In celebration of Women’s History Month, five-time NBA champion, father and author Kobe Bryant joined more than 150 local Los Angeles girls at MAMBA Sports Academy for a basketball clinic and life skills development session as part of the NBA and WNBA’s Her Time To Play program.
The event began with 40 minutes of oncourt development, including dribbling, passing, shooting and defense skills and drills led by Bryant and Los Angeles Sparks clinicians, followed by a panel discussion moderated by ESPN’s Michelle Beadle and featuring Bryant, Cappie Pondexter (Two-time WNBA Champion), Danita Johnson (Los Angeles Sparks Team President and COO) and Keisha Nix (Executive Director, Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation). The panelists discussed strategies for overcoming adversity and self-doubt to achieve one’s goals and the specific challenges that girls and women face in sports. The event ended with a Q&A for the youth participants.
Her Time To Play, launched by the NBA and WNBA in October 2018, inspires girls ages 7-14 to learn and play basketball in a positive and healthy way, and increase opportunities for women in coaching and athletic leadership. Her Time To Play provides hundreds of youth organizations with a free basketball curriculum and life-skills lessons developed specifically for young women.