Score

Come high school, Bryant’s family was back in the U.S. and he attended Lower Merion High in suburban Philadelphia. As a freshman, he played on a varsity team that finished with a 4–20 record. Over the next three years, Bryant played all five positions and the team’s record improved. Scoring a key from the school janitor, Bryant would wake at 4 a.m. to get to the school gym to practice 500 shots. After school? Another 500. “I want to be known as a talented over achiever,” Bryant said at just 15. “I was blessed with talent, but I worked as if I had none.”

During his junior year, in 1995, he averaged 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, and was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year, attracting attention from college recruiters around the country. There was also another option for him, though: turning pro.