Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league in the United States. It is composed of twelve teams; the league was founded on April 24, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association, league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from May to September with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July and the WNBA Finals at the end of September until the beginning of October. Five WNBA teams have direct NBA counterparts and play in the same arena: the Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, Phoenix Mercury, Washington Mystics; the Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, Seattle Storm do not share an arena with a direct NBA counterpart, although four of the seven share a market with an NBA counterpart, the Storm shared an arena and market with an NBA team at the time of its founding. The Dream, the Sky, the Sun, the Wings, the Aces, the Sparks, the Storm are all independently owned.
The creation of the WNBA was approved by the NBA Board of Governors on April 24, 1996, announced at a press conference with Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes in attendance. The new WNBA had to compete with the formed American Basketball League, another professional women's basketball league that began play in 1996; the WNBA began with eight teams: the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets and New York Liberty in the Eastern Conference. While not the first major women's professional basketball league in the United States, the WNBA is the only league to receive full backing of the NBA; the WNBA logo, "Logo Woman", was selected out of 50 different designs. On the heels of a much-publicized gold medal run by the 1996 USA Basketball Women's National Team at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the WNBA began its first season on June 21, 1997 to little fanfare; the first WNBA game featured the New York Liberty facing the Los Angeles Sparks in Los Angeles. The game was televised nationally in the United States on the NBC television network.
At the start of the 1997 season, the WNBA had television deals in place with NBC, the Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation joint venture channels, ESPN and Lifetime Television Network, respectively. Penny Toler scored the league's first point; the WNBA centered its marketing campaign, dubbed "We Got Next", around stars Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes. In the league's first season, Leslie's Los Angeles Sparks underperformed and Swoopes sat out much of the season due to her pregnancy; the WNBA's true star in 1997 was Swoopes' teammate on the Houston Comets. The Comets defeated Lobo's New York Liberty in the first WNBA Championship game; the initial "We Got Next" advertisement ran before each WNBA season until it was replaced with the "We Got Game" campaign. Two teams were added in 1998 and two more in 1999, bringing the number of teams in the league up to twelve; the 1999 season began with a collective bargaining agreement between players and the league, marking the first collective bargaining agreement to be signed in the history of women's professional sports.
The WNBA announced in 1999 that it would add four more team for the 2000 season, bringing the league up to 16 teams, with WNBA President Val Ackerman discussing expansion: "This won't be the end of it. We expect to keep growing the league."In 1999, the league's chief competition, the American Basketball League, folded. Many of the ABL's star players, including several Olympic gold medalists and a number of standout college performers joined the rosters of WNBA teams and, in so doing, enhanced the overall quality of play in the league; when a lockout resulted in an abbreviated NBA season, the WNBA saw faltering TV viewership. On May 23, 2000, the Houston Comets became the first WNBA team to be invited to the White House Rose Garden. Before this invitation, only men's sports teams had traveled to the White House. At the end of the 2000 season, the Houston Comets won their fourth championship, capturing every title since the league's inception. Led by the "Big Three" of Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, four-time Finals MVP Cynthia Cooper, the Comets dominated every team in the league.
Under head coach Van Chancellor, the team posted a 98–24 record through their first four seasons. After 2000, Cooper retired from the league and the Comets dynasty came to an end; the top contender in the 2001 season was the Los Angeles Sparks. Led by Lisa Leslie, the Sparks posted a regular-season record of 28–4, they advanced to their first WNBA Finals and swept the Charlotte Sting. Looking to repeat in 2002, the Sparks again made a strong run toward the postseason, going 25–7 in the regular season under head coach Michael Cooper of the Los Angeles Lakers. Again, Leslie dominated opponents throughout the Playoffs, leading the Sparks to a perfect 6–0 record through all three rounds, beating the New York Liberty in the 2002 Finals. Teams and the league were collectively owned by the NBA until the end of 2002, when the NBA sold WNBA teams either to their NBA counterparts in the same city or to a third party, as a result of the dot-com bubble; this led to two teams moving: Utah moved to San Antonio, Orlando moved to Connecticut and became the first WNBA team to be
La Salle University
La Salle University is a private, Roman Catholic university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Named for St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, the university was founded in 1863 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools; the university offers traditional and hybrid courses and programs. The university is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church through the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. La Salle College was founded in March 1863 as an all-male college by Brother Teliow and Archbishop James Wood of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, it was first located at St. Michael's Parish on N. 2nd Street in the Olde Kensington section of Philadelphia. La Salle soon moved to the building vacated by St. Joseph's College at 1234 Filbert Street in Center City, Philadelphia. In 1886, due to the development of the Center City district, La Salle moved to a third location, the former mansion of Michael Bouvier, the great-great-grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, at 1240 North Broad Street. Due to space constraints, in 1930 La Salle moved to its current campus at the intersection of 20th Street and Olney Avenue in the Logan neighborhood of the city.
The new location had a suburban feel with ample land, but was linked to the city by trolleys and the newly constructed Broad Street Subway. The 1930s proved to be a tumultuous decade for La Salle, nearly bankrupt after being unable to sell the 1240 North Broad Street property; the main academic building on campus, College Hall was unable to be finished due to a lack of funds, the college nearly closed in the late 1930s. The college's closing was prevented by a 75th Anniversary Fund Drive in 1938, spearheaded by Philadelphia businessman John McCarthy. Funds raised from this drive enabled La Salle to purchase a tract of land to the east of 19th Street, where Philadelphia had intended to build a city college. La Salle nearly closed again due to a lack of students during World War II, the football team was disbanded due to a lack of players, but the college experienced a period of growth in the late 1940s. Several new buildings were constructed in the 1940s and 1950s, including a new library, student union, a science building.
It was during this time that the first student residence halls were constructed at La Salle on land purchased from the former Belfield Country Club. Additional student housing was provided by purchasing or renting local homes, such as the house known as "The Mansion", on David and Logan Blain's Belfield Estate. During the 1960s, the high school section moved out due to the lack of space after many years of sharing the same campus with the College. La Salle admitted women to its regular classes in 1970, becoming a co-educational institution. A year La Salle opened Olney Hall, its main academic building, it continued to expand its property throughout the 1970s and 1980s, buying land along Chew Avenue in the Germantown section of the city, along with the Belfield Estate in 1984, to the south of main-campus, the orphanage run by the Sisters of St. Basil the Great, it was during this era, in 1984, that La Salle was granted University status. In 2007, La Salle acquired the former Germantown Hospital, now West Campus, constructed The Shoppes at La Salle shopping center across the street in 2008.
The construction of the Shoppes at La Salle and addition of The Fresh Grocer ended a decades-long food desert in Germantown. In October 2015, La Salle inaugurated its first lay person and first woman president, Dr. Colleen Hanycz, former president of Brescia University College. In 2015, Hanycz led consolidation and prioritization efforts firing a couple dozen prominent staff members and administrators; the university cut six undergraduate majors, which were in the foreign language department. However, just a year after her arrival, the school stated that it would decrease tuition by 29 percent; the fall of 2016, according to Hanycz, is the beginning of a "renaissance" at the university, citing major advancements in college rankings and improvements on and off campus. The reasoning for the significant tuition cut was to make La Salle more attractive and accessible for students from more diverse socioeconomic backgrounds; the University is led by a Board of Trustees headed by a Chairman. The President serves one or more 5–year terms.
As of 2015, there have been 29 Presidents. The current President is Colleen M. Hanycz; as of 2015, the Chairman is Stephen T. Zarrilli. Students are represented through a democratically elected student government; the La Salle Students' Government Association sits on numerous committees led by staff and administrators, including some Board of Trustees meetings. La Salle's student government is a founding member of the American Student Government Association; the President's Office located in the historic Peale House, is now in College Hall, the former business school building. Within La Salle is the College of Professional and Continuing Studies and its three Schools: Arts & Sciences, Business Administration, Nursing & Health Sciences. Communication and Education are the largest majors at La Salle. Courses in the programs may be offered in traditional, online, or hybrid formats. Starting in the Fall 2017 semester, La Salle University will decrease its tuition by 29 percent, citing affordability for all students and a "renaissance" at the school.
The new annual tuition price tag is about $28,800 per year. Prior to the tuition reduction, La Salle was renowned for its generous financial aid packages, recognized by Time Magazine and The Economist for its value. Although the university's annual tuition price tag was $39,800 per year, the average student received about $24,205 in financial aid
Julius Erving
Julius Winfield Erving II known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American retired basketball player who helped popularize a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and playing above the rim. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association and was the best-known player in that league when it merged with the National Basketball Association after the 1975–76 season. Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, three scoring titles with the ABA's Virginia Squires and New York Nets and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, he is the eighth-highest scorer in ABA/NBA history with 30,026 points. He was well known for slam dunking from the free throw line in slam dunk contests and was the only player voted Most Valuable Player in both the ABA and the NBA. Erving was inducted in 1993 into the Basketball Hall of Fame and was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time team. In 1994, Erving was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the 40 most important athletes of all time. In 2004, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.
Many consider him one of the most talented players in the history of the NBA. While Connie Hawkins, "Jumping" Johnny Green, Elgin Baylor, Jim Pollard and Gus Johnson performed spectacular dunks before Erving's time, Erving brought the practice into the mainstream, his signature dunk was the "slam" dunk, since incorporated into the vernacular and basic skill set of the game in the same manner as the "crossover" dribble and the "no look" pass. Before Erving, dunking was a practice most used by the big men to show their brutal strength, seen as style over substance unsportsmanlike, by many purists of the game. However, the way Erving utilized the dunk more as a high-percentage shot made at the end of maneuvers starting well away from the basket and not a "show of force" helped to make the shot an acceptable strategy in trying to avoid a blocked shot. Although the slam dunk is still used as a show of power, a method of intimidation and a way to fire up a team, Erving demonstrated that there can be great artistry and balletic style to slamming the ball into the hoop after a launch several feet from that target.
Erving was born in East Meadow, New York, raised from the age of 13 in Roosevelt, New York. Prior to that, he lived in nearby Hempstead, he played for Roosevelt High School and received the nickname "Doctor" or "Dr. J" from a high school friend named Leon Saunders, he explains, I have a buddy—his name is Leon Saunders—and he lives in Atlanta, I started calling him "the professor", he started calling me "the doctor". So it was just between us...we were buddies, we had our nicknames and we would roll with the nicknames. Lo and behold we graduate from high school together, we both go to U-Mass, we separated for many years'cause he went over to Africa and did some stuff, I went my way, but now he's my golf buddy in Atlanta...and I love him. He's just like a little brother to me though, you know, there's only months between us, but he's the professor and he was the first one to call me "the doctor". And that's. Erving recalled, "ater on, in the Rucker Park league in Harlem, when people started calling me'Black Moses' and'Houdini', I told them if they wanted to call me anything, call me'Doctor,'" Over time, the nickname evolved into "Dr. Julius," and "Dr. J." Erving enrolled at the University of Massachusetts in 1968.
In two varsity college basketball seasons, he averaged 26.3 points and 20.2 rebounds per game, becoming one of only six players to average more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game in NCAA Men's Basketball. Having left college early to pursue a professional career, Erving earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst through the University Without Walls program in creative leadership and administration in 1986, fulfilling a promise he had made to his mother. Erving holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Although NBA rules at the time did not allow teams to draft players who were less than four years removed from high school, the ABA instituted a “hardship” rule that would allow players to leave college early. Erving took advantage of the rule change and left Massachusetts after his junior year to sign a four-year contract worth $500,000 spread over seven years with the Virginia Squires. Erving established himself as a force and gained a reputation for hard and ruthless dunking.
He scored 27.3 points per game as a rookie, was selected to the All-ABA Second Team, made the ABA All-Rookie Team, led the ABA in offensive rebounds, finished second to Artis Gilmore for the ABA Rookie of the Year Award. He led the Squires into the Eastern Division Finals, where they lost to the Rick Barry-led New York Nets in seven games; the Nets would go to the finals, losing to the star-studded Indiana Pacers team. Under NBA rules, he became eligible for the 1972 NBA draft and the Milwaukee Bucks picked him in the first round; this move would have brought him together with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However prior to the draft, he signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks worth more than $1 million with a $250,000 bonus; the signing with the Hawks came after a dispute with the Squires where he demanded a renegotiation of the terms. He discovered that his agent at the time, Steve Arnold, was employed by the Squires and convinced him to sign a below-market contract; this created a dispute between three teams in two leagues.
The Bucks asserted their rights to Erving vi
1981–82 NBA season
The 1981–82 NBA season was the 36th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals; the regular-season ran. The 1982 NBA All-Star Game was played at the new Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with the East defeating the West 120–118. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics wins the game's MVP award; this season marked the New Jersey Nets first season in the new arena. On March 6, 1982, San Antonio beat Milwaukee 171-166 in three overtime periods to set the record for most points by two teams in a game; the record was broken two seasons later. Magic Johnson secures his second NBA Finals MVP award several months before his 23rd birthday; the Los Angeles Lakers begin a string of nine consecutive seasons as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Denver Nuggets scored at least 100 points in every single game of the season, while allowing 100 points in every game.
It remains the only time. After a few years of success in NCAA basketball, the breakaway rim became standardized equipment in the NBA; this season marked Isiah Thomas' rookie season. The three-to-make-two free throw rule, along with the two-to-make one rule, were both eliminated; this season marked Bob Dandridge' final season. Notes z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs and first round bye c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs and first round bye y – Clinched division title and first round bye x – Clinched playoff spot Teams in bold advanced to the next round; the numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record. Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Houston Rockets Rookie of the Year: Buck Williams, New Jersey Nets Coach of the Year: Gene Shue, Washington Bullets All-NBA First Team: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers Moses Malone, Houston Rockets Gus Williams, Seattle SuperSonics All-NBA Second Team: Alex English, Denver Nuggets Bernard King, Golden State Warriors Robert Parish, Boston Celtics Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks All-NBA Rookie Team: Buck Williams, New Jersey Nets Jay Vincent, Dallas Mavericks Kelly Tripucka, Detroit Pistons Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons Jeff Ruland, Washington BulletsNote: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com
Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka
The Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka are a Japanese basketball team, playing in the first division of the B. League, they are based in Fukuoka Prefecture and were coached by Joe Bryant, the father of Kobe Bryant in 2015. Toshihiro Goto Carl John Neumann Tadaharu Ogawa Atsushi Kanazawa Mack Tuck Kimitoshi Sano James Duncan Ken Hamanaka Joe Bryant Tomohiro Moriyama Josep Clarós Ryuji Kawai Teriha Sekisui House Arena Fukuoka Citizens Gymnasium Iizuka Daiichi Gymnasium Kitakyushu City General Gymnasium Kurume Arena Rizing Fukuoka at Asia-basket.com Team website Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka on Twitter
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division; the team played its home games in the Memorial Coliseum before moving to Moda Center in 1995. The franchise entered the league as an expansion team in 1970, has enjoyed a strong following: from 1977 through 1995, the team sold out 814 consecutive home games, the longest such streak in American major professional sports at the time, only since surpassed by the Boston Red Sox; the Trail Blazers have been the only NBA team based in the bi-national Pacific Northwest, after the Vancouver Grizzlies relocated to Memphis and became the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001, the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008. The team has advanced to the NBA Finals three times, winning the NBA championship once in 1977.
Their other NBA Finals appearances were in 1990 and 1992. The team has qualified for the playoffs in 34 seasons of their 48-season existence, including a streak of 21 straight appearances from 1983 through 2003, tied for the second longest streak in NBA history; the Trail Blazers' 34 playoff appearances rank third in the NBA only behind the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs since the team's inception in 1970. Six Hall of Fame players have played for the Trail Blazers. Bill Walton is the franchise's most decorated player. Four Blazer rookies have won the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Three players have earned the Most Improved Player award: Kevin Duckworth, Zach Randolph, CJ McCollum. Two Hall of Fame coaches, Lenny Wilkens and Jack Ramsay, have patrolled the sidelines for the Blazers, two others, Mike Schuler and Mike Dunleavy, have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award with the team. Sports promoter Harry Glickman sought a National Basketball Association franchise for Portland as far back as 1955 when he proposed two new expansion teams, the other to be located in Los Angeles.
When the Memorial Coliseum was opened in 1960 Glickman saw the potential it could serve as a professional basketball venue but it was not until February 6, 1970, that the NBA board of governors granted him the rights to a franchise in Portland. To raise the money for the $3.7 million admission tax, Glickman associated himself to real estate magnates Robert Schmertz of New Jersey, Larry Weinberg of Los Angeles and Herman Sarkowsky of Seattle. Two weeks on February 24, team management held a contest to select the team's name and received more than 10,000 entries; the most popular choice was "Pioneers", but that name was excluded from consideration as it was used by sports teams at Portland's Lewis & Clark College. The name "Trail Blazers" received 172 entries, was selected by the judging panel, being revealed on March 13 in the halftime of a SuperSonics game at the Memorial Coliseum. Derived from the trail blazing activity by explorers making paths through forests, Glickman considered it a name that could "reflect both the ruggedness of the Pacific Northwest and the start of a major league era in our state."
Despite initial mixed response, the Trail Blazers name shortened to just "Blazers", became popular in Oregon. Along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Buffalo Braves, the Trail Blazers entered the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team, under coach Rolland Todd. Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks led the team in its early years, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs in its first six seasons of existence. During that span, the team had three head coaches; the team won the first pick in the NBA draft twice during that span. In 1972, the team drafted LaRue Martin with the number one pick. In 1974 the team selected Bill Walton from UCLA; the ABA–NBA merger of 1976 saw those two rival leagues join forces. Four ABA teams joined the NBA; the Trail Blazers selected Maurice Lucas in the dispersal draft. That summer, they hired Jack Ramsay as head coach; the two moves, coupled with the team's stellar play, led Portland to several firsts: winning record, playoff appearance, championship in 1977. Starting on April 5 of that year, the team began a sellout streak of 814 straight games—the longest in American major professional sports history—which did not end until 1995, after the team moved into a larger facility.
The team started the 1977–78 season with a 50–10 mark, some predicted a dynasty in Portland. However, Bill Walton suffered a foot injury that ended his season and would plague him over the remainder of his career, the team struggled to an 8–14 finish, going 58–24 overall. In the playoffs, Portland lost to the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1978 conference semifinals; that summer, Walton demanded to be traded to a team of his choice because he was unhappy with his medical treatment in Portland. Walton was never traded, he held out the entire 1978–79 season and left the team as a free agent thereafter; the team was further dismantled as Lucas left in 1980. During the 1980s, the team was a consistent presence in the NBA post-season, failing to qualify for the playoffs only in 1982. However, they never advanced past the conference semifinals duri
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant is an American former professional basketball player. He played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, he won five NBA championships. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive team, he led the NBA in scoring during two seasons and ranks third on the league's all-time regular season scoring and fourth on the all-time postseason scoring list. He is regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Bryant is the first guard in NBA history to play at least 20 seasons. Bryant is the son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, he enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. Upon graduation, he declared for the NBA draft and was selected by the Charlotte Hornets in the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft; the Hornets traded him to the Lakers.
As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, he was named an All-Star by his second season. Despite a feud between the two players and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. In 2003, Bryant was accused of sexual assault, but the charges were dropped, a civil suit was settled out of court. After the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat and Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers, he led the NBA in scoring during the 2005 -- 2006 -- 07 seasons. In 2006, he scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. Bryant was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award in 2008. After losing in the 2008 NBA Finals, he led the Lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, earning the Finals MVP Award on both occasions.
He continued to be among the top players in the league through 2013 until he suffered a torn Achilles tendon at age 34. Although he recovered, his play was limited the following two years by season-ending injuries to his knee and shoulder, respectively. Citing his physical decline, he announced. At 34 years and 104 days of age, Bryant became the youngest player in league history to reach 30,000 career points, he became the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history on February 1, 2010, when he surpassed Jerry West. During his third year in the league, Bryant was chosen to start the All-Star Game, he would continue to be selected to start that game for a record 18 consecutive appearances until his retirement, his four All-Star MVP Awards are tied for the most in NBA history. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals as a member of the U. S. national team. In 2018, Bryant won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his film Dear Basketball. Bryant was born in 1978 in Philadelphia.
He is the maternal nephew of basketball player John "Chubby" Cox. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, which they saw on a restaurant menu, his middle name, Bean, is derived from his father's nickname "Jellybean". Bryant was raised Roman Catholic; when Bryant was six, his father retired from the NBA and moved his family to Rieti in Italy to continue playing professional basketball at a lower level. Kobe learned to speak fluent Italian. During summers, he would come back to the United States to play in a basketball summer league. Bryant started playing basketball when he was 3 years old, the Lakers were his favorite team when he was growing up. Bryant's grandfather would mail him videos of NBA games. At an early age, he learned to play soccer and his favorite team was A. C. Milan; when Kobe's father Joe retired as a player in 1991, the family moved back to the United States. Bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, located in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion.
He played on the varsity basketball team as a freshman. He became the first freshman in decades to start for Lower Merion's varsity team, but the team finished with a 4–20 record; the following three years, the Aces compiled a 77–13 record, with Bryant playing all five positions. During his junior year, he averaged 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists and was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year, attracting attention from college recruiters in the process. Duke, North Carolina and Villanova were at the top of his list. At Adidas ABCD camp, Bryant earned the 1995 senior MVP award while playing alongside future NBA teammate Lamar Odom. While in high school 76ers coach John Lucas invited Bryant to work out and scrimmage with the team, where he played one-on-one with Jerry Stackhouse. In his senior year of high school, Bryant led the Aces to their first state championship in 53 years. During the run, he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4 steals, 3.8 blocked shots in leading the Aces to a 31–3 record.
Bryant ended his high school career as Southeastern Pennsylvania's all-time leading scorer at 2,883 points, surpassing both Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons. Bryant received several awards for his outstanding performance during his senior year at Lower Merion; the awards included being na
