stuck around afterward to speak with the team and take pictures.

Two weeks prior to his death, Bryant spent time doing what he did best of all: being a great father, and a great ambassador for the game of basketball.

Like Bryant, Van Lith isn’t just another player. She is the second-rated recruit in the class of 2020, a two-time gold medalist at the FIBA World Cup U19 and 3-on-3 competitions, and an outgoing voice for a generation of women’s basketball players with something to prove.

"“My generation? We’re a little more saucy,” Van Lith began in an interview with SLAM in 2019. “We’re evolving to (be like) the boys. We want to score and we want all of those flashy plays, like, we’re making them give us attention.”"

The attention she caught was that of an audience hungry for more progress in women’s sports, as well as leaders like Bryant, who wanted better for his girls who aspired to play the game he loved.

So, after making a few calls, Bryant flew Van Lith out to train with him and she and Gianna struck an instant connection.

Since their summer training sessions, Van Lith and Bryant remained in contact, and the younger Bryant relished the opportunity to get to be around one of the future stars of the women’s game.

According to Van Lith though, the connection with one of the players who every young basketball fan idolized never felt real.

"“I still can’t believe it. I look down and see that Kobe just sent me a text. It’s something you can’t ever get used to.”"

Texts, phone calls, private training sessions, day trips to games, and more were all a part of a grander plan for Bryant, however. He intended to grow women’s basketball, and in doing so, became one of the most important advocates to the recent attention paid to the women’s game.

That’s where Bryant wanted to make his impact felt after his retirement in 2016, and its been important figures like Bryant placing an emphasis on gender equality, revenue shares, and overall popularity of the women’s game that helped continue things in a positive direction.

Just twelve days prior to his passing, the WNBA brought forth a new collective bargaining agreement that would allow women’s players to receive similar benefits and revenue shares to that of well-compensated players in the NBA.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert called it “a big bet on women,” while The New York Times argued that the move “signaled a radical shift in how female athletes are to be compensated.”

Bryant’s social mediums were littered with tweets and reposts in support of WNBA players and future stars, and his overall message is one of growth and appreciation for the game.

Bryant was the player that the younger generation modeled its game, it’s swagger, and mentality after. Kids today don’t throw items into the trash, hold the follow-through, and exclaim “Lebron!” or “Giannis!” The “Black Mamba’s” swagger, work ethic, and drive were on a different level, and his death had a more profound impact on Sunday than any celebrity since Michael Jackson.

Yet, when looking forward to future generations, Bryant had one thing on his mind: A world where his daughter and her daughters could be looked up to the same way he was.

When Van Lith arrives at the University of Louisville, she will be one of the more decorated high school basketball players ever. More importantly, however, she and her teammates will be tasked with picking up and carrying the torch that Bryant and others helped light during and after his playing days.

As will we all. As fans and ambassadors of the game of basketball, the best way to honor Kobe and Gianna Bryant will be to pick up where they left off as well.

Everyone deals with issues of different magnitudes in their personal lives. Sports are merely an escape from our daily reality. From players to coaches to fans and everyone in between, sports bring us a release.

That’s why in times like this, when the escape turns to tragedy, the loss of Bryant weighs so heavily. Grown men and women hold back real tears on television and radio programs, parents hug their children a little tighter, and the world feels like it slows for a little while.

It wasn’t until the world shared these moments on Sunday that the magnitude of Bryant’s impact was truly felt and able to be recognized in its fullest sense.

A man who was supposed to be an ambassador for the game, for mental health, for women’s rights, and so much more for decades to come is gone far too soon. His daughter, a future ambassador and trailblazer in her own right, left us right as she was just getting started.

Suddenly, arguments on sports talk radio about 18-year-old kids dribbling a basketball feel frivolous. Resentments held against loved ones feel childish. The impact of our actions and words weigh heavier than ever when a giant this great falls.

Even for the most casual sports fan, the loss of a name and face that had become such commonplace in our lives that complete strangers felt like they knew him on a personal level, is devastating.

However, the impacts of Gianna and Kobe Bryant live on after their passing. They live on in us; The future ambassadors of the game, and future decision-makers. From this point forward, the world carries Bryant’s legacy.

And as for the future of the women’s game, women’s sports, and women’s rights as a whole, perhaps Van Lith was right when she said her generation is “making them give us attention.”

The world is watching now, and thanks to relationships like that between the Bryant’s and Van Lith the future is brighter than ever before.