Kiefer Ravena was just five years young when he met the late Kobe Bryant, then just 19, for the first time in 1998.
Of course, he had no idea then how big of a superstar Bryant would become. But later on, he became the player whom the second-generation star really looked up to the most.
“That was the first experience na nakasama ko si Kobe Bryant, of course not knowing how big he was gonna be during that time. But eventually, he was one of my biggest inspirations,” he said.
About 11 years later, Ravena and Bryant met once more. It happened at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City, during the Manila leg of the NBA icon’s Kobe Asia Tour presented by Nike.
But for the 26-year-old, the one meeting with Bryant that he cherishes the most happened in 2013.
Then, the five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers flew to the country for a trip promoting tech brand Lenovo. And Ravena still remembers what happened then vividly.
“The last time I met him, it was an event. It was in Resorts World. I was pulled out privately to really go to him, meet him in a separate room,” the Ateneo de Manila great recalled.
That then gave Ravena the opportunity to have the legend himself sign the photo of them together, taken in 1998 — where Bryant was carrying him — and his pair of Nike Kobe 8 Mambacurial shoes.
“That’s where I was able to get my shoe signed and my picture signed. So the last conversation we had was, ‘This was me. You were still with the other brand during this time, the first time you visited here.’
And he remembered it was in the mall,” he said.
“Hindi niya lang alam kung saan, pero sabi niya, ‘Oh, this was in the mall.’ Sabi ko, ‘Ya, I was five years old during this time.’
“And then we were just talking about basketball,” the NLEX Road Warriors point guard added.
Ravena recounted that their conversation lasted for about 10 minutes. That might be short for some, but for him — and surely for others who idolize Bryant — that really meant the world to him.
“It was nice to separate our thoughts a bit aside from what he’s doing and talk about basketball for like ten minutes,” he said. “Then he had to be pulled out again, he had to do something.”
“But I have to thank, you know, my agent for that, for helping me pull the strings together and give me an opportunity to talk to my superhero.”
