MacKenly may have been the six-foot daughter of a former NBA star, but Bryant has promised nothing. She didn’t get an initial spot immediately – not even with Team Mamba needing a center. Drills used to be held Monday through Friday in Orange County, where most of the team’s players lived, meaning MacKenly was supposed to take a long trip from the San Fernando Valley. After training, she had to run harder to “catch up with the other girls”, as Zach recalled Bryant saying.
None of this, however, prevented Randolph from calling him “a perfect fit”.
“Like a puzzle, man,” said Randolph. “My daughter was so ecstatic. That’s all she said. “
He said that MacKenly was “mesmerized”; MacKenly said he was overreacting. Although she said she was “super nervous” at first about being coached by Bryant, “after a week, it was, ‘Oh, he’s just a normal person.'” While some of the girls on the team called him Coach Bryant, MacKenly said she “really called him Kobe”.
Where father and daughter readily agree: Bryant helped MacKenly to improve immediately.
“I work a lot with her, but you could tell the difference with Kobe,” said Zach. “When Kobe was speaking, he didn’t have to say, ‘Pay attention’.”
“He basically taught me how to play defense and how to spin,” said MacKenly.
Asked to describe Bryant’s coaching attitude, MacKenly added, “You would know when he is angry or not joking, but he would never, like, yell at you.”
The pandemic delayed the start of MacKenly’s freshman season at Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, but his game continues to develop. Even though MacKenly shoots with his right hand and Zach is left-handed, comparisons to his father’s combination of strength, cunning and goalkeeper skill are frequent. Such is the potential of MacKenly that she received verbal offers for scholarships from Louisville and Arizona before playing a single game in high school.