But Mr. Bryant remembered his high school experience for more than just basketball. After his basketball career began to take off, Ms. Mastriano recalled, he returned to the school to visit at times, slipping quietly onto campus and knocking on her classroom door. No matter how much time had passed, Mr. Bryant, who lived in Italy for part of his childhood while his father played professional basketball there, greeted his teacher the same way. “He actually put a really nice Italian spin on it.”In one of his last interviews, Mr. Bryant credited Ms. Mastriano for planting a seed for his post-N.B.A. “She was so good and so passionate about what she was teaching about writing and storytelling,” Mr. Bryant told USA Today in an interview published last week.

Source: New York Times January 28, 2020 17:19 UTC