The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality

By: Mike Sielski

Narrated by: Landon Woodson, Mike Sielski

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

©2022 Mike Sielski (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Canvas on the wires

This is a Philadelphia blacktop story even though it has mainline polish rubber and leather married.

Amazing book

It starts off slow but becomes insanely hard to turn off. I would recommend for people wanting to learn more about Kobe

Really good book!

I love Kobe! I missed Kobe playing basketball! I love this book! I miss Kobe!!!

Impressive detail

Incredible insights that you will not find anywhere else, not even on the internet. Rest in Peace Black Mamba

Wooww great bookkk

Love it Kobe Bryant and his discipline to basketball was out of this world 🌎

Loves this as a father of athletes

Seeing the drive of such an amazing athlete during a time of growth and foundation building was awesome.

Amazing

This was the second Kobe audio book I purchased. The first one was from a different author and it was awful. This audio book was amazing. I hope more people get to listen to the side of Kobe, a lot of the public doesn’t know.
I wish I could’ve listened to this as a child. Thank you Mr Treatmen, Mike and Coach G. We will always miss Kobe, and this book for a few hours, is a wonderful reminder of an amazing person.#Mambaforever

Mathew

Great story line/ Delivery! I’m definitely going to listen to this a couple times and I actually learned a couple lesson mentally and physically!

Unexpected but great insight.

I wasn’t aware this book was basically about his 4 years in high school but it was still very insightful. The narrator brings good energy as well.

Amazing insights of young star before stardom

I first listened to the podcast I Am Kobe as I was browsing through different Kobe related podcasts. I loved the fact that included Kobe’s voice when he was younger. I needed more so I decided to listen to the whole story Mike had to tell that no one had told. Now I gotta buy the physical book. Awesome timelines and story telling