About this item
Kobe Bryant's death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash, which also took the life of his daughter Gianna, unveiled the full breadth and depth of his influence on our culture, and by tracing and telling the oft-forgotten and lesser-known story of his early life, The Rise promises to provide an insight into Kobe that no other analysis has.In The Rise, readers will travel from the neighborhood streets of Southwest Philadelphia -- where Kobe's father, Joe, became a local basketball standout -- to the Bryant family's isolation in Italy, where Kobe spent his formative years, to the leafy suburbs of Lower Merion, where Kobe's legend was born. The story will trace his career and life at Lower Merion -- he led the Aces to the 1995-96 Pennsylvania state championship, a dramatic underdog run for a team with just one star player -- and the run-up to the 1996 NBA draft, where Kobe's dream of playing pro basketball culminated in his acquisition by the Los Angeles Lakers.
About the Author
Born in New Brunswick, N.J., and raised just outside Philadelphia, Mike Sielski (1975-) is the author of "Fading Echoes: A True Story of Rivalry and Brotherhood from the Football Field to the Fields of Honor." In 2005, he co-authored the book "How to Be Like Jackie Robinson: Life Lessons from Baseball's Greatest Hero" with Pat Williams. A 1997 graduate of La Salle University and a 1998 graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Sielski has been the sports columnist for Calkins Media, a chain of daily newspapers in suburban Philadelphia, since 2003.
