Kyle Reed, currently a computer teacher at IMS, played against one of the most influential and skilled NBA greats in 1996, Kobe Bryant. (Photo from Mr. Reed)
Back then, both of them were around the age of 17 when both of their teams went head to head in the quarter finals of the championship their schools were taking part in. Reed’s team had just won the district championship before this quarter-final game, just as Kobe’s team did.
Reed, who was a small forward at the time, said that it was a competitive and intense game. “Back then, I didn’t know that Kobe would become such a huge person,” he said. “ But I did know he was one of the best players on that team. At the time, it was just a hard game that we all wanted to win.”
Mr. Reed scored 14 points that game, though his team still lost the game against Bryant’s team, 71-54.
“We kept Bryant to his average,” he said. “His average was 36 points, pretty crazy, right?”
Reed also said that Kobe Bryant was an amazing player and the top recruit in the nation.
Reed didn’t just play basketball, though, as he also said that he played baseball.
When asked about his overall stats, he didn’t have them memorized, so all we knew was that he scored 14 points.
Another cool thing about this is that this match was played 3 months before Bryant was drafted. Reed went against Bryant on March 16th, 1996, only for Bryant to get drafted on June 26, 1996.
Reed also provided us with the picture and video above, giving us a visual of the game.
Reed talked about how he enjoyed the experience of facing off against Bryant and said that it’s a cool thing to look back on.
