We sat down with former Golden State Warriors player, Adonal Foyle to speak about retired NBA player Kobe Bryant.
Inside Foyle's man-cave we saw a selective collection of NBA jerseys.
"I don't have a lot of jerseys in my house but Kobe was definitely one of the people I have on my wall. Also, Tim Duncan and Doug Nowitzki because I felt like in many ways they changed the game," said Foyle.
Luz Peña: "How did Kobe Bryant change the game of basketball?"
Adonal Foyle: "I think he changed basketball by making it more than a game. I think that when you look at the international reach of the game Kobe was a huge part of that. You end up on China and you want to speak the language and people are saying- 'Kobe, Kobe."
After 13 years in the NBA, Foyle remembers how every time Kobe Bryant stepped on the court he automatically captured everyone's attention.
Luz Peña: "Who was Kobe Bryant on the court?"
Adonal Foyle: "Kobe was properly one of the fiercest competitors I've ever met. I mean, he remembers everything he studies the game. If you beat him he would come back three times as hard to beat you the next time."
Foyle doesn't only remember Kobe Bryant as a 5 time NBA champion, but a poet.
"One of the things Kobe and I bonded over together when we did rookie transition together is that we didn't talk a lot about basketball, but poetry. We talked about his love of poetry and wanting to write more poems," Foyle added. "I went back and I read Kobe's poem 'Dear Basketball,' and there's a line that I just thought was so searing it says 'I never saw the end of the tunnel I only saw myself running out of one.' That is such a visceral image for anyone who plays sports and yet in the context of today is hunting."
Adonal Foyle is a current Warriors ambassador and appears as an NBA analyst on ABC7's After The Game.
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