{"id":85154,"date":"2024-11-11T10:48:38","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T09:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olimpiamilano.com\/?p=85154"},"modified":"2024-11-11T10:48:43","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T09:48:43","slug":"once-upon-a-time-i-met-kobe-im-nico-mannion-and-this-is-my-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olimpiamilano.com\/en\/once-upon-a-time-i-met-kobe-im-nico-mannion-and-this-is-my-story\/","title":{"rendered":"“Once upon a time, I met Kobe”: I’m Nico Mannion and this is my story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI was young, very young. We lived in Salt Lake City at the time. It was during the playoffs. The Lakers won the game and closed the series against the Jazz. I told my father that I wanted to meet Kobe Bryant. He suggested that I wait for him in the tunnel, where the players are coming out, because he would pass by there. He also said that Kobe could speak Italian and if I said something to him in Italian maybe I would get his attention. I did. He stopped for a few minutes and took me on his knees. We didn’t talk about basketball, but about life. He asked me how I was doing at school, if I had good grades, he asked me if I listened to my parents’ advice. It was small talk, but I will carry it with me forever.” <\/strong>Nico Mannion will never forget that conversation with one of his great heroes. From 2008 to 2010, the Lakers played three consecutive series against the Jazz and won them all. Nico was really young, he wasn’t a player yet, maybe he was starting to dream of being one. \u201cI never had doubts about basketball, but as a child I tried everything, I tried football, baseball, soccer and of course, given my mother’s career, volleyball. But I chose basketball because it was more fun. When you’re a little kid you don’t think about becoming a professional, you just think about having fun. I had a lot of fun.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no doubt that Nico Mannion has the right genes. His grandfather Terry Mannion was a well-regarded high school basketball coach in the Las Vegas area. Terry’s three sons all became athletes. John Mannion played football at Brigham Young University; Greg Mannion played baseball at Cal-State Fullerton and in the minor leagues. And then there is Pace Mannion, the thinnest of the three, but at the end of the development process, with his 201 centimeters also the tallest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n