“Get This Spoiled Little Scuro off the Court!”: When All the Players and Parents Protested Against Kobe Bryant’s Brilliance at Youth-Level Games in Italy

Former Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant. who spent a considerable part of his childhood in Italy, faced racism.

Kobe’s father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was a former professional basketball player who spent around 8 years of his professional career in Italy.

During this time, young Kobe ‘Bean’ also moved in with his family and embraced Italian culture.

Bryant’s cultural integration included fanaticism for AC Milan and an appreciation for Italian sports culture in general. After all, Bryant spent the basic levels of his career cultivating his craft in Italy.

However, Italy is not really the home of basketball. Leaving aside the occasional Danilo Gallinari or Andrea Bargnani, Italy hasn’t really thrown many names into the big leagues.

Naturally, Kobe Bryant, who honed his skills under the guidance of his former father, who coached in the NBA, stood out as a child. And this didn’t go over well with the other kids in the age group or with his parents.

Also read: Kobe Bryant’s team beat their competitors by one stroke, showing how much they had improved

How did other players and parents react to young Kobe Bryant’s game?

In The Rise – Kobe Bryant and the Quest for ImmortalityMike Sielski provides considerable insight into Kobe’s pre-NBA career. Sielski talks about how Kobe dominated games and rose to stardom early on.

in Sielsky records, Kobe scored the first ten points of his first game. This drew the ire of other players and parents alike.

“He dribbled and shot and shot and dribbled and scored so many points, scored the first 10 points in his first game, that the other nine players started crying and their parents started screaming to get this bratty little scuro off the court.” records Sielski.

Scuro is an Italian word for dark skin. There are racist undertones to such complaints, in a country known to “Ultras” as fanatics.

However, here, the context indicates that they were probably angry that their children were beaten by a foreigner at home. Also, we now know that the iso-ball with Kobe was successful from day one.

Bryant and his “ball hoarding” pissed off people from his time in Italy. But then again, if he ain’t broke, you don’t fix him.

Also read: Kobe Bryant, who invested $100 million in a venture capital fund, landed his first endorsement deal as a child in Italy