Greg Slaughter said wearing a replica jersey of the late great Kobe Bryant during his training sessions in the United States is something he does not take for granted.
Ever since arriving at the DME Academy in Daytona Beach, Florida, Slaughter has worn a replica of Bryant’s white United States national team jersey from the 2012 London Olympics.
The uniform is similar to the one Bryant wore during the USA’s win over then-Los Angeles Lakers teammate Pau Gasol and Spain to claim the gold for the second straight time in that year’s Summer Games.
“I’ve worn this Kobe jersey every training session so I’d never take any day for granted,” Slaughter said on his Instagram account as he paid tribute to what would have been Bryant’s 42nd birthday.
“Happy birthday @kobebryant! (Bryant’s Instagram account) Honoring you on this day by putting in the work with @boysongary (Gary Boyson) #mambamentality,” added Slaughter, who is training under the watchful eyes of Boyson, a former scout for the Lakers and New York Knicks.
Slaughter has been in the US shortly after being part of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s team that beat Meralco for the PBA Governors’ Cup crown.
The former No. 1 pick, whose contract expired after the series, elected to stay in the US to “to take a break to be able to work on myself in all aspects.”
Though Ginebra coach Tim Cone made efforts to reach out and Ginebra retaining his rights, Slaughter chose to sign with a European-based agency known as BeoBasket, which is known for having Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic as one of its clients.