The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality

"A compelling origin story of a time that really wasnΓÇÖt so long ago but through the lens of tragedy feels like forever. Kobe-ologists will devour this book, reveling in the anecdotes about his intensity & the engaging game recaps." ΓÇöAssociated Press

ΓÇ£Every superhero needs an origin story.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇôJeff Pearlman

The inside look at one of the most captivating and consequential figures in our cultureΓÇöwith never-before-heard interviews.

Kobe BryantΓÇÖs 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, readers will travel from the neighborhood streets of Southwest PhiladelphiaΓÇöwhere KobeΓÇÖs father, Joe, became a local basketball standoutΓÇöto the Bryant familyΓÇÖs isolation in Italy, where Kobe spent his formative years, to the leafy suburbs of Lower Merion, where KobeΓÇÖs legend was born. The story will trace his career and life at Lower MerionΓÇöhe led the Aces to the 1995-96 Pennsylvania state championship, a dramatic underdog run for a team with just one star playerΓÇöand the run-up to the 1996 NBA draft, where KobeΓÇÖs 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 KobeΓÇÖs 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 KobeΓÇÖs 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 book. This is an exploration of the identity and making of an icon and the effect of his development on those around himΓÇöthe essence of the man before he truly became a man.