Bryant: "I used to root for Milan and Van Basten"
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Kobe Bryant grew up in Italy, and despite being one of the greatest players in NBA history, he has never hidden his passion for soccer.
The five-time NBA Champion, in a recent meeting with legend Thierry Henry, recounted the origin of his well-known passion for AC Milan: “I have always been a big Milan fan, Marco Van Basten was my favorite player.”
Bryant also went on to name his other childhood idols, members of the great Milan of the early 1990s: “Rijkaard, Gullit, a young Maldini, and Baresi.”
The Black Mamba, winner with the Lakers of three consecutive NBA titles from 2000 to 2002, as well as two in a row in 2009 and 2010, then had his say on Barcelona’s chances of becoming the first team to win two consecutive editions of the UEFA Champions League: “I think they can do it. I think their style of play is difficult to deal with, it’s comparable to when we won NBA titles with the ‘triangle offense.’ It’s hard, very hard, to be able to stop them,” his words.
