1. PRESENTER: Good evening and welcome to UNITEC TV.

Basketball Legend - Today we have as our guest Kobe Bryant, a professional NBA player.
Welcome to UNITEC TV Kobe. Tell us a little bit about your life.

KOBE: When I was a child, football was my passion, but my father gave me the love of
basketball. When I turned 18 I started my career playing with the Los Angeles Lakers, I
remember that when I started I suffered a lot of injuries.

2. PRESENTER: It is said that you can be the next Michael Jordan.

KOBE: It bothers me a lot when they compare me to the legendary Michael Jordan, because I
am a fan of him, when I faced Michael he was the winner by three points. I always talk to him for
advice, but he's the king of basketball.

3. PRESENTER: It's kind of annoying, when they compare you to other people. Kobe, on the
Lakers, this team, I remember you had problems with Shaquille O'Neal and people said they
were enemies.

KOBE: The best player and scorer was Shaquille O'Neal, he was the winner of 3 trophies,
number 2, that's how he made me feel, but we were always good friends.

4. PRESENTER: How did you manage to get the 5 awards for best player and get the title of
best scorer twice?

KOBE: I achieved it all thanks to my family who supported me since I was a child and my team
who is the best.

5. PRESENTER: Kobe, what was that poem that inspired you to say goodbye to this sport

KOBE: It's a poem called "Dear Basketball"

"You gave a six-year-old boy his dream of being a Laker.

And I'll always love you for that, but I can't love you obsessively much longer.

This season is all I have left to give.

My heart can resist the pace, my mind can withstand the pressure, but my body knows it's time
to say goodbye."

6. PRESENTER: Kobe, you stand out as one of the best players in the history of the NBA, but
you wrote some books that were the best and published by the so called "Black Mamba".

KOBE: Black Mamba, I was inspired by a Quentin Tarantino Kill Bill movie where an assassin
uses a black mamba to kill another character, I also chose that name because black mamba is
a killer snake. "When you get on the court, that's what I become. I'm a killer snake. I'm cold-
blooded.

Thank you, Kobe, for your time and sharing with UNITEC TV.