The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality

A compelling origin story of a time that really wasn't so long ago but through the lens of tragedy feels like forever. Kobe-ologists will devour this book, reveling in the anecdotes about his intensity & the engaging game recaps. --Associated Press

"Every superhero needs an origin story." -Jeff Pearlman

The inside look at one of the most captivating and consequential figures in our culture--with never-before-heard interviews.

Kobe Bryant's death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash, which also took the life of his daughter Gianna, unveiled the full breadth and depth of his influence on our culture, and by tracing and telling the oft-forgotten and lesser-known story of his early life, The Rise promises to provide an insight into Kobe that no other analysis has.

In The Rise, readers will travel from the neighborhood streets of Southwest Philadelphia--where Kobe's father, Joe, became a local basketball standout--to the Bryant family's isolation in Italy, where Kobe spent his formative years, to the leafy suburbs of Lower Merion, where Kobe's legend was born. The story will trace his career and life at Lower Merion--he led the Aces to the 1995-96 Pennsylvania state championship, a dramatic underdog run for a team with just one star player--and the run-up to the 1996 NBA draft, where Kobe's dream of playing pro basketball culminated in his acquisition by the Los Angeles Lakers.

In researching and writing The Rise, Mike Sielski had a terrific advantage over other writers who have attempted to chronicle Kobe's life: access to a series of never-before-released interviews with him during his senior season and early days in the NBA. For a quarter century, these tapes and transcripts preserved Kobe's thoughts, dreams, and goals from his teenage years, and they contained insights into and told stories about him that have never been revealed before.

This is more than a basketball book. This is an exploration of the identity and making of an icon and the effect of his development on those around him--the essence of the man before he truly became a man.

Author: Mike Sielski
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 01/11/2022
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.40w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9781250275721

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/08/2021
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2021
Library Journal 12/01/2021 pg. 88
Booklist 01/01/2022 pg. 29

About the Author
MIKE SIELSKI is a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and the author of several books including Fading Echoes: A True Story of Rivalry and Brotherhood from the Football Field to the Fields of Honor. The Associated Press Sports Editors voted him the country's top sports columnist in 2015. Sielski lives in Bucks County, Pa., with his wife and two sons.