The Rise Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit..., Mike Sielski
The Rise Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit..., Mike Sielski
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The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality

Author: Mike Sielski

Narrator: Landon Woodson, Mike Sielski

Unabridged: 13 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/11/2022


Synopsis

Includes a bonus episode from the podcast I Am Kobe.

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, listeners 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 audiobook. 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.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

About Mike Sielski

MIKE SIELSKI is a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and author. The Associated Press Sports Editors voted him the country’s top sports columnist in 2015, and his previous book, Fading Echoes: A True Story of Rivalry and Brotherhood from the Football Field to the Fields of Honor, was published in 2009. Sielski lives in Bucks County, Pa., with his wife and two sons.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jamele (BookswithJams) on February 27, 2022

I think we all know who Kobe Bryant is, and are aware of the horrific tragedy that took his life in January 2020. What you may not know is his origin story and how he got to be the amazing NBA player and superstar that he was. I knew a little bit but not to this extent, and therefore this book was f......more

Goodreads review by Jacob on May 16, 2022

Man this book wasn’t exactly what I thought I was getting into but it was perfect. I learned a BOAT load about kobe’s childhood, his history, lower merions history, and high school basketball life for the committed player in the mid 90s. kobe’s origin story is so unique, and honestly they could make......more

Goodreads review by Kris on February 24, 2022

The testimonial on the book cover is accurate - this is an origin story for Kobe Bryant’s superstardom. The author works for a Philadelphia-based newspaper and goes deep into Kobe’s pre-NBA life, with a lot of insight from key figures in Kobe’s childhood. Really enjoyed this book.......more

Goodreads review by Living My Best Book Life on September 26, 2021

The Rise is an insightful biography about one of the world's most known sports legends. Mike Sielski gives fans of Kobe Bryant a look at the basketball stars' early life as a young boy working hard and dreaming of making his NBA dreams a reality. I am a huge basketball fan and grew up watching the ''......more

Goodreads review by Bartłomiej on November 06, 2023

It was disappointing and for most of the time just boring. I was a big Kobe fan. He was a guy who was able to truly inspire me. I could watching his basketball highlights or interviews basically every day. I think I could translate this huge dose of motivation not only into sport area but also into o......more