For my generation, it was probably Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle, depending on whether you lived on the east coast or west coast. Educated for a time in Europe, where his father was playing professional basketball, Bryant was one of those people who was quite accustomed to being the smartest person in the room -- even though he entered the NBA directly out of high school. In Portland and against the Trail Blazers, he played the part of the leader of the evil empire -- his Los Angeles Lakers.