Kobe Bryant returned to Asia this week for his 10th summer tour with Nike — hitting Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Taiwan. This trip marked the second year the Los Angeles Lakers star participated in Nike’s Rise initiative, which helps young basketball players reach their full potential both on and off the court.
Throughout the tour, Bryant helps train and coach young fans, and while in Shanghai, he took center court at the House of Mamba for the second straight summer.
The full-size LED basketball court, built in 2014, utilizes motion-tracking and reactive LED visualization to train and challenge players through drills based on Bryant’s personal workouts. The design of the House of Mamba court was inspired by Bryant’s Black Mamba persona and performance.
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Also in Shanghai, Bryant taped an episode of “The Rise” journey, which is broadcast throughout China. He joins Paul George, LeBron James and Kevin Durant this summer as they travel throughout Greater China, Southeast Asia and Europe to inspire and introduce basketball innovation to the next generation of players, while Nike documents their travels.
“The ability to Rise is inside everyone,” said Bryant in statement from Nike. “When you are doing something you love, you make the sacrifices and put in the hard work that enables you to Rise, to overcome and to achieve.”
Bryant finished the last leg of his five-day Asian tour in Taipei on Wednesday. There, he mentored another 30 players at the National Taiwan University Sports Center while hundreds looked on.
