Kobe Bryant’s passion for the game of basketball is second to none. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar has lived and breathed basketball ever since he was two-years-old, but it wasn’t the only passion the future Hall of Famer had while growing up in Italy as a child.
With Bryant’s 20-year career in the NBA coming to an end on Wednesday, one of the most popular and successful soccer teams in the world, FC Barcelona, paid tribute to one of their biggest fans. Barca released the following video on the team’s Twitter account on Tuesday:
Barça's video tribute to @kobebryant #MambaDay https://t.co/l7k96wVnw7
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 12, 2016
Along with trying to follow in his father’s footsteps on the basketball floor in Italy, Bryant was also partial to futbol or soccer as it is called in the United States. Back in 2014 during the World Cup in Brazil, Kobe surprised everyone by saying that soccer is his favorite sport.
Bryant has gotten to know some of the greatest Barcelona players of our time with the Lakers legend maintaining a relationship Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Andres Iniesta, and Gerard Pique.
As Kobe heads into retirement this summer, FC Barcelona may start to see Bryant in the stands at Camp Nou to watch arguably the greatest soccer team in the world dominate the competition in La Liga.