One of the best and most inspiring things to watch is when young kids are able to see their favorite athletes in person. This isn’t always possible for a lot of kids, but the chance to see the likes of Kobe Bryant or LeBron James can make these kids fans for life, especially with a franchise like the Los Angeles Lakers that always has the biggest stars suiting up.
Sometimes, those kids can be inspired to push for their own athletic dreams and become big stars in their own right years later and they can look back and remember those moments when they were kids looking up at their idols and watching them shine. Rarely are those moments caught on video, especially from the 1990s or earlier, but somehow by pure chance a young Kobe was captured at a 1990 baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets.
Video has been released of the Lakers superstar at 12 years old, cheering as Mets star Darryl Strawberry hit a home run in Philly, via Kobe Highlight:
Rare footage of a young Kobe Bryant with his father Joe at a Mets vs Phillies baseball game from 1990 👀 pic.twitter.com/jt5mh2qh3O
— Kobe Bryant Stories & Motivation (@kobehighlight) September 1, 2025
Seeing something like this is truly special as you just don’t get to see stars of that era enjoying moments like that as children. These days, so much more is captured with cameras being on everybody’s phone and social media being a huge deal so this era of superstars often has those memories saved and accessible.
But back when Bryant was a kid, those things didn’t exist so for this moment to not only be captured, but then re-discovered so many years later is just a blessing. The fact that Kobe, in a later interview, revealed that he grew up a Mets fan and wanted to be like Strawberry only further makes him cheering that moment more beautiful. Even as a kid, the Lakers superstar recognized greatness on the field and wanted to be like the best.
Sasha Vujacic recalls wars with Kobe Bryant at Lakers practice
Kobe Bryant would go on to win five NBA Championships with the Lakers and one of the important role players for those last two was Sasha Vujacic. The Slovenian guard was a teammate that Bryant trusted and he recently recalled how they used to have wars in practice as Kobe pushed to get the most out of him.
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