The Rise - by Mike Sielski

About the Book

"The inside look at one of the most captivating and consequential figures in our culture with never-before-seen material. Kobe Bryant's death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash 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 cracked concrete basketball courts of Philadelphia in the 1960s and '70s-where Kobe's father, Joe, became a playground, college, and professional standout-to the Bryant family's isolation in Europe, 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 with his acquisition by the Los Angeles Lakers. In researching and writing The Rise, Mike Sielski will have a terrific advantage over other writers who have attempted to chronicle Bryant's life. Jeremy Treatman, a Kobe confidant who knew him for 28 years, conducted a series of never-before-released interviews with Bryant not long after his senior season ended. Treatman has shared these transcripts and tapes with the author. They will reveal Bryant's in-the-moment thoughts and tell stories, preserved for a quarter-century, that have never been told before. This will be more than a basketball book. This will be an exploration of the identity and making of an icon and the effect of his development on those around him-the essence of the man before he truly became a man"--

Book Synopsis

The inside look at one of the most captivating and consequential figures in our culture--with never-before-seen interviews.

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.

In researching and writing The Rise, Mike Sielski had a terrific advantage over other writers who have attempted to chronicle Kobe's life: access to a series of never-before-released interviews with him during his senior season and early days in the NBA. For a quarter century, these tapes and transcripts preserved Kobe's thoughts, dreams, and goals from his teenage years, and they contained insights into and told stories about him that have never been revealed before.

This is more than a basketball book. This is an exploration of the identity and making of an icon and the effect of his development on those around him--the essence of the man before he truly became a man.

Review Quotes

What incredible insight into the rise of Kobe Bryant. Sielski takes you back to Kobe's father's playing days and gives the reader new details from the start. This book gives you not only stories of Kobe Bryant but the real details from the people in Philly who knew him best. Captivating from start to finish. A must read -- and not just for the diehard basketball fan. --Billy King, former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets

Richly detailed and beautifully written, The Rise is more than a sports biography; it's an illuminating meditation on celebrity culture and how the pressures and vicissitudes of fame shaped the life of one of the most gifted--and complicated--athletes in American history. Even readers who have never watched a basketball game will be riveted by Mike Sielski's page-turning portrait of a young Kobe Bryant. --Abbott Kahler (aka Karen Abbott), New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park and Sin in the Second City

"The Philly Phase of the Kobe Bryant Story was silt that settled at the bottom of a shimmering stream that dazzled the world for two decades ... until Kobe's shocking death sent Mike Sielski down with his big shovel, big heart, and big talent to dredge and divulge all its fertile richness in The Rise." --Gary Smith, former Sports Illustrated senior writer, four-time National Magazine Award winner, author of Beyond the Game: The Collected Sportswriting of Gary Smith and Going Deep: 20 Classic Sports Stories

"Kobe Bryant shot to NBA stardom like an arrow from a strong bow. His notable skills and singular focus were clear from the beginning. In Mike Sielski's sensitive reporting and crisp writing, we see the closest account you will ever read of a sure thing, from showing up as a child at a rec league tournament wearing goggles he didn't need -- because they were worn by Lakers star Kareem Abdul Jabbar -- to startling teachers with his fluent Italian, to leading his Lower Merion high school team to a state championship while training with -- and dazzling -- the Philadelphia Sixers, there was never any doubt about Kobe Bryant, least of all in his own mind." --Mark Bowden, bestselling author of Black Hawk Down, The Best Game Ever, Killing Pablo, Guests of the Ayatollah, and The Last Stone

There may be similarities between Kobe Bryant's game and that of a select few NBA greats. But Kobe's path to the NBA and his tragically brief but meaningful post career life make his story unique. Mike Sielski presents that story informed by meticulous research and rendered with clear-eyed insights. --Bob Costas

Every superhero needs an origin story. Luke Skywalker. Clark Kent. Bruce Wayne. And now, thanks to Mike Sielski, the rise of Kobe Bryant can be fully understood and appreciated. A riveting, PhD-level study of a generational talent gone far too soon. Bravo. --Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author of Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty

As one of our greatest columnists and truth tellers, Mike Sielski is the perfect chronicler of one of the most triumphant and tragic sports stories ever told. Sielski uses never-before-published interviews to pry open windows on young Kobe Bryant's competitive soul that had been forever sealed, making The Rise a titanic work worthy of its subject. Let the Philly author with the unmatched local knowledge show you why Kobe belonged to the world, and the ages, in life and in death. --Ian O'Connor, New York Times bestselling author of Belichick, The Captain, and Arnie & Jack

Everyone comes from somewhere. That's often hard to remember in the face of today's sports-celebrity complex. But it's true. There are places in every past that explain a rise to the highest stages and brightest lights. Kobe Bryant might have made his name in Los Angeles, or become famous in every corner of the globe, but he was from Philadelphia. Enter Mike Sielski, who is the most definitive and important voice in that august and sports mad city. His story of Kobe Bryant tracks his rise, from Philly to the peak of his profession. He follows him from high school gyms to NBA Finals to a helicopter ride with his daughter when the things he loved the most came tumbling from the sky. This is a poignant, essential part of the Bryant canon. --Wright Thompson, ESPN senior writer and author of the New York Times bestselling Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last and The Cost of These Dreams

About the Author

MIKE SIELSKI is a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and author. The Associated Press Sports Editors voted him the country's top sports columnist in 2015, and his previous book, Fading Echoes: A True Story of Rivalry and Brotherhood from the Football Field to the Fields of Honor, was published in 2009. Sielski lives in Bucks County, Pa., with his wife and two sons.