Although Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, he didn't spend his entire childhood in the U.S. His father, Joe Bryant, played professional basketball overseas, which allowed Kobe to live in Italy from age 6 to 12. Young Kobe first lived in Reggio Emilia, but also got to live in Reggio Calabria and Pistoia, where his dad played. Not only did Kobe first start playing basketball in Italy, but he became fully fluent in Italian, as well.
Despite leaving Italy at a young age, Kobe never forgot the language and would speak it when dealing with Italian media (as seen in this interview). Apart from being fluent in Italian, Kobe spoke Spanish, as well, also thanks to his Mexican-American wife Vanessa Bryant. When a reporter asked him where he learned Spanish so well, the late athlete said it was by "watching novelas" with his wife and mother-in-law (via Remezcla).
"Latino fans are important to me, because when I arrived [in Los Angeles] they were the fans who most passionately embraced me," he said in Spanish during a press conference. "So I told them, 'give me two or three years so that I can learn a little bit of Spanish,'" he continued. "Now, my Spanish is not that good, but I can speak a little. They mean everything to me." Kobe's surprising language skills don't stop here, though. Elsewhere, at a different post-game conference, Kobe even shared a few words in Chinese.
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