Bryant walked out as OCC baseball head coach John Altobelli spoke near home plate, keen to reflect and speak with Altobelli’s players about the “Mamba Mentality” that had become his guiding principle at during his illustrious basketball career. He spoke of the ferocity, focus and vision needed to compete, qualities he also noticed in Altobelli.
Bryant and Altobelli were close friends who embodied each other’s most outstanding qualities in their respective fields. Bryant was an NBA legend and Altobelli was a legend of junior college coaches bound by parental love. Alyssa and Gianna Altobelli, both 13 and playing travel basketball for Bryant’s Mamba Academy youth team, were teammates on the team.
The two fathers got along well, with Altobelli often reminiscing with giddy moments when the “Black Mamba” let him accompany her on his helicopter to the games. He went there about five or six times, while Alyssa went to birthday parties and sporting events all over LA many times.
Altobelli halted his team’s practice on Saturday night to let his assistant coaches know that he, his wife Keri and Alyssa would depart Sunday morning for the second day of Bryant’s Mamba Cup competition. That was before Tuesday’s intra-squad opener.
