He saw it as the best way for them to grow. He wanted his group to grapple with such challenges on its own. In games, he often declined to utilize press breaks against full-court pressure or call for double-teams to negate defensive mismatches. Occasionally, he scheduled scrimmages against high school-age club teams. Thanks Kobe.”Īs a coach, Bryant tested his players.
Now they are one of the best 8th grade teams in the country. “The girls practice 7 days a week,” Jim Righeimer wrote in a Facebook post in October 2019. Alongside Mauser, Bryant helped build the club squad over the last several years, assembling a roster that included his daughter (nicknamed Gigi) the children of a former NBA player (Zach Randolph’s daughter MacKenly), a local college baseball coach (Orange Coast College coach John Altobelli’s youngest of three, Alyssa), a former Costa Mesa mayor (Jim Righeimer’s daughter Kat) and other promising middle-school players from around Orange County.Įven amid all his business ventures, Bryant’s dedication to the team ran deep.
