Despite their middling success over the past two seasons, the Chicago Bulls have plenty of star power on the roster.
Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic are a very talented trio. They just haven’t been able to put it all together on the court. However, each of them is an All-Star-caliber player in their own right.
Stars have substantial respect around the league. DeRozan, in particular, is very well-respected by his peers. But even the greatest stars in the league get starstruck. During a recent appearance on “Podcast P with Paul George,” DeRozan recalled the first time he interacted with Kobe Bryant.
DeRozan revealed he went to one of Bryant’s camps as a teenager, noting he and Klay Thompson could be seen studying every word that was coming out of Bryant’s mouth.
“I think my first time meeting (Kobe) was — I was 15-16 years old at the Kobe Camp,” DeRozan said. “It was the time when everybody had their own little camp. It’s been a picture that has been floating out there when we were at his camp, and I was sitting in the front row. You see Klay sitting in the second row, and we was literally locked in at everything he was saying.”
Bryant actually knew who DeRozan was, and they formed a friendship shortly after.
“From that moment, being at his camp, I didn’t realize he knew who I was,” DeRozan said. “It started with a little conversations like ‘Do this, do this,’ next thing you know … It started to slowly turn into a whole different type of relationship that just came from respect to me being an athlete, and really paying attention to everything he said. And by the time I was senior in high school, I’m getting his shoes, personally giving me his shoes.”
DeRozan is an NBA star now, but as a 15-year-old kid, Bryant must have seemed larger than life.
