Kobe Bryant lives forever in the stories of those who have crossed paths with the Lakers legend. Be it Michael Jordan or Snoop Dogg, one can’t help but emotionally recall a brilliant story about the late NBA icon. Turns out, the NBA royalty and LA-based bigshots are not the only ones that have a grand memory with the 5x-NBA champion. A bunch of former USWNT players have shared great moments with Bryant and some of them even think he was the first among elite men athletes to deeply care about women’s sports.

Kobe Bryant’s contributions to women’s sports and USWNT in particular were a talking point in the recent episode of the RE-CAP show with Tobin Heath and Christen Press. After former USWNT star Sydney Leroux shared a Kobe memory, Heath recalled how the LA legend always showed deep concern for women’s sports. “To be fair Kobe in my opinion was the first men’s athlete I knew that paid attention to women’s sports. I remember him coming to the US Women’s National Team a bunch of times,” said Tobin Heath.

“Him respecting women’s athletes has completely changed the narrative. And we talk about that all the time like men’s part in this and Kobe Bryant was a pioneer of that too,” Heath added. Meanwhile, fellow USWNT legend Sydney Leroux, who appeared on the RE-CAP talk show recalled her memory with the late Lakers superstar. Yet again, that was a classic example of how much women’s sports meant to the Black Mamba.

Leroux sheds light on Kobe Bryant’s heartfelt message before her Olympic win

Syndey Leroux won the Olympic gold with Team USA in 2012. Perhaps, her second memory from the tournament would be getting emails from Kobe Bryant. “I talked to Kobe for the first time heading into the 2012 Olympics. I got an email that basically was like, ‘Hey, I’m a huge fan of you and I would love my daughters to meet you. It’s nice to have someone who looks like them,'” said Sydney Leroux. She added that Bryant always wanted his daughters to look up to the USWNT players and pursue success.

Kobe Bryant, who grew up in Italy, was quick to develop a love for soccer which was not so popular in the US at that time. He notably switched between soccer and basketball during his childhood in Italy and took lessons from the beautiful game. Besides, he was a close friend of soccer greats such as Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. Hence, it is no surprise that the Mamba was so invested in the USWNT. If one has dreams of popularizing soccer in the US, what better option do they have than to cheer for the most popular women’s soccer team USWNT?