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MacKenly may have been the 6-foot-tall daughter of a 6-foot-9 former NBA star, but Bryant didn’t promise anything. She didn’t get a starting spot right away – not even with the Mamba squad who needed a cross. Practice was often held Monday through Friday in Orange County, where most of the team’s players lived, meaning MacKenly had to make the long drive from the San Fernando Valley. After workouts, she had to run more to “catch up with the other girls,” as Zach recalled Bryant saying.
None of this, however, stopped Randolph from calling it “a perfect fit.”
“Like a puzzle, man,” Randolph said. “My daughter was so ecstatic. That’s all she talked about.
He said MacKenly was “hypnotized”; MacKenly said he was exaggerating. Even though she said she was ‘super nervous’ at first being coached by Bryant, “After about a week it was ‘Oh, he’s just a regular person.’ “While some of the girls on the team called him ‘Coach Bryant’, MacKenly said she” really called him Kobe. “
Where dad and daughter readily agree: Bryant helped MacKenly improve immediately.
“I work with her a lot, but you could make a difference with Kobe,” Zach said. “When Kobe spoke, he didn’t have to say, ‘Be careful.’ “
“He basically taught me how to play defense and rotate,” MacKenly said.
When asked to describe Bryant’s coaching behavior, MacKenly added, “You would know when he’s angry or if he’s not playing, but he would never, like, yell at you.
The pandemic has delayed the start of MacKenly’s first season at Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, Calif., But his game continues to develop. Even though MacKenly shoots right-handed and Zach is left-handed, comparisons to his father’s combination of strength, cunning, and skill on the inside are common. MacKenly’s potential is such that she received verbal scholarship offers from Louisville and Arizona before playing a single game in high school.
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