Although he spent his entire NBA career in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant nevertheless had the opportunity to travel to France several times, including during his childhood.

A memory that remained accompanied by a certain regret in his mind.

Although a native of Philadelphia, he displayed deep European roots.

In addition to his years spent in Italy during his youth, Kobe Bryant, for example, often made a stopover in France during his life.

In 2017, as part of an operation carried out with Nike in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, he revealed on the microphone of Le Parisien the real pleasure he felt when going to the capital:

Kobe Bryant: It’s always a pleasure to come here with my family given all the history and culture that surrounds you.

You can walk around and linger on the buildings, on the architecture, go to the Louvre to see works of art…

There are many great ideas and great movements that were born here. (…) There is so much to learn in this city, so I love going there.

Kobe Bryant cash on his brief stay in Mulhouse
Beyond his various stopovers in Paris, Kobe was able to visit other French cities during his life.

This, in particular thanks to his father, whom he followed for a long time in the journeys of his own basketball career. This also led the Bryant family… to Mulhouse, where Joe “Jelly Bean” played for a few months during the 1991-92 season.

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Invited to look back on this period of his adolescence by Le Parisien, the Black Mamba then revealed the big regret that he still harbored, 25 years later:

Kobe Bryant: I have excellent memories of my time in Mulhouse.

At that time, I was 13 years old and my two older sisters were 14 and 15 years old.

And I remember that we were very disappointed because we wanted to go to a French school.

Our parents forced us to go to an American school because we were supposedly too old to learn French. It really made us very, very disappointed because we really wanted to immerse ourselves in the culture! Even today, I regret not having gone to a French school because if that had been the case, I could answer your questions in French!

Although he maintained an excellent image of Mulhouse and the few months he spent there, Kobe Bryant lamented, however, not having been enrolled in a French school.

This did not prevent him from appreciating the culture of France afterwards.