Here’s your latest NBA Rewind! There are a couple of Western Conference teams that the public, outside of understandably biased fan bases, just refuses to accept as a threat in the West. The Houston Rockets and LA Clippers have been proving themselves left and right lately.

Walk - or cycle - around the narrow cobbled streets of Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, just between Parma and Bologna, and you’ll likely not even notice a tiny playground with basketball hoops coming out from the walls.

That epitomized the late NBA great's relationship with the women's game. After his 20-year playing career ended, Bryant turned his focus to the next generation, mentoring some of women's basketball's biggest stars, from WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi to former Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu.