I Am Kobe

Gender, identity, mental health, LGBTQ+ civil rights—these don’t have to be confusing, intimidating conversations. Everyone from your grandma to your best friend has an opinion on these issues, and Schuyler Bailar, the celebrated activist, author, and trailblazing transgender athlete (the first to compete in NCAA Division 1) is here for it. Each week, Dear Schuyler invites cultural movers to join him in provocative and personal conversations about how gender issues impact all of us. They include thought leaders like actress-activist Dylan Mulvaney, NCAA champion swimmer Lia Thomas, NFL Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champion Brendon Ayanbadejo, Olympian Megan Rapino, and many others. Every episode focuses on a topical, listener-sourced question. You can submit your own question at DearSchuyler.com. Sometimes the conversation is fun, other times it may get uncomfortable, but in the end, Schuyler and his guests give us the perspective and vocabulary to better understand each other in today’s evolving world. Would you like to better understand gender and identity? Want to explore what being an ally can really mean? However you define yourself — you’re in the right place. Dear Schuyler humanizes these conversations. Subscribe to Diversion+ on Apple Podcasts and get every episode of Dear Schuyler ad-free! In fact, members get every podcast from Diversion Audio ad-free, plus early releases and special episodes. Try the free trial at https://apple.co/417QkGV

At the second anniversary of Kobe Bryant's death, we explore how the change in Kobe late in his career might have come about and what this “new Kobe” was like. We hear from Carmelo Anthony, future Hall of Famer, 9th-leading scorer in NBA history. And we hear from two players on Kobe’s hometown team: the Philadelphia 76ers. Mike Sielski spoke with Seth Curry and Tobias Harris about their vantage points on Kobe: what it was like to grow up watching him and what it was like to meet him and play against him. And more importantly, we spoke about why Kobe’s presence and spirit are still felt throughout the NBA.

Let's drill down on the physical and mental attributes that made Kobe Bryant a great basketball player--the granular stuff that basketball junkies love. We examine each stage of Kobe's life and career through the eyes of someone who knew Kobe well at each stage. We have three coaches with ties to Kobe to break everything down. First, you’ll hear from Ashley Howard, who grew up with Kobe and played against him when they were kids. He had been Jay Wright’s top assistant coach on two national-championship teams at Villanova, and now he’s the head coach at La Salle University.

“Kobe Bryant dead? That can’t be." Kobe Bryant’s death affected those people who knew him when he was a kid differently than it affected anyone else. It's not that Kobe’s Lakers teammates or his friends from the NBA weren’t profoundly saddened by his death but the connection between Kobe and people like Jeremy Treatman and his high school coach Gregg Downer and his classmates and teammates from Lower Merion High School was something else entirely.

2001 was the year that Jeremy Treatman’s relationship with Kobe Bryant changed, because Kobe’s relationship with his family changed. 2001 was the year that Kobe married his wife, Vanessa, which led to a falling out between him and his parents, Joe and Pam. There’s been a lot of speculation about why the Bryant family fractured as it did. From what I gathered in talking to people who knew Kobe well back then, the problem came down to this: Kobe felt like he was ready to move fully into adulthood, to get married, and his parents thought he was too young.