skip navigation

'Aces Nation has lost its heartbeat': Area coaches and players share their memories of Kobe Bryant

01/26/2020, 11:30pm EST
By Mitchell Gladstone

Mitchell Gladstone (@mpgladstone13)
~~

ARDMORE — At 3:30 p.m. Sunday, there was an eerie silence outside Lower Merion High School.

A police officer sat in his patrol car smoking a cigar and a few people walked up to the Kobe Bryant Gymnasium entrance, taking a picture of the sign that bears the name of the Aces’ most illustrious alumnus.

Within minutes, news trucks came rolling into the parking lot and fans began a memorial by the entrance to the gym, placing down flowers, jerseys, and of course, a basketball.

The news that had broken a few hours earlier was as stunning as it was tragic: Bryant, 41, had been killed in a helicopter accident. Several hours later, it came out that his daughter Gianna, 13, was also killed in the accident, along with her father and seven others.

And at 4:15, Lower Merion director of school and community relations Amy Buckman shared a message from longtime coach Gregg Downer: “Aces Nation has lost its heartbeat.”

~~~

The root of that heartbeat began more than two decades ago when Bryant first slipped on the maroon and white of Lower Merion, donning the No. 33. 

Before going on to be a five-time NBA champion, 18-time All-Star, Most Valuable Player and soon-to-be Hall of Famer (he’s on this year’s ballot and will assuredly be enshrined this summer), Bryant became the Aces’ all-time leading scorer at 2,883 points — smashing the record books in the process.

He’s the only Lower Merion player, male or female, in the 2,000-point club, and he helped the school capture two Central League titles (1995 and 1996), as well as a district title and a state title in his senior season, all while ripping off 30 straight wins.  

And in the process, he awed so many across southeastern Pennsylvania. 

One of those individuals was Ben Luber, the former Penn State point guard and now the head coach at The George School. 

“I’m not who I am today without Kobe Bryant,” Luber, now the head coach at The George School, said via text. “He made me feel like it was cool to take a different path and outwork people. Growing up, I felt like my peers thought I was weird for working so hard and being so focused at a young age.

“He made me feel more confident that ‘fitting in’ was a waste of my time.” 

A young Luber, who went on to star at Council Rock North before playing point guard at Penn State, developed a bond with Bryant before he’d even reached his teens.

Luber’s older brother, Justin, was one of Bryant’s teammates in the Sam Rines AAU program, and Ben spent as much time around Kobe as possible. Luber went to all of Lower Merion’s games and would occasionally go out to the diner with Kobe and his dad, Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant.

But there was never a choice to be made when it came to what Ben would eat. He always ordered whatever Kobe ordered.

“[He] was one of a kind,” Luber said. “Misunderstood by many fans in Philly, but I loved him.”

~~~

On the court, there was no misunderstanding Bryant. He was as talented as any young player ever, and Bryant jumped right onto Lower Merion’s varsity team as a freshman for the 1992-93 season.

The next year, Chris Gicking, then a sophomore at Marple Newtown, faced Bryant for the first time. 

“The thing that was the best thing about him was how he handled himself off the court,” Gicking said of Bryant. “He could’ve had a pretty big head because of his success throughout high school, so I think that was pretty cool.” 

Gicking, currently the head football coach and athletic director at Marple, was friends and teammates with Frank and T.J. Zanin, who played AAU basketball with Bryant. The four would occasionally practice together, despite playing for different Central League sides, and Gicking got to know Bryant away from the competitive side of things.

The same can’t be said for former Coatesville coach Ross Kershey

After coaching the Red Raiders for 28 seasons, Kershey stepped away from the Coatesville bench in 1995. But that left just enough time for Bryant to give the legendary coach a send-off. 

“The thing I remember most about Kobe was the game we had at Coatesville,” Kershey said. “I thought we had a sure win until he made a jump shot from half-court [in overtime] to give Lower Merion the win. I never saw anyone shoot with the confidence that he had.”

And that wasn’t even the last time Kershey’s Red Raiders would have to deal with Bryant. The two teams met again in the 1995 District 1 semifinal at The Palestra, and for a few seconds, it looked like Coatesville might emerge victorious — Bryant fouled out with 4:38 to play and his Aces down 59-58.

Then Richard ‘Rip’ Hamilton, who would later cross paths with Bryant again in the 2005 NBA Finals as his Pistons stunned Kobe’s Lakers, fouled out 30 seconds later and Lower Merion escaped Coatesville once more.

“If you knew basketball, you knew Kobe was special,” Kershey said. “He’s certainly the best high school player I saw, without any question.”

~~~

Bryant’s impact on high school basketball lasted well beyond his high school playing days. When Lower Merion built its new high school, Bryant donated $411,000 — the largest gift in district history at the time — and the Aces’ new gym was named in his honor.

His name was emblazoned on entrance, his picture hung around the gym’s ceiling and a trophy case placed just outside to honor his achievements.

Bryant returned home in December 2010 to help dedicate the gymnasium. He wouldn’t come back to Lower Merion until March 2013, while his Aces were in the midst of a postseason run.

“I remember we just got done a drill then Downer made us shoot free throws,” then-freshman Steve Pendleton said. “I made sure to run to the basket where Downer and Kobe were talking to shoot my free throws in front of him.”

The Aces then huddled up and everyone, including then-freshman Jule Brown, assumed Bryant would have some words of wisdom.

Instead, as Brown recalls, Bryant walked around the court without acknowledging or looking at any of the players.

They took it as a sign — and a few weeks later, Lower Merion captured its seventh state title in school history.

“It was meant to be. We didn't deserve any reward just yet,” Brown said. “Although winning the Central League and making the district final again were notable accomplishments, we were after something more. I think he recognized that and wanted us to know that he was watching, but there was still work left to be done.”

~~~ 

Kobe Bryant was more than just an incredibly talented basketball player who happened to play in Philadephia. There were guys like that before him — Wilt Chamberlain and Earl Monroe — and guys like that who followed — like Jameer Nelson and Kyle Lowry.

But Bryant is iconic. The Mamba Mentality will always live on, even without the Mamba himself.

As a Class of 2015 graduate, 19 years later after Bryant himself, when I think of Lower Merion, I’ll always think of Kobe. And when I think of Kobe, I’ll always think of Lower Merion.

The two are forever synonymous, and even on the saddest of days, it was quite clear why Kobe Bryant’s impact will never fade.

D-I Coverage:

HS Coverage:

Recruiting News:

Tag(s): Home  Boys HS  Central League (B)  Lower Merion