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]]>In Episode No. 54 of our In The Paint Show," co-hosts Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland do the podcast they never thought in a million years would be necessary: a recollection and insight into the life of a gone-too-soon basketball star. In this case, it's still shocking former Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant is no longer gracing the earth, gone at age 41 after a aviation accident last Sunday that killed seven other passengers, including his 13-year old daughter GiGi, and the pilot.
In a special two and one half hour show, the fellas bring on six special guests, each with their own unique perspective and insight on either Bryant's formative years, legendary pro career or his untimely death.
Roundball Classic and ABCD Camp founder Sonny Vaccaro holds no punches, going in-depth on his relationship with Bryant while at Lower Merion (Ardmore, Pa.) and how the move was orchestrated to turn pro and join the Lakers after his show-stopping performance at the 1995 ABCD Camp.
Rashad Phillips of Sports Talk 2319, a member of the Class of 1996 as is former NBA guard Corey Benjamin, both break down their unique relationship with Bryant. Phillips was a late add-on to the 1996 Roundball Classic All-Star Game and Bryant's inspirational words on national television that day still resonate. Benjamin, the 1996 Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Basketball, talks about what separated The Black Mamba from himself and other elites in that class.
Rome Douglas, a former NFL offensive lineman, has a 11-year old daughter who is an up-and-coming basketball player, and both were present at the Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif., on that fateful day. Douglas talks about being at the facility when the awful news broke and how Kobe's and GiGi's loss will reverberate in the girls basketball community for many years to come.
Frank Burlison of BurlisonOnBasketball.com talks about evaluating Bryant for the first time as a rising junior while playing for the Sam Rines AAU travel ball club in Las Vegas. You won't believe what Bean shot from the field on the day he made a lasting impression of the Hall of Fame sportswriter.
Beto Duran, a well-known sports broadcaster on many platforms in Southern California, discusses his interactions with Kobe while covering the Lakers and what the basketball icon meant to the Latino community in Southern California.
SHOW NOTES: Episode 54 Rundown
14:47: Sonny Vaccaro describes his reaction to Kobe’s death, goes in-depth on his history with Kobe.
56:50: Rashad Phillips on his memories of playing against Kobe at the 1996 Roundball Classic.
1:12:40: 1996 CalHiSports POY, former NBA player Corey Benjamin on hearing about Kobe in high school, interactions with him over the years.
1:22:48: Former NFL player Rome Douglas who was at Mamba Academy Sunday morning watching his 11 year-old daughter play.
1:36:05: HOF hoops writer Frank Burlison recollects on his first time seeing Kobe play in high school and following his illustrious Lakers’ career.
2:00:51: Longtime SoCal journalist Beto Duran on his interactions with Kobe and what made him such a respected figure in the Latino community.
2:26:44: Ronnie and Devin close out the show with their most memorable Kobe moments.
To learn more about our hosts, Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland, and to get more information about what "In The Paint" is all about, check out our intro below!
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]]>The post Remembering When A Retired Michael Jordan Came By The Bulls Practice To Accept A Challenge From Corey Benjamin appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.
]]>That Bulls player who called out "the devil" just happens to be one of my favorite players from the late 90s (seriously), so in defense (no pun intended) of Corey Benjamin, this fan of the high-flying guard from Oregon State reached out to Corey to talk about the day he played MJ one-on-one and a few other days, including the day he out-dunked Kobe Bryant in high school and the day he took on Ronnie Fields in a dunk contest that Vince Carter will even tell you was one of the best dunk contests ever.
According to then Chicago Tribute writer Skip Bayless (yes that Skip Bayless),?back in November of 1999, a retired MJ stopped by a Bulls practice to accept an "ill-advised challenge" sent by the young Bulls guard.
First off, I wouldn't call it an "ill-advised challenge." It's more like a dream opportunity. ?Imagine growing up and wanting to be like the greatest basketball player of all-time and then one day you find yourself playing that position for that team and you now have the opportunity to play against your idol. Would taking advantage of that opportunity be considered ill-advised?
"I was the young guy and I was always nagging guys like Randy Brown who would talk to Jordan" said Benjamin about how the challenge started. ?"and I said something like I could beat him."
The veterans delivered the message to MJ and the next thing you know the player Benjamin grew up idolizing was in front of him in practice telling him to check ball. Practice stopped, the game was on and to the delight of Benjamin's teammate, which included a young Elton Brand and Ron Artest, Jordan and Benjamin went at it.
If you just watch the video you would assume Jordan "killed" Benjamin?11-0 with a jumper that looked as good as it did during his final Finals and with trash talking that was still second to none.
"You reach. I teach" said Jordan before hitting a turn-around jumper.
According to Benjamin, the score was far from 11-0 (it was actually 11-9) but he did lose and?there's no shame in losing to the man who "was still the best basketball player in the world." He also talked about how impressive MJ's shot was.
"I thought Steve Kerr was the best shooter on the team. MJ was shooting like Kerr."
After the final shot by Jordan, MJ jokingly told?Benjamin to "sit down" and not to call him out again. They both smiled, shook?hands and shared a laugh. No harm done although it was a little big of an ego check for the player who looked like a young MJ during his high school days.
One of my favorite stories about Benjamin goes back to his high school days and the day he attended a Nike?camp with other top shooting guards like Vince Carter and Ronnie Fields. The story goes Ronnie wanted to show he was the best dunker in the class and Vince Carter wasn't willing to accept the challenge by Fields who also used to send out dunk off challenges to Michael Jordan while MJ was in his prime. Benjamin?did accept the challenge and then one of the greatest dunk contests ever happened.
"Vince Carter will even tell you it was one of the best" said Benjamin?about Vince who was injured not scared.
Corey threw down everything from a 360 to a free throw line dunk and Ronnie responded after every dunk with the same windmill. But that windmill was impressive enough to come out victorious.
"He was amazing. It was like MJ vs Dominique in 88." said Benjamin.
I know what he meant but in the 88 case, Nique deserved the win and not MJ. In this case, the young MJ lost to the young Nique.
Due to a car accident that pretty much ended Fields career before it got started, Ronnie wasn't able to compete in the equally impressive?McDonald's All-American Dunk Contest. This meant Benjamin?had a better chance at winning but faced some tough competition in Tim Thomas, Kobe Bryant and Lester Earl, who recently lost a dunk off against Bryant.
Kobe was the fan favorite but didn't do much on this night. Benjamin?explained this was back when "Kobe had baby hops." The same can't be said about Lester Earl who along with Benjamin?put on a dunk exhibition superior to the ones happening during NBA All-Star weekend. But in the end it was Lester Earl who was victorious.
After an impressive high school career and then leading the Oregon State Beavers in scoring for 2 years while putting up scoring numbers the team hasn't seen since Gary Payton, the Bulls selected him with the 28th pick in the 98 draft. ?Unfortunately that season was a shortened lockout year and ankle injuries prevented him from seeing the court much in his 2nd. He played 1 more season with the Bulls and then a few games with the Hawks before taking his game overseas for the next 5 years.
He now lives back in his home state of Cali where he's a basketball trainer and runs basketball programs like "Baskeetball Legende"?where he gets to do the "schooling."
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]]>Kobe Bryant, Tim "TNT" Thomas, Lester Earl & Corey Benjamin!
This might not sound like a dream team of dunkers but in 1996, this was one of the best lineup of dunkers ever. And ironically, the most known of the mentioned were the worst dunkers in the event.
Kobe Bryant and Tim Thomas were the two best and most popular players of the group and in their high school class. Both were leaning towards going straight to the league and both looked pretty bad on this day. Especially Kobe, who looked nothing like the cocky kid that faced off against Lester Earl at the 1995 Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach; the two put on a dunk exhibition more impressive than the recent NBA dunk contests and when the judges tried to end the contest with a tie, Kobe and Earl started pulling out more people and ball racks to jump over. Kobe eventually walked away as the "winner."
Kobe's high school rival Tim Thomas also has a story with Earl. The two met at the 95 ABCD camp, where Thomas put on a show and dropped 27 & 11 on him. As for the McDonald's dunk contest, Thomas was far from a show and looked like he was just going through the motions.
Future Chicago Bull Corey Benjamin finished second to Earl. His most famous dunk off came at a Nike camp, where he lost to Chicago legend Ronnie Fields in a dunk contest that Vince Carter didn't want any part of. I asked Fields a couple of years ago about the contest and he said it was an amazing event and was shocked at Corey's jumping ability. The way the story goes is Benjamin did everything from 360 to free throw line dunks and all Ronnie did was windmill variations and still won.
Ronnie and his 47-inch vert were originally going to be in the McDonald's game and most likely competing in the dunk contest but a near-fatal car crash a month before the event prevented him from competing and made him one of the most talked about "what if" stories in NBA history.
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